Cycling from Malaga to Seville

[2seas]

I'm off to Spain next week and i'm taking my road bike. This is my first cycling trip abroad. I've only owned a road bike for about a year so I wouldn't say I was particularly 'experienced'. After a couple of days mooching around Malaga I plan to cycle to Seville over three days. I have no friends so i'm going on my own. Here's the route I have for each leg:

Malaga to Ronda
http://goo.gl/maps/O5PdB

Ronda to Arcos De La Frontera
http://goo.gl/maps/LUhQs

Arcos De La Frontera to Seville
http://goo.gl/maps/XYlfG

I'll then faff about in Seville for a couple of days before renting a car and shooting back to Malaga for the return flight. The route isn't mega miles each day as i'd like to get to each place with plenty of time to explore.

If anyone's been to these areas and has any suggestions please let me know.

Current forecast is highs of 29 and lows of 21, and sunny each day. Smug.

[Matt London]

I rode Marbella-Ronda-El Burgo- Coin-Marbella last year. The route across the Sierra wasisnames between Ronda and Coin was beautiful and the roads were excellent.

With the recent fires it is not going to look so good. It's probably worth checking if the roads were damaged.

Have a good one.

[burriana]

Effin' hell. It's going to be hot. Sevilla in August is 40-45 degrees. Can't see it being that much cooler in September!

Ronda is lovely though, try to stay at the paradors if you can. Gorgeous old buildings. Sevilla is also a beautiful city. Just go walkabout and eat at the many tapas bars.

Very envious

[Cupramax]

burriana said:

Effin' hell. It's going to be hot. Sevilla in August is 40-45 degrees. Can't see it being that much cooler in September!

This, your f ing mad in that sort of heat.

[MG511]

Was in Sevillle in early September a couple of years ago, it was 36 degrees at 6:30pm when we arrived and too hot to walk, never mind cycle, the following day. Recently returned from Murcia, it was 45 degrees in the shade some days, Spain is very hot this time of year. On the plus side, Ronda and Seville are both great places, and the surrounding countryside and villages are wonderful, enjoy your trip.

[2seas]

I'm back. For anyone else thinking about cycling in Andalucia: DO IT!. Fantastic roads, beautiful views/scenery, delicious food and wonderful people. Overall I did ~220 miles (in 3 days), over several mountain passes in 35c.

All the gear:



Some pics of the roads/views:









And some pretty cool towns:

[burriana]

Ronda I do believe?

Looks fantastic. pretty cool bike box too. is it yours? How much do they cost out of interest?

[2seas]

burriana said:

Ronda I do believe?

Looks fantastic. pretty cool bike box too. is it yours? How much do they cost out of interest?

It is indeed Ronda. I'm stood just inside the old town looking at the bridge over the gorge towards the new town.

The pannier bags were great - i borrowed them off a mate. Fully waterproof and clip on/off in a second and very secure. I think he said they were ~£150..

[burriana]

Not the panniers, the bike travel box?

[2seas]

burriana said:

Not the panniers, the bike travel box?

Oh sorry, it's one of these: http://bikeboxalan.co.uk/

I got it at a Triathlon show for £400. Really well designed and strong with plenty of room. There was no issue checking it in - you just get directed to outsize baggage as it wont fit through the normal belt.

[TKF]

I stayed in Ronda for a week and found it tough driving my hire car up from Malaga so respect for riding it.

[Matt London]

2seas said:

Oh sorry, it's one of these: http://bikeboxalan.co.uk/

I got it at a Triathlon show for £400. Really well designed and strong with plenty of room. There was no issue checking it in - you just get directed to outsize baggage as it wont fit through the normal belt.

I emailed bikeboxalan and they said they will be at the London Triathlon expo this weekend.

[2seas]

Matt London said:

2seas said:

Oh sorry, it's one of these: http://bikeboxalan.co.uk/

I got it at a Triathlon show for £400. Really well designed and strong with plenty of room. There was no issue checking it in - you just get directed to outsize baggage as it wont fit through the normal belt.

I emailed bikeboxalan and they said they will be at the London Triathlon expo this weekend.

The boxes are great but the customer service i got when i bought one at the tri show was dire. The guy just didn't seem that interested in selling it. When I asked for a demo he basically just opened the box so I could see inside - didn't even describe how the bike fits in and the various security features.

They also only took cash?! The nearest cash point was one of those charge ones which i refuse to use. I had to drive out to town to get some cash which was a ballache and the guy was completely unapologetic - as though it was normal for people to be walking around with £400 of cash!

So if you want to buy one i'd say take cash with you and then barter him down..

[essayer]

TKF said:

I stayed in Ronda for a week and found it tough driving my hire car up from Malaga so respect for riding it.

this 100%. good effort especially in the heat.

[Matt London]

2seas said:

The boxes are great but the customer service i got when i bought one at the tri show was dire. The guy just didn't seem that interested in selling it. When I asked for a demo he basically just opened the box so I could see inside - didn't even describe how the bike fits in and the various security features.

They also only took cash?! The nearest cash point was one of those charge ones which i refuse to use. I had to drive out to town to get some cash which was a ballache and the guy was completely unapologetic - as though it was normal for people to be walking around with £400 of cash!

So if you want to buy one i'd say take cash with you and then barter him down..

Cheers. If they have that attitude I think I will just order online and pay by CC. I would prefer the protection.

Well done on the ride. I am really looking forward to repeating my ride next year.

[TKF]

How did you get on with weight on the box and the baggage restrictions?

I recently hired one from here www.bikebox-online.co.uk and had the choice between BikeBoxAlan and a Polaris Bike Pod.

I went for the Pod purely because it's 1kg lighter (10 vs 11kg). BA have a 23kg weight limit and my bike, helmet and tools came in at 22.5kg. My shoes went in hand luggage but the track pump was too long so I had to leave it at home.

[2seas]

TKF said:

How did you get on with weight on the box and the baggage restrictions?

I recently hired one from here www.bikebox-online.co.uk and had the choice between BikeBoxAlan and a Polaris Bike Pod.

I went for the Pod purely because it's 1kg lighter (10 vs 11kg). BA have a 23kg weight limit and my bike, helmet and tools came in at 22.5kg. My shoes went in hand luggage but the track pump was too long so I had to leave it at home.

Well I have a large frame and my bike fit in with plenty of room for track pump (also a large one) and all my gear. If I had put just the bike, bike shoes, helmet, pump and a few spares in I would have been within the 23kg limit. As it was I put in ALL my stuff (i.e. all the clothes for the holiday, assorted gadgets, heavy chain, toiletries etc) and the total weight was 32kg!

BA are great. If you're way over the limit then they just charge you as though you were checking an extra bag in: so £40 is what they charged me extra for the flight to malaga. If you were just a kg or two over i'm sure they'd let it slide. As it happens, on the return from Malaga back to London they didn't charge me anything extra!

A major justification for choosing to fly BA over those other stty budget planes. They would have raped me. Repeatedly. No lube.

[TKF]

I really didn't want to risk going over the weight restriction. £30 for the box hire, £40 to get there, £40 to get home. I was only there for a one-day sportive and for that money you can hire a pretty decent bike for a day.

I'm currently using it as an argument for n+1 because my bike is clearly too heavy and I need a much lighter one for European rides.

[Hackney]

Good luck!

We were in Manilva (just south of your start point) a couple of weeks ago. It's about 2km from the coast but up a serious hill. Wish I'd had the bike with me!

I was a bit disappointed the Vuelta didn't really "tour" Spain, just stayed in the far North, otherwise I would have made the effort to go and see it.