Spring sees the start of the mountain bike and road bike race season here in Andalucía. Our first race was a road event: the 15 km hill climb from the coastal village of La Mamola to Haza de Lino which perches on the watershed of the Contraviesa mountain range, at 1283 metres.

About 200 hardy souls gathered in light rain last Sunday morning, with not a hairy leg in sight. It was a grueliing route, averaging 10% gradient and a heart rate of 175 beats per minute. I spent a good portion of the race surrounded by team cars yelling at their various charges - all terribly serious, whilst I just tried not to pass out.

I was reasonably pleased with my result, around 25th overall. I'll have to await the official results to see where I came in my class.

As always, it was a very well run and entry was free, subsidised by the local town hall. You can't say fairer than that. 

If you're intersted in joining Pure Mountains for some bike racing, do get in touch.