Mojácar, Almeria – a quiter version of Mallorca | Subscribe to Cycling Weekly here: https://www.youtube.com/user/CyclingWeekly1?sub_confirmation=1
Hi everybody, this week i travelled to Andalucia, near Almeria in Spain. We were travelling with a company called velohols (https://www.velohols.co.uk/) who organise road cycling trips in the area. While there I have made this vlog to showcase the area, which I think is best described as a quieter version of Majorca, with stunning roads, challenging climbs, a warm climate and next to no traffic.
I was joined by ex-pro and founder of Le Col, Yanto Barker as we were also there to make some other videos for Cycling Weekly, so stay tuned for them. I hope you enjoy the vlog and that i have managed to capture what a great place to cycle this is. As ever stay tuned for the competition at the end.
– Velohols: https://www.velohols.co.uk/
– Instagram posts from the area – https://www.instagram.com/p/BhRzUEqhpL5/?taken-by=dr_oliverb
– And here are some Strava stats: https://www.strava.com/activities/1492779018
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45 Comments
Berlin is very flat, but a great place to visit to ride. Lots of nice lakes.
One for Oli being a northern lad, the pennines in the north of England around the Lancashire Yorkshire border, great scenery, cracking climbs, some short sharp ones pitching to 24% in places and some long grinds. Roads keep you on your toes though 😉😉😉
I know you Europeans love your continent and stuff (which is nice, I guess), but here's an underrated destination: Mexico City. You're literally surrounded by mountains (the city is in a valley), so there are both hills and mountains to climb, but if you drive just one hour south, you have 30° weather in Winter and some fantastic roads. Plus, our food is far better than any European thing you throw at me.
a link to women's team jersey please
if you want to know a great cycling destination that is not well know please visit Croatian Adriatic coast, we have one of the best coastal areas in the world and the tourism is blooming in the last 10 years, if you want to see all it's beauty you can watch UCI Road Race "Tour of Croatia 2018" that starts on the 17th of april and especially look out for a segment during one of the stages that passes through the national park "Plitvička Jezera"
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVApRCiA_VivGvCJlXsSJTg/feed
I think a great uncommon cycling destination is The Adirondack Region of upstate New York. The mountains are absolutely beautiful, tons of little towns with great coffee (or beer!) stops, and the other road users are used to cyclists because of Ironman Lake Placid being in there. The scenery is gorgeous and it is the largest national park in the United States. It's pretty much inaccessible in winter, but the summers have great weather.
It has to be Gran Canaria Ollie epic climbs inland or coastal runs on very quiet roads & the weather, oh my days I plan to retire there.
Norway, the beautiful fjords are amazing to ride 🙂 weather might not be the best but it make up for it in the scenery.
Moganshan near Hangzhou China. Great rides and countryside close to Shanghai. Luckily not many of your viewers will venture that far !
Yorkshire hands down
Best place to ride is jerusalem for sure.
You got flat and uphill sections.
And mostly importand the people in there.
New Jersey. Ha not
Something in America would be good
Lanzarote, amazing roads, great weather, decent climbs and it’s cheap with some amazing accommodation. Oh and this is my first cycling weekly video and I subscribed and liked 🙂
Gorges du Tarn, Massif Central, France which is sometimes transition day routes for TDF. Fantastic, amazing, beautiful scenery and chance for lots of sunflower field (pro looking) pics. I have spent many summers in that area and I know the featured Cat 3 climb from Ambialet to Saint-Cirgue in TDF 2015 very well and often dream of being a very slow, overweighted Thomas De Gendt riding for my KOM points.
ps: loved the way you slipped in just out with Yanto Barker today, like hey I ride with cool ex-pros all the time guys.
definitely Sardinia, place where you are knocking on heavens door, so quiet without traffic on endless mountain roads..
https://www.strava.com/activities/1175968126
The western part of Jutland in Denmark. It might not be the most sexy place but it’s really nice in the summer. I especially like to ride round the Ringkøbing fjord it’s completely flat but the wind will make it very hard. And you can simulate climbs with the strong headwind you get out there.
I'm amazed no one has mentioned Colombia. Fly into Medellin and grab Strava routes or, better still, get a good bike tour company to show you the countryside. The scenery is beautiful, the weather is great, people are friendly and it's safe.
Bonus – your friends and family will remember the bad narco times there and see you as an adventuring bad-ass. Little do they know if Rapha and others are running tours it can be the war-zone they imagine.
I normally head to Mallorca "as many do" but couldn't this year but after the absolute shite weather in Feb I was at wits end.. After a bit of searching my normal trip to Mallorca was costing a fair whack so I took a chance and found a return flight with Easy for under £200 and a cheap hotel in "Malaga" I stayed just west of the airport and managed to do a weeks trip for about £300. Hotel was cheap and 20 mins by direct train almost to the front door it was perfect for what I needed and could keep bike in the room, I had loads of restaurants around me and was a 10 minute warm up spin from the Mountains.. Down side was to get to the roads east of the City you need to get down a short section of the MA-21 road which whilst not fun is fine as the drivers give you lots of room.. All in there is far more to European cycling breaks than Mallorca and knowing what I know now I would have scheduled in a days mountain biking rental with a up lift company, I have not Mountain biked in years but the off road opportunities seem to be copious….
If you are ever in Thailand check out Chiang Mai, absolute lovely place for all types of riding. Good climbs with Doi sutep and a decent community that offer lots of group rides if needed.. I spent a week there and loved every minute of it, I hear a lot of the Asian conti teams train in the region..
Shimanami Kaido in Onomichi Japan, highly under rated and has an amazing cycling path across all the suspension bridges including one of the longest cable stayed bridges in the world. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3478.html
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland.
The east coast of Ireland. So underrated that despite being a £20 Ryanair flight away, YOU haven't even been here Ollie (that I've seen in a video anyway). Stunning scenery, snaking quiet roads, epic climbs short and long, and all close enough to Dublin/civilisation that you don't need to rent a car. If you like your beloved dales (that's redundant), you'll love the WIcklow Mountains.
Suggest Sivota in Greece, some great cycling. Also it's serviced by a Neilson Beach Club Resort (The Retreat)
my favorit cycling spot is antwerp Belgium where i live because the weather is shitty most of the time with a lot of wind and we also have lot of crappy roads, lots of traffic and angry cardrivers who would like to push you off the road. so why is this my favorit cycling spot? because now on every cycling vacation i go either it is in france or spain or italy or even the uk it Always feels like i'm in cycling heaven
I go there every year! 6x already. Always good weather, good roads, nice climbs! I go with Kortweg from Belgium.
Evening Ollie, my recommendation for a (slightly) lesser known bike holiday would be in the Serra de Monchique region in the Algarve, Portugal. There's one big climb, Foia, that goes to just over 900m that has a lovely restaurant at the summit with brilliant views for miles, the roads are quiet as you are away from the hustle and bustle of the coast, although you may get chased by the odd farm dog! I've visited on numerous occasions but only ridden a bike once, in pre-strava days, so I'm really keen to get back and get my name on the leaderboard, albeit probably near the bottom on current form!
Croatia. Specially Dalmatia and Istria 👍🇭🇷
Hi, very nice video, it warms my body in this Mancunian winter that will never end…
About an underrated/unknown destination for cycling I suggest my homeland : Jura mountains in the East of France. Really easy to go there by plane with the Geneva airport. From there you have access to very remote and quiet roads with stunning view. This is where you can have the best view on the Swiss and French Alps.
You can also test yourself with some very hard climbing : http://www.cycling-challenge.com/the-ten-highest-paved-cycling-climbs-in-the-jura-mountains/
And finally, you can reward yourself with the best food and wine all over the country (completely honest 😉 ).
Cheers.
Spain looks great 👍 there is no question that Europe has lots to offer, great roads, mountains and sunshine but I’d like to see more cycling from around Scotland. The landscape is amazing and it’s right on our doorstep. I will be the first to admit that I have spent more time on holiday abroad than in this country. One day I would like to try the West Coast 500.
We have a holiday home nearby in a village Lucainena and it's a fantastic place for road cycling. The last time I rode abroad with my son was over there
Taiwan is a highly underrated cycling destination. The terrain is amazingly varied with short punchy jungle climbs, flat coastal roads (Pacific!) and epic 90km ascents from sea level to 3200 metres (Wuling). From the capital Taipei you can climb to 1000 metres above sea level (Yangmingshan) in no time. Add amazing food and a burgeoning cycling culture to the mix and you've got a bonafide cycling mecca. And, like Spain, the roads are amazing too, unlike much of the rest of Asia.
https://www.strava.com/activities/958565967
the region of the appalaches because first I rode there I was amazed by the climbs (hard and steep) the road surface its amazing how large the roads are without having huge traffic
My suggestion is Lake Placid, New York in the US. Home to two winter Olympics the town has a great atmosphere to stay in and great roads around with plenty of climbs including the biggest climb up Whiteface Mountain which has a similar profile to Alpe d'Huez in terms or length and gradient. Fantastic area with stunning views and a great sporting community.
Small Heath, Birmingham, UK. It’s beautiful I promise.
Through the Adelaide Hills. It’s a beautiful landscape with hill and flat roads. The roads are alright but nothing can beat the beauty of the nature there.
Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Cabot Trail is a must on every cyclist’s dream list of touring routes. Cape Breton Highlands National Park will reveal to you Nova Scotia’s coastal beauty at its best. Discover one of the best cycling routes in North America! With some of the most magnificent scenery on the continent, this is overwhelmingly Atlantic Canada’s most popular bicycle touring route.
Not well known but the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, Canada. Fly into Halifax International and a short drive will have you in the middle of some of the best country roads. Lots of choices for fast flats along the Valley or climbs galore on either side with breathtaking views of the Valley on one side with apple orchards and vineyards or the Bay of Fundy on the other side with the worlds highest tides. It may not be a spring training destination but come in the summer for warm temperatures or in the fall to check out the colourful hardwood leaves. – Mike Turnbull
Hey Ollie I notice your riding the new propel , just wondering when your going to do a video on it ? 😁
How much for the coffee stop ?
Any group rides and bike shops in the area?
Great place for cycling was there when you guys were saw you on the bedar climb fan place
Scotland when it's not pissing down or blowing a gale.
Alassio, Italy
Hi Guys. I am planning on retiring to southern Spain in the very near future, but have never cycled in the South. Mojacar seems great. Please can anyone advise on say the top 3 areas to settle, where it would be awesome cycling roads please ( Obviously Mojacar is on the list after seeing this video )