Spanish Bike Tour

… of the mountains of the Costa Blanca, on single speed bikes. Me on 58″ gear and Trevor on 54″.

22 Oct 25

Interesting ride from the airport to Alicante Hills apartment, 50% dirt road through fly-tip & graff wasteland

23 Oct

Couple nights in apartment & trip to bike shop to sort tubeless let down

24 Oct

Destination Finestrat below the distant summit

Aigues – hills, dehydration, not enough food or gears

25 Oct

After what seemed more sweeping downhill than we had climbed we had coffees in Finestrat, then finding the campsite closed/booked out for wedding we headed Camping Ponoig

Gated but we were admitted over the phone (are people allowed in the dog pool?)

.. owner wasn’t so comfy with us staying when he saw our rig

..we look different to the other patrons

.. but he was nice and let us stay – couple of beers then bedded down on the gravel

26 Oct

Nipped in the town hall to hide from the rain and a volunteer showed us around the museum

27 Oct

Alcohol had to be warmed to light the stove

Absorbing the slow pace of life in Castell (he’s foraging now)

Bars in Quatretondeta & Gorga closed till Wed so 2 course meal Bar Millena then another sports siesta

28 Oct

Our cosy corner was floodlit till 21:00 by inconsiderate locals playing tennis on the adjacent court, then followed a peaceful night of broken sleep on concrete

Beniarres – cooked chicken noodle soup in the street after chatting ex-pat cyclist: supermarket whole cooked chicken, GF noodles + stock cube

Then to find the Recreational Area to bivi

29 Oct

.. which was no good so after avoiding someone descending with a torch settled on this ledge above a ravine. Best night’s sleep yet though punctuated by foxes yelping and spits of rain which prompted us to put tarp and tent up.

07:00 we’re drinking coffees, cognac and shots of various herbero liquers (Terry is more your breakfast cognac)

Cresta Benicadell after a 4km climb (easy on quiet smooth 6% gradients)

30 Oct

Waiting for the showers to open Castello de Rugat sports facility

Pondering why so much sheep cheese and why so little cow cheese (let me break it down)

https://maps.app.goo.gl/yXTqjFFv5T57YpSYA?g_st=aw Actual campsite at Bocairent

31 Oct

01 Nov

Overnight Onil Recreational Area (homemade pertex bugbag)

Nice wild spot for the night on the road to Jijona

Me (MLD Trailstar) (its final erection – thank you for your service)

02 Nov

Tarp got shredded in the night, very windy.

Arriving Jijona – ironically ended up here (green building) 6 hours later after the wild goose chase below

After breakfast coffees and brandy we struggled to find the recreation area (intended camp) before noticing the photo of the font said non-potable

Then 6km to this, closed, i climbed the gates and prowled around for water but it was turned off

.. so i updated their sign for them to avoid others pedaling 6km unnecessarily

03 Nov

Beach camp (Louis: I’m gonna listen to music till I’m asleep – Trevor: I’m gonna listen to music till I die)

04 Nov

Tips:

Our aim was to be aimlessly absorbed into the landscape – each day was planned that morning or the night before using google maps (cycle) which gives distance, time and elevation profile

Outdoor Active Pro £2.23 for a month gives access to Topo maps (like OS) 1:50,000 & 1:25,000 with route planning tool – we also had a paper map for overview (i did consider Komoot but cba)

I boarded with one pannier and got everything else in bike-shop free cardboard-box (Ryanair 30kg)

We hid our boxes behind a crappy portacabin and they were still there for reuse 2 weeks later but as contingency Alicante airport does bike boxes for €40

Official campsites are sparse, so search google maps for campgrounds then recreation areas, then read reviews and check photos/satellite view to see if suitable and equipped with drinking water – these became our default

Food shops & opening hours also google-mapped for the day ahead

Trevor’s tent with small footprint was good for stealth and tight spots, my bug bag with or without tarp was great till the wind wrecked it (it was pretty uv damaged anyway)

SPF, insect pro & bite cream still necessary in Nov

Max gradient we climbed was 10%, 6 or 7% was common and our single gear was fine

Alcohol for the stove was easy to get

We often had a siesta to escape midday heat (often after coffee and cervesa or cognac) but campsite should be secured by 19:30 latest this time of year

One apartment was booked on the fly using booking.com after campsite fail and we needed shower/laundry

Evenings were cold enough for light trouser, a light fleece layer or two, a windproof layer and maybe a buff but pack waterproofs in case – i pulled Mont Bell wind-pants on over my shorts as they are mosquito- proof and weigh virtually nothing

Full kit (tap to open gallery):