Just a quick entry today, I've got a pool to relax in.

So I'd packed up and donned my waterproof jacket and leggings over my leathers as it was raining when I woke up. Thankfully once outside attaching the rucksack to the bike it had stopped, out down the gravel track and onto the road it was to my surprise still dry. This made the twisty roads out of the national park and onto the highways another exciting ride.

I'd decided very late last night after checking weather forecasts to ride further west, north west, to try and avoid the thunderstorm moving across from the east that had chased me across Spain so far.

I'd just searched on my hotel app another area where the scenery and roads looked good. There was a hotel for £25. Hotel Alonso de Monroy. It looked really good in the photos, and said it had a pool and parking. I could see on the map it was on a junction of a main road and near a town called Almaraz, as well as being a short ride to some mountain ridges.

So with that in my SatNav I set off. I was surprised to see it say it was going to be a four and half hour ride.

I stopped first after an hour and a half, I'd kept my two remaining slices of pizza from last night so pulled over at a quiet spot. I'd just broken out under the clouds again into blue skies so I packed my waterproofs away again.

Soon after I was back on the motorways and covering the miles quickly. I stopped for petrol again. I'd been stopping roughly every 140 miles and putting about 11 litres in which was normally around €15, the bike has a 18 litre tank but I didn't want to risk running out anywhere.

Then just 15 minutes from the hotel I stopped again, it was 3pm and I had a ham and egg English style sandwich and a drink at this next fuel stop.

The scenery was amazing in this part of Spain, small mountain ridges in the distance all around. One particular cluster had got closer and closer as I'd made my journey here. It was the mountains near the hotel.

At the hotel for 3.30pm I checked in, my room was ace, lovely beds, big TV, Juliet balcony overlooking the pool!

I just dropped my bag off though and went back, jumped on the bike and programmed a twisty route to El Arenal and back. Setting off at 3.45pm the satnav said I would be back for 7.30pm and it was over 220km. Perfect.

The ride was sublime.

Yesterday I thought I'd found motorcycling paradise, it turns out there are patches of it dotted around Spain, this was another. This time the roads had longer sweeping bends at the foot of the mountain range before climbing up on more technical sections similar to yesterday.

I can't describe how good the riding was.

Safely back at the hotel, beating the satnav ETA by 25 minutes to arrive at 7pm, I had a shower, then went and cleaned my bike. It looked great again.

(Typing this my plan is to ride into Almaraz for some food, then take a late night swim in the pool. Oh, and look at how I'm going to stop and park safely in Madrid tomorrow.)