Ronda and La Sufrida
moscowflyer
Posts: 540
Ok, so we're flying into Malaga in late May and it appears Ronda is the best place for some road action and hills that isn't any more than 90 minutes or so of the airport. Can anyone give any advice about routes, accommodation, any nightlife (I doubt there's much) so we can get ahead? Looking for some nice, preferably quiet roads with a good few climbs thrown in, probably up to 60-70 miles, but enough to keep us occupied on three different days without having to do the same routes.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Cheers.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Cheers.
0
Comments
-
You want a hill? Google Ronda to San Pedro de Alcantara - a 102km round trip but it's 15 km to downhill 36km then uphill 36km back plus another 15km. Almost 1000m of climb in one go with big drops, main road though.0
-
Cheers, I'll have a look at that. Sounds pretty good other than the main road bit, was hoping to take advantage of the quieter ones but this sounds like a decent challenge for one of the days at least.0
-
On the 1st June there's a sportive starting from Arriate, just outside Ronda, called La Sufrida (The Suffering). 103km or 193km, which takes in Puerto de Las Palomas amongst others. We've done it the last few years and it's a good tough day in the saddle. Just a thought!
Website is www.lasufrida.net
Happy to answer any questions you may have about it.
Sarah
www.vamoscycling.com0 -
garyspain wrote:On the 1st June there's a sportive starting from Arriate, just outside Ronda, called La Sufrida (The Suffering). 103km or 193km, which takes in Puerto de Las Palomas amongst others. We've done it the last few years and it's a good tough day in the saddle. Just a thought!
Website is http://www.lasufrida.net
Happy to answer any questions you may have about it.
Sarah
http://www.vamoscycling.com
Ah, that happens to be the only full day that we're there. I take it this means most of the decent cycling roads around Ronda are going to be closed for this?0 -
No they don't tend to shut them, they might stop the traffic at a junction, but that's about it, and the first part is usually a rolling road block so everyone is together.
It shouldn't ruin your day!0 -
garyspain wrote:No they don't tend to shut them, they might stop the traffic at a junction, but that's about it, and the first part is usually a rolling road block so everyone is together.
It shouldn't ruin your day!
Cheers for the info. I'm actually half tempted, only by the shorter route though!
How far out of Ronda is the Puerto de las Palomas just out of interest? I wouldn't mind tackling that on the Friday when we get there.0 -
It's around 25km out of Ronda and around 14km in length
http://www.altimetrias.net/aspbk/verPuerto.asp?id=4090 -
Cheers, you've been a big help, at least we now know what general direction to take on routes out. I think we'll have enough time for three rides, one on the Friday afternoon when we get there and then another on Saturday and Sunday. That's our climb sorted out so I just need to try and suss out some other nice routes.0
-
I go on a training camp near Ronda (based out of Montecorto), lots of great cycling routes around there (bear in mind 50 miles in the mountains there feels more like 70 miles back in the UK!). If you wanted a guide for the day it's worth speaking to Ashley @ http://www.andaluciancyclingexperience.com/index.html I guess you could always ask him for routes but given it's a business I'm not sure he'd provide them for free!0
-
nferrar wrote:I go on a training camp near Ronda (based out of Montecorto), lots of great cycling routes around there (bear in mind 50 miles in the mountains there feels more like 70 miles back in the UK!). If you wanted a guide for the day it's worth speaking to Ashley @ http://www.andaluciancyclingexperience.com/index.html I guess you could always ask him for routes but given it's a business I'm not sure he'd provide them for free!
Cheers, I've actually been looking at routes today on Strava, there's absolutely loads I can download and follow. It has however made me realise exactly how much climbing we're going to have to do out there! So far, the 'best' climbs according to Strava are;
Puerto De Las Palomas
A 373 Climb
Jimera-Atajate climb
Carretera De Montecorto Climb
Although I'm sure I'll find plenty more like those...0 -
Yeah there's a few long climbs there, the gradient is usually pretty tame though so it's easy enough just to sit and spin - mentally it can take a while to adjust to climbing for an hour+ though!0
-
My advice - watch out for the main road. Whilst I found that the traffic was largely cyclist aware, I had a rather scary double blow out whilst at around 40kph after running over some rather innocuous looking rubble (given the speed of the traffic, you don't really have anywhere to go!). So keep your eyes peeled.
The climb up to Istan (http://app.strava.com/activities/19244181) is a really pretty one and quite fun too - the village at the top is pretty nice as are the views down the valley. You'll see the other long ride I did from that same week)
The other thing to be aware of is Spanish baggage handlers - who are truly a breed apart for the damage they can cause to a bike box. They managed to bend the end of a QR skewer so that I couldn't get it through the wheel (I have a bikeboxalan, so figure that one out) - it was only a very friendly bike shop in Marbella who sorted that out otherwise I wouldn't have been cycling all week!
However once off the main road the roads are pretty good and cars mostly cyclist friendly (or at least aware!)0 -
hola MoscowFlyer, from Ronda you can easy go to lakes El Chorro (but choose the right way, maybe go over El Burgo, Alozaina, Carratraca to El Chorro). There you have some hills and downs, but on the lakes it is quite flat. So maybe as option for a day ride.
Nightlife in Ronda: on a scale from 0 to 10 I would say 5. If something goes on, so that is Marbella. Malaga is much better to see real spanish life, but too far from Ronda (90km).
hope you enjoy your bike holidays0 -
Cheers, I'll have a look at these. We've entered 'La Sufrida' on the Saturday so hopefully we won't be too mashed for a decent ride on the sunday, but we've also got the Friday afternoon to test the legs as well so I'll take a look at your suggestions.0
-
We're flying out on Friday for this, anyone else doing La Sufrida on Saturday?0
-
Us here at Vamos! are heading over to Ronda on Friday and meeting a few others there for it. Hope you enjoy the day if we don't meet up!
Sarah0 -
-
It was tough, the hardest day I've ever had on the bike!
Great experience though, although climbing Las Palomas in that heat really took it out of me, plus I got my calculations messed up and underestimated the route by 8 miles... Two days on and dehydration kicked in, I've been pretty unwell for the past day.
Still, a great experience. My chip time was 4:43 so I came in 33rd, pretty pleased all in all considering what a mess I was with 20 miles to go.0
