Cycling UK Forum

Can anyone advise us of a suitable area for a winter break on our tandem (in late February)
We like the look of the area around “Ronda” but are concerned it may be too mountainous for a pair of oldies.
Any advise on finding accommodation would also be appreciated.

Very briefly.

From the west of the Mediterranean coastal mountains all the way to the Portuguese Atlantic coast. Plenty to see.

Lots of cheap hotels about €35 a night for a double. Seek on booking site or a search on Google maps.

It would help if you gave more info on your logistics. How getting there for a start.

Very crudely, the area to the east of Gibraltar and inland is pretty mountainous. With altitude comes cold/bad weather. West of Gibraltar and I'm thinking of the area around Jerez/Seville and Huelva is much flatter albeit the countryside is a bit uninspiring.

I've been thinking about doing some of this greenway which starts in Cordoba province, follows an old railway line so should be flat.
https://www.viasverdes.com/en/itinerari ... .asp?id=67

Thanks for your reply. At the moment we intend to fly from East Mids to Malaga airport and ideally use public transport to our first
accommodation . Then talk nicely to the owner and hopefully leave the tandem bike box there .
We prefer to ride 40 to 50 mile days, looping back to our starting point over approximately 7 days
As Spain is new to us we’re open to any suggestions.

Pederson wrote: ↑11 Dec 2023, 7:20pm ...
As Spain is new to us we’re open to any suggestions.

Be prepared for eating later in the evening.

: - )

Jonathan

Jdsk wrote: ↑11 Dec 2023, 7:21pm
Be prepared for eating later in the evening.
: - )
Jonathan

Yes. In Malaga (or other touristy towns) you'll be OK, but elsewhere it can be a problem. I've had to wait until 9pm for a restuarant to open (which is not so good if you usually go to bed at 10!)

Pederson wrote: ↑11 Dec 2023, 7:20pm At the moment we intend to fly from East Mids to Malaga airport and ideally use public transport to our first
accommodation . Then talk nicely to the owner and hopefully leave the tandem bike box there .
We prefer to ride 40 to 50 mile days, looping back to our starting point over approximately 7 days
As Spain is new to us we’re open to any suggestions.

Málaga (and the surrounds) are home to several cycle guiding/touring companies, mix of road and MTB. A search online should pull them all up. They all do airport transfers for their guests but some may be open to an extra pick-up (at a cost obviously!) and storage of your bike box for a week.

I would be certain that you can actually leave the bike box somewhere before you turn up and say "oh by the way....?" because if the owner declines to store it, you'll be a bit stuffed!

Be prepared for eating later in the evening.

: - )

Jonathan

Absolutely. It can create a bit of a problem if you like to be up and away early in the morning.

I speak as someone who has embarrassingly eaten Subway in Bilbao and Burger King in Santander. Lunch time food was excellent I have to stay although knowing little Spanish the staff often resorted to charades to explain what was on the menu!

We came back from Benidorm last week after a great time. Out of season is great. Highly recommended.

As for eating "late in the evening" it's not true in the slightest. You can eat early evening easily. Most evenings we were sat on tables outside in a variety of cafes etc, and ate very well indeed at 5pm ............ and drank copious quantities of Rioja too.

You've picked a great part of the world to spend have a tour of. I've been there so many times and continue to visit

Weather wise it can be a bit hit or miss. Usually warm and sunny but build in a bit of flexibility for possible shorter days when it does turn cold and wet.

It can get cold overnight in the mountains but will warm up quickly in the sun. Remember Spain is an hour ahead of the UK and also to the west. A 9 am UK start time is equivalent to a 10:30 Spain start. The days are noticeably longer and the sun considerably stronger. Some restaurants do open later but not that many in my experience. Even then we are talking 8:30 pm. I usually stay in remote places. In really touristy places such as Setenil don't expect anywhere but hotels to do meals in the evening and even the bars shut up early

Accommodation wise I use Booking.com or Google for searches. Finding a bed for the night shouldn't be an issue

You comment that you don't want mountainous but don't say how hilly you are happy with or are prepared to tolerate. Please could you let us know. The roads are generally well graded but climbs can be long. There are stiff climbs but climbs are the price for days in the mountains

Pederson wrote: ↑11 Dec 2023, 7:20pm Thanks for your reply. At the moment we intend to fly from East Mids to Malaga airport and ideally use public transport to our first
accommodation . Then talk nicely to the owner and hopefully leave the tandem bike box there .
We prefer to ride 40 to 50 mile days, looping back to our starting point over approximately 7 days
As Spain is new to us we’re open to any suggestions.

Behind the coast are mountains. You would need to ride these to get away from the coast. Going down the coast, you have busy tourist seafronts then fast dual carriageway between the towns. I rode all the way down to Gib during the Covid hiatus and it wasn't pleasant.

You can take bikes on the train from Malaga that goes over and through the coastal mountains, heading towards Sevilla (and other routes) but I don't know about tandems.

There is a metro from the airport to Malaga city and also the other way down the coast. OK for bikes.

I stayed in a big hotel in Torremolinos for my last couple of days. It had a large luggage storage room. I think this is pretty standard as people often check out in the morning and fly home in the evening.

Thanks again for all your assistance. We don’t mind hilly but having enjoyed Ventoux this year we don’t want too many days like that.

borisface wrote: ↑10 Dec 2023, 11:35am I've been thinking about doing some of this greenway which starts in Cordoba province, follows an old railway line so should be flat.
https://www.viasverdes.com/en/itinerari ... .asp?id=67

I've done the Via Aciete from Puente Genil to Jaen. It's a really lovely ride. Write-up here: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/ret ... st-3324746

I was going to do a tour from Malaga to Cordoba via Ecija this November but got flu instead.

Taking into account your comments on Ventoux here is a possible route that gets you into the heart of the mountains surrounding Ronda (Bedoin to Chalet Reynard 16km @ 7.1% and CR to Ventoux 6km @ 7.4%). Only the big climbs are noted:

From the airport take the train to Malaga, then to Alora to start your ride

Alora to Antequera (hilly), to Fuente de Piedra to Algamitas to Olvera (climb out of Algamitas 6km 5.7%) otherwise undulating, Via Verde to Puerto Serrano (flat)
Puerto Serrano to Prado del Rey (entering the mountains) to El Bosque (option to head for Grazalema via El Boyar 16km @ 5.5%) to Ubrique to Benoacaz (5.9% for 6km) then onto Grazalema to Montecorto to Setenil to Ronda. Ronda to El Burgo to Ardales to Carratraca to Alora. Around 370km plus 5300m of climb

An option to extend is from Ubrique head for Jimena de la Frontera via the Puerto de Galiz then take the ridge road to Ronda. Trains can take to from Jimena to Ronda

hamster wrote: ↑12 Dec 2023, 5:49pm

borisface wrote: ↑10 Dec 2023, 11:35am I've been thinking about doing some of this greenway which starts in Cordoba province, follows an old railway line so should be flat.
https://www.viasverdes.com/en/itinerari ... .asp?id=67

I've done the Via Aciete from Puente Genil to Jaen. It's a really lovely ride. Write-up here: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/ret ... st-3324746

I was going to do a tour from Malaga to Cordoba via Ecija this November but got flu instead.

Thanks for posting that, it does look lovely. I too used to have a Witcomb that I got for my 14th birthday in 1981. It was lugless and metallic brown. Sadly the chainstay snapped near the bridge in about 1985. This was the first of three frames that I managed to snap in the 1980s all in about the same place, one was a 531 Gillot and the other a 653 Orbit.