Where would you go in March

[ThePainInSpain]

I offer this, but don't blame me if it's wrong.
I live near Malaga, Andalucia

Last winter was evil, really warm an dry up to 3 days before Christmas, then it changed and rained almost non-stop until April. In fact we only had 12 days without rain over a 12 week period.

However, according to statistics (and this was illustrated by a bar chart in our local paper), over the past 20 years every bad winter has been followed by a very good winter.
And this seems to have a 6 year cycle, with the weather getting progressively worse. Then back to a good winter.

So this means that this winter should be mild and dry.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, coz Spain in the wet is not a nice place to be..........

 

[bigjim]

you could easily get nightime temperatures below freezing

Night time, surely you would be in the bar not out on the bike?

 

[ColinJ]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, coz Spain in the wet is not a nice place to be..........

We'd been warned how slippery the roads can be in Spain when rain falls after many dry weeks/months so when drizzle affected a Costa Blanca ride, we headed for a cafe to sit it out. We emerged 45 minutes later to roads which were barely damp. I was looking round at the scenery and let a small gap develop between me and the riders in front so I tried to accelerate after them (in a straight line, still sitting down) and my back wheel slid out from under me! 

I was telling someone about it back at the hotel and he told me that on his group's first day in the mountains a few years before there had been a shower just before they began their descent. One rider slid off the road on a bend and broke his pelvis!

 

[Tim Bennet.]

It's not just the problem of tyre rubber / oil build up in long dry spells, but also an intrinsic difference with Spanish roads. They use limestone aggregate in their tarmac as opposed to that made from hard rock in this country. When the surface becomes a little worn, the passing traffic polishes the top surface of the exposed limestone pieces until they resemble marble. Shiny marble and water is not good! (Don't confuse limestone based tarmac with tar and limestone chippings on UK roads - those chipping don't stay in place long enough to become polished!)

You can get limestone based tarmac in this country and is often used on private driveways as its substantially cheaper. The long steep drive up to Mrs TB's office was done with this and now everyone parks at the bottom and walks up through the woods as the merest hint of damp turns the road into a bob-sleigh run.

 

[ThePainInSpain]

You are quite right about the tarmac in this country (Spain). But it's designed to cope with high temperaturs, and not the constant cold and damp that you lot get in the UK.
I remember in the summers in the UK if the sun came out then the tarmac melted. Here it doesn't.










It just turns into bloody big potholes in the winter............................................................