Mrs wants me to make a decision for a March break. 7/10 days.
Costa Blanca a possibility, anyone cycled inland from the coast?
Advice welcome.
Would likely cycle up to 50 /60 miles every other day , so a variety of routes is better.
Thanks.
Flights/hotel prices seem good value hence choice.

Train to Villena or La Font de la Figuera or Xativa from Alicante and knock yourselves out.  Biar or Xativa would be my recommendations, the lumpy stuff is North of Biar or South of Xativa. NB if you arrive late on a Sunday the last train is at 7:30pm from Central Alicante.

I live in denia all the roadies head to castels and/or the col de rates climb, 60 mile round trip with various permutations. The circuit up to margarida and back via alcala is v popular. Again, c 60 miles there and back.

Look up the vuelta route, it will all be freshly tarmaced.

Good luck, watch out for las fallas fiestas in March if you don’t like that sort of thing.

I spend time in Santa Pola, 15-20km south of Alicante. I usually take my gravel bike to increase the options of linking the roads up with farm tracks. The roads are lightly trafficked and drivers are way more considerate there than in the UK. Costa Blanca tourism does a pretty good job of publicising the good stuff but there are also many many great routes to put together on Komoot using lesser known roads and trails. For me it’s a fantastic place to combine riding with family time.

This is more or less my favourite ride from Benidorm. But rather than come down the Cv70 I drop into Guadalest then the cv755 to Callosa, Polop and La nucia, it works pretty well either way round.

https://www.bikemap.net/en/r/3347560/

Taking the gravel bikes sounds great as well , I will start looking at these areas, thanks.

I have a flat in Torrevieja, about an hour’s drive south of Alicante. If you’re around there there’s a very friendly group that does road rides, send me a PM and I’d happy to send you the details.

That said – the area around Torrevieja is pretty flat and not that exciting for road riding. There are a fair amount of nice quiet roads if you know where they are, through the lemon and orange groves with palm trees every 100m or so – certainly a nice change from UK riding – but you need to know where they are. Personally I’d go further north around Alicante, the Sierra de Aitana has loads of great climbs to do.

There a Thursday shop ride with the Meta bike cafe in Altea

http://www.ciclocostablanca.com/en/meta-bike-cafe/

Also the Union ciclista Benidorm have a club ride Sundays. The bike cafe could give you info on that.
This is a ride I’ve done from their route book.

@mogrim hi! Do you know any English speaking mtb clubs in Torrevieja? I’m heading out there next week and doing a bit of biking.

Parents have a place in Altea La Vella so done a bit of riding from there. Some really nice routes up through Callosa, Tarbena, Guadalest, Parcent, Castell de Castells and Jalon (or Xalo). A favourite climb of mine is from Jalon up to Pinos via the CV-749, really quiet and some great views.

Have hired bikes and got great advice from both Meta bike cafe in Albir and from Top Bikes in Cap Negret.

@33tango sorry, can’t help with clubs – there definitely are groups doing MTB, but I only use the road bike out there. I’ve seen some tracks around the Pedrera reservoir, no idea if they’re any good though!

The only tip I can definitely give you is to use the canal side paths where possible – they all have no entry signs but AFAIK that only applies to cars. All the local cyclists use them, some are paved and others not.

I stayed in calpe about 3 weeks ago and can only reiterate what others have said. I dont really ride my road bike nearly as much as I used to . That said the roads are stunningly beautiful , very quiet away from the main Alicante to Denia main road. The road surfaces are so smooth and you can normally see a good way ahead which makes the descents among the best I’ve ever ridden on. (certainly better than Tenerife). That said If its Calpe you end up staying in its usually best to head away from Altea as the road isnt as busy and you can turn off up the hill towards benissa and the Col Du Rates. Guadalest is a must do route but remember and stock up on food as there isnt much in the way off shops heading North.
Despite riding pretty much 90% mountain bikes I’ll definately be back at some point.

Thanks mogrim
I’ve been out quite a few times now and I’ve some pretty good routes from following people on Strava 😁
I’d just be grateful for a bit of company 😎

I’d just be grateful for a bit of company

If you’re a regular to the area try joining one of the Facebook ex-pat groups and asking, it’s what I did and they put me on to a decent road bike club.

This is the one I asked on, there are other groups around though: https://www.facebook.com/groups/348560391936954/

And yes, it’s full of mostly English ex-pats. But it’s not too bad, and once you’ve got an answer you could always just leave 🙂