Calpe on the Spanish Costa Blanca is a great location for a cycling winter training camp. While Northern Europe endures harsh winters, the climate here seems to be always spring or summer with temperatures ranging from 15 to 20 degrees celsius. Also, apart from the busy coastal roads linking the big resorts, once you turn inland the roads become very quiet and mountainous without being too steep or too long. Having a large international airport at Alicante (about 50 miles away) is very useful too, as is the plentiful supply of cheap, good quality hotels and restaurants, add to this mix the frequently spectacular mountain and coastal scenery and it is easy to see why this area has become so popular with the professional cycling teams and amateurs alike. I stayed at the Hotel Porto Calpe located as the name suggests right next to the fishing port and harbour and very close to the impressive Penon de Ifach – the huge limestone rock outcrop which is a symbol of the whole Costa Blanca region.

Mon 8th Feb  After an early breakfast i got my cycling kit on and took a 20 min brisk walk along the very pleasant sea front promenade right into central Calpe to pick my hire bike up from SolyBike , a carbon framed Orbea Orca. After filling in the paperwork and setting the bike up, I set off on my ride, I thought I was heading for Guadalest,  in fact I was on the right road but going in the wrong direction and ended up in Benissa instead, here I was helped on my way by a very pleasant Dutch cycling couple who suggested turning left and heading for the Coll de Rates instead, which turned out to be an ideal first ride. The Coll de Rates is probably the Costa Blanca’s most famous climb and once I got near the start cyclists started appearing from all directions. At the top of the Coll there is a good restaurant with spectacular views from the terrace of the surrounding area, it was here that I got chatting to a Belgium cyclist called Steven and we agreed to team up together for a ride tomorrow. (46 mile ride).

Tues 9th Feb  After an early breakfast in the hotel again I rode up to the busy coast road (N-332) and met Steven outside of the place he was staying. We were heading for Finestrat to do the Guadalest loop. We went through Altea and kept on the N-332 to more or less opposite Benidorm, then turned right to Finestrat, from now on the roads were very quiet but also started heading uphill, steeply at first before settling down to 4 or 5% average. We passed through Sella and after a long climb, up to the highest point of the day – Puerto Tudons at 1020 m high before descending rapidly to Alcolecha where we stopped off at the cafe for a meal. The next high point was Puerto Confrides (966m) followed by mile after mile of spectacular mountain roads down to Guadalest and beyond. We stayed on the CV-755 passing through Collosa until we hit the busy coast road again for the climb back up to Calpe. (74 mile ride).

Wed 10th Feb   An easier ride today after yesterday’s mountain adventure, headed north on the coast road in the direction of Moraira before turning left for Benissa, I wasn’t expecting such a long climb going this way before dropping down to the town of Benissa and carrying onto Senija and Lliber where I tried to find the road that heads up the Bernia Coll, however I couldn’t find the right road (my map was a bit vague on detail). Eventually I gave up looking and doubled back to Benissa and headed back to Calpe via Teulada, Benitachell and Morairi. (42 mile ride)

Thurs 11th Feb   Met Steven again on the coast road at 9.00am for another big ride in the mountains. We climbed up the N-332 main road to just before Benissa and turned off left to Jalon, Alcalali and Parcent for the steady climb up smooth roads to Castell de Castells alongside the dried up river bed down below us, we then had a restaurant stop in Facheca. before joining the beautiful CV-712 road that headed for Vall d’Ebo and climbed up to the high point before the wonderful hairpin-laden descent with great views all the way down to outskirts of Pego, here we turned right to Sagra, then through Orba and back to Parcent. We had a coffee and cake here and sheltered from a brief rain shower before the ride back to Calpe via Benissa. (78 mile ride).

Fri 12 th Feb   Rode up the Benissa road again, just before the town i turned left and headed up to Pinos and continued up to the Bernia Coll which was a lovely quiet road, quite rough in places but very scenic too. The gradient was quite gradual for first half but certainly ramped up quite a bit for the top section. At the top I turned right and it was another stunning descent all the way down to Jalon. Turned left here for Alcalali and Parcent and climbed up to the Coll de Rates again and stopped off at the cafe for soup and coffee. From the Coll I continued on the road descending and climbing up to the small village of Tarbena and turned right here for the lovely road that goes to Castell de Castells. I turned right here and managed to tag onto the back of a passing peloton for a very fast 12km back to Parcent, then back to Calpe via Benissa again. (67 mile ride).

Sat 13th Feb   Had to get the bike back to the shop for 2.00pm today (early closing day), which  was good because the legs were starting to feel it by now, so headed north on the coast road to Morairi, Benitachell and onward to Javea in windy conditions before heading back to Calpe. (37 mile ride).

Roadtripping Calpe  is a great website which captures the beauty and excitement of cycling around Calpe with some stunning photos and some great insights and a good video at the end.

Cycling locations is another very useful source of advice and information about cycling in the Costa Blanca.