Where is Dave?

Day 57: Sanatorio de Santa Eulalia de Merida (Cycle)

David -

A welcome return to the Parque Regional de Sierra Espuna. The climb from either direction to the Collado Bermejo (Elevation approximately 1200 metres) is excellent. And there is a bonus, if you so wish, you can take the turn off and continue climbing for another six kilometres and gain another 330 metres of elevation to the military do not proceed further WARNING SIGN! What's not to like, other than not being able to cycle to the very top!

The cycle to Pliego was mostly accomplished whilst cycling into a head wind but, fortunately, it was mostly descent: Pliego, is about 190 metres lower than where I started. It is not the best of lunch stops. The best thing about Pliego are the roads leading away from it! It is not worth a visit but, like I said, the roads out of it are good to cycle on. Also, it does have a roundabout sign:

The climb out of Pliego ends just after the elevation/coll/port/puerto/col/collado sign:

It is a shame that the only other official Garmin (navigational aid) climb of today, with a length of about 16.8 kilometres, terminating at Collado Bermejo, with an average gradient of 6%, doesn't have an elevation/collado sign! How comes the Espuna at 450 metres gets a sign, whilst the Bermejo at 1200 metres does not?

Anyway, the climb was good but, be warned, it is not a continuously upward climb. There are two key descents that on completion of each there is an increase in the remaining average gradient by 1%, thus, after the second descent, you are climbing at an average gradient of 8% ... so don't go off too fast at the start!!

Also, if you like climbs with multiple hairpins you are in for a treat; there are roughly 36 on this climb! There is one section of about two kilometres in length with 21!

I highly recommend cycling the Collado Bermejo. There are at least three routes to the pass: today's route, the one I'm doing tomorrow, and the one from Alhama de Murcia. They are all good.

  • Distance driven: 0
  • Distance cycled: 85 kilometres
  • Weather: A cool start (10°C), with a fair amount of cloud, brightened up later (14°C mid afternoon). Descent from Bermejo a bit chilly (both gloves and windstopper jacket deployed!)

Today's route: