Day 39: Llíber (Cycle)

I awoke to a very cold van - 3°C inside 1°C outside - The windscreen was covered in ice! And then the sun rose:

By 10 o'clock I was ready to leave and was pleased that the temperature had risen to about 10°C and rising, with clear blue skies, when not in shade, it felt warmer.

So of I went for a ride with a far amount of climbing, first up was the Coll de Rates (Elevation 626m, 365m of Ascent), some descending and a climb up to Tárbena, which was followed by a very long enjoyable descent down to Callosa d'en Sarria (ok, so there are some short climbs as you get closer to Callosa!).

Shortly thereafter the BIG climb of the day commenced to Port de Confrides (Elevation 970m, 801m of Ascent).

Here is a photo of El Castell de Guadalest (Elevation 525m), which is a bit of a tourist hot spot:

Onwards and up upwards I went until the Coll was reached:

And another fine descent was had to Gorga (where I ate my lunch sat on the roundabout's centre piece!):

Well, mostly it was down! Be prepared for a short fairly step climb up out from a river crossing a few kilometres from Gorga.

The final climb was to Fageca (Elevation 774, 271m of Ascent), which is a rollercoaster of a climb - up and down like a yoyo!

However, the good news is that from Fageca it is generally down hill for 32 kilometres (or 20 miles in old money)! Not only that, as I started the descent a women's cycling team came passed me to which I managed to catch on to the back of the pack, for a pretty fast run until we parted ways in Alcalali, where we parted was with only about 4.5 kilometres left to do!
[I'm not sure what the etiquette is with regards to joining onto the back of a team of cyclists, but we've done so with a group of men in the past, so I'm assuming it is ok with the women also! Always best to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission! I'm sure they could have left this old man in their wake if they so wished!]

A great end to a great day of cycling.

• Distance driven: 0
• Distance cycled: 116 kilometres
• Weather: Cold start, but soon becoming just about ideal cycling conditions (for me anyway).

Today's route: