Day 3 : Santander to Malaga Cycle

After a great sleep in Hotel Miralba (https://hotelmiralba.com/) , I was woken up by the sound of goats outside my bedroom window.
Sliding the curtains away, blue sky and a fabulous sunrise welcomed me to my third day of cycling. Breakfast was prepared by my host who made me a fabulous toasted sandwich with smoked ham, fresh coffee and a nice slice of cake.... 
After having said my goodbye, I took off for another long day in the saddle.
Cycling early in the morning at 1325 meters under a blue sky was just fabulous, admiring the beauty of parque natural de Fuentes Carrionas y Fuente. The natural park was in full bloom, the many yellow flowers standing in stark contrast with the dark blue of the lake below me.

By lunchtime, I reached the town of Cistierna where I enjoyed a picnic under the heat of the Spanish sun. To be honest, my legs were getting sore, especially after the tough cycle from the previous day where I had climbed  approx. 4000 meter through the Cantabrian mountains. And today wasn't any different, turning onto the L 4606 I started progressively climbing again. The roads were quiet, and it was a pleasure to cycle along these roads enjoying the scenery. The weather started changing and by the time I reached La Robla, the rain made an appearance. Climbing steadily out of the valley towards Riello, my mindset wasn't in the right place. 
I hadn't put enough training in as preparation for this cycle, and with every push on the bike, I felt my muscles burn. 
I arrived at my hotel for the night at around 8:30pm, the beautiful Gran Hotel Pandorado located at 1100 meters. With an empty car park and a closed door, I feared the worst , trying to work out where I could find another place to stay in this remote part of Spain.
A note on one of the windows had a telephone number on it, so i decided to ring it and got talking to the owner (Carlos) who arrived 10 minutes later and opened the hotel for me.
After getting shown around, a retreated back to my room where I enjoyed an hour long bath relaxing my sore legs and went to sleep at 9:30pm tired but relaxed.