Once upon a time when I used to have an office job and was a little less active than I am now-a-days I used to make my New Year's resolution to get fit and shed those Christmas Turkey pounds. Unfortunately, I also had a handful of excuses, too busy at work, too cold to go out and train, too dark, too tired, too anything, not to see this through. In an attempt to stay motivated to shed those pounds I found myself signing a gym membership for a year, at a cost of 60 pounds a month 720 pounds for the year! This would be the answer to shifting those Christmas Turkey pounds. For the first month I was there 3 or 4 times a week, however, by mid February, my motivation to go to the gym had diminished considerably and all I used to notice was the loss of 60 pounds a month.....from my bank account. Does this sound familiar? If so, read on!

The month of May has been just perfect for road cycling in southern Spain, with average daily temperatures here in Andalucia around 23 degrees, we have been riding under clear blue skies on perfectly smooth roads. To the North of Montecorto the terrain is best described as rolling farmland and olive groves whilst to the South, towards the Costa del Sol, the terrain is more mountainous and the landscape rocky and wooded.

Friday 6th March 2009, I lept out of bed and opened the shutters on the bedroom windows to another beautiful blue-sky day in Andalucia, sunlight filled the room and I was bursting at the seams with energy. It was the last day of another Winter Training Camp which only means one thing 'It's Time Trail Day on Las Palomas'. ''Today is the day for a Personal Best'' I declare and Claire gave me that same old knowing smile and replied ''OK honey.'' Apparently I say this most Friday mornings, but today was different, I just knew that I would break my old time of 47mins 41sec, a time which had stood for just over a year now. For the last few weeks on the bike I had been flying and without too much effort either, I had lost a few kilos in weight, so there was less of me to drag up the 12.4km climb too.

"Stunning view" I said with a slight mix of fear and anticipation. ''A good place to celebrate your birthday'', added Rob. We were standing on the south east side of the Sierra de Lijar looking across the valley towards the Grazalema Natural Park admiring the pretty white village of Zahara, a view not too dissimilar to a photo that I once saw advertising Andalusia on the London tube! It's February, the area is very green and it's my birthday. My family have seen fit to buy me a paragliding tandem flight with a local British run school called Fly Spain. I gather they teach as well, but today their chief instructor was taking me flying on his tandem.

In November Peter and Nick came to Montecorto for a five day mountain bike endurance training camp with the Andalucian Cycling Experience. In March 2009 they are off to South Africa to participate in the Cape Epic, a seven day mountain bike event covering over a 1000 kilometres. Whilst in South Africa they will be riding 100 kilometres with at least 1000 metres of climbing per day. My brief was to replicate this in terms of distance and metres climbed and to also help Peter and Nick become stronger riders in terms of technical ability.

The all year round warm weather conditions in Andalucia, southern Spain, make this area a paradise for all triathlon enthusiasts who are looking to improve their swimming, cycling or running skills. Over the last 6 weeks Alistair has set up base in Montecorto to get in some intensive training prior to his big event.... Ironman Australia in December, this will be Alistair's first full Ironman event. The Sierra de Grazalema and surrounding area offers a challenging and beautiful training environment and is perfect for improving fitness, conditioning and endurance. Our location and expert local knowledge has enabled Alistair to train and ride with his own schedule of training.

The idea to do this, first struck me about a year ago and keeps coming back to me on a regular basis, especially when I'm riding up said mountain. So, I am now actually going to do it and put my mind at rest, although my body may not entirely appreciate the jesture. October 5th 2008 is the date of the first 'Andalucian Cycling Experience Las Palomas Challenge'. This event started as a personal challenge to see how many times in one day (day light hours only) I, Ashley, could ride up to Puerto de Las Palomas, a category 1 climb in both the 'Vuelta de Andalucia' and 'Vuelta España'. It is on this climb that the local road bike club holds its annual time trial, with my fastest time being 47m 41s, however, this will be a totally different event with endurance being key.

Last week Julian came over to Andalucia for a mountain biking mini break based in one of our townhouses in Montecorto. We started our riding with an epic XC (Cross Country) ride visiting the beautiful white village of Setenil de las Bodegas, where we stopped at one of my favourite tapas bars in this area ‘La Tascas’. You can find La Tascas in the centre of Setenil set in one of the famous cave houses. This traditional bar does amazing tapas thus making a great refuelling pit -stop for the hungry and thirsty cyclist. The village name Setenil de las Bodegas originates from the Latin term 'Septem nihill' meaning seven and nothing as it took Isabel and Fernando 7 attempts to recapture Setenil from the Moors in 1482 and "de las Bodegas" due to the cave houses which also make excellent cellar type storage houses for the local wines. We then followed the Bandits Route back towards Ronda, via the Roman ruins of Acinipo at "Ronda la Vieja", before dropping 500m over the last few kilometres as the ride finishes on a rapidly descending jeep track all the way back into Montecorto village.

Today we drove out to Zahara de la Sierra, one of the most beautiful white villages (pueblos blancos) in western Andalucia, where we started our bike ride to Prado del Rey. The road we ride undulates through rolling farmland with breathtaking views of the Sierra de Lijar above Algodonales, and of the Sierra de Margarita up towards Las Palomas and the Garganta Verde. The road is lined with fields of vibrant yellow sunflowers giving a colourful contrast against the fluffy white clouds and blue sky, the sun is shining and there is a cooling breeze as we meander effortlessly towards Prado del Rey.