Day 1. ALHAMA LAKE LOOP

Challenging Ride: 75 km | Elevation Gain: 1400 m | Moderate:  35 km / 600 m or 50 km / 945 m

Transfer from Málaga or Granada to arrive in ancient Alhama de Granada, evocative in its medieval past and and surrounding sierras. Enjoy cycling to a shimmering lake, edging along the Sierras of Alhama, and travelling through the small farming villages of the area. There are enough category climbs in the area for the keenest of cyclist.  Don’t worry, we can keep you all day on the bike if need be!

Day 2. COASTAL RANGES LOOP

Challenging Ride: 110 km | Elevation Gain: 1855 m | Moderate: 81 km | 1300 m

Prepare for a classic day of big road cycling with an exhilarating loop ride with 2 mountain passes and views to the Mediterranean sea! Pass through an ancient gap in the coastal mountains to Periana before attempting the famed Puerto del Sol, a hairpin classic with panoramas that fill a trip. Finish the afternoon with a soak in the thermal baths of Alhama. (NB spa treatments not included).

Road Cycling Tour : Self-Guided

Bikes: Road (Alu-Carbon Included – Upgrades Avail)

Route: Based in Alhama de Granada / Granada

Group Size: 2+ |  Discounts for Groups of 4+ if booking together

Riding Level

Challenging: distances are a daily average of 85 -100 km. Each day there is an option to extend / shorten the distances and the itinerary can be customised to your requirements. Good surfaced roads on quiet country roads (slightly busier near Granada). Suitable for road bikes. The countryside is rolling and the terrain is hilly to mountainous. Be prepared for hills and climbs and of course some great descents. Daily Average Ascent: 1364 metres (4475 feet). Alternative less hillier routes given for a more moderate tour.  Moderate option:  distances are in an average of 65 km with ascents of 1100 m.

Accommodation

4 Nights – Self Contained Apartment

Granada Extension – Central 4 star City hotel near main sights

All bedrooms are en-suite. (Please enquire about the possibility of hotel stay in Alhama.)

Included

Luggage delivered to your next hotel if moving on to Granada
Included Bike Hire of Alu-carbon road bike
Welcome meeting and introduction to the route and area
Emergency support and contact details
Pre tour pack & Phone app with guide / maps / GPS and GPX route notes / ride profiles
Complimentary Cycling Country water bottle, Tee, & helmet bag
Access to a bike workstation, track pump and bike tools when in Alhama

Extras Not Included

All meals in Apartment stay (aside from Granada, where Breakfast is included)
Bring your own bike or hire of good quality Carbon bikes available at 150€ (5 days) / 180€ (7 days)
Road Ebikes Available at 275€ (5 days) | 375€ (7 days)
Cycling Country Santini Jersey – 67 Euros
Professional sports massage can be arranged

Getting Here & Transfers

Private one way transfers (up to 4 people) can be arranged from Malaga Airport. Let us know if you are needing to transport bike boxes / bikes.

There is a local bus to/from Granada to Alhama 2 times daily as well as from Alhama to Torre del Mar (on the Málaga coast) once a day. Bikes can be placed in the underneath storage. Nearest train stations are Loja, Granada, Antequera and Málaga.

Staff

1 guide will meet and greet in Alhama and provide daily luggage transfers when needed. As we are based in Alhama de Granada, and some of our guides live in Granada, we are never far away from offering advice and assistance. Feel free to drop in anytime.

Work hard, Play hard, sleep like a log. If you are on this trip, that is what it is all about.

“Great team, great bikes, lovely routes We’ve been looking for somewhere good to hire bikes in the Alhama area and Geoff and Maggi and the team at Cycling Country are all we could ask for: passionate about cycling, delightful to deal with, really knowledgeable about the area, and with the bikes and the routes and the back-up that we wanted. Their main business is organising longer bike trips (e.g. guided tours for a week following the route of the Vuelta, with guides, full back-up and accommodation booked in advance) but they were very ready to hire us hybrid bikes for the day from Alhama. So we did – and did the 50km loop they recommend, out to the south and east of Alhama and round Lake Bermejales. Much of the route we did know, on mostly quiet and well-surfaced routes, though their suggested route also took us out onto some small roads even we’d not discovered before which were delightful. The bikes are good ones and well-maintained, they supply handlebar bags, helmets, locks, water-bottles and basic repair kits and pumps, and their maps & directions are excellent. We were delighted and are keen to use them again given we’re out in the area for 6-8 weeks a year – and they’re happy to do multi-day hires and to allow customers to put bikes in the back of a car etc and then drive to an area elsewhere to ride. They’re a pleasure to deal with too (thanks so much guys!). Strongly recommended.”
P. Grigg – Sheffield, UK – December 2017

“Great Self-Guided Day Trip The British-Canadian duo who run Cycling Country were super friendly and really professional. We arranged for two hybrid bikes to do a one-day self-guided tour around Alhama de Granada. They provided us two very nice bikes, helmets, water bottles, repair kit, very detailed directions, an odometer, a map, elevation chart, and a great booklet of local history. They had three routes, 30k, 50k, and I think 100k. I’m an amateur cyclist and I did the 50k. It was challenging because there are lots of low but long hills, but I managed it! The views of the olive groves and distant Sierra Nevadas were really beautiful. Perfect weather in late October, too. I think it was a great value and would definitely recommend them.”
J. Morrow – London, UK – November 2017

“Outstanding cycle trip. Great road bikes, accommodations were top notch, and all details were addressed. Maggie and Geoff have an excellent knowledge of the area, and the itinerary they arranged of cycling and walking tours was very enjoyable. This was our second trip with them, and it won’t be our last. Highly recommended”
J. Carey – Calgary, Canada- May 2016

Testimonials from previous cyclists are always available and we enjoy receiving the feedback after tours. It helps us improve our services and offer you an even better experience. Please feel free to contact us if you would like a reference to talk to. Others have also posted reviews on the independent travel website .