King of the Hills Road Cycling Tour from Ronda

Self-Guided Road Cycling Tour in Andalucia

This self-guided road cycling tour covers a 350 km circuit starting from the town of Ronda, exploring the mountains and valleys of the Malaga and Cadiz provinces. Each day involves significant climbing along with substantial mileage. At the end of each day, you will stay in a different traditional white village, providing an opportunity to immerse yourself in the local culture while taking in the stunning mountain scenery of the region.

On this road cycling tour in Spain, you will face extensive ascents, but the roads are in excellent condition, and the many exhilarating descents are a well-deserved reward for your efforts.

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Overview

 

START:  Ronda     FINISH:  Ronda

This tour can be started in Malaga, adding 2 or 3 extra days of riding. Price on request.

Price	From €1045 p.p. based on 2 people sharing a double or twin room with breakfast
Duration	7 days	6 nights	5 cycling days
Distance	351km total	70km daily avg     ( max 76km: min 63km )
Grading	Challenging - A lot of climbing and long descents throughout this tour. Total tour ascent is 8130m, daily average ascent 1626m, with plenty of "ups-and-downs" along the way.
Availability	March - June | Sep - November  Choose the dates which suit you. Start on any day of the week. N.B. Supplements may apply during Easter week due to inflated accommodation prices.

 

King of the Hills Road Cycling Tour Highlights

Riding Highlights Smooth, quiet, mountain and country roads Varied scenery - rocky limestone mountains, forested hills and river valleys Amazing vistas at every turn Bianchi Carbon framed bike	Experiences Ronda 'City of Dreams' Staying in Jimena de la Frontera, Arcos de la Frontera, Grazalema and Setenil de las Bodegas Fantastic mountain climbs Long mountain ascents and descents, incl. Las Palomas Pass

 

Itinerary

 

Arrival Day in Ronda

Extra sightseeing days can be added on request

Check in to your hotel and enjoy the sights and sounds of the beautiful clifftop town of Ronda. Briefing and bike set-up will take place on your first evening.

 

Riding Day 1 - Ronda to Jimena de la Frontera

72km +1595m

Warm up your legs for the week with a route that skirts the edge of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, drops down to a river crossing, and then back up to a mountain ridge that runs above the river valley. You follow the ridge with views of another valley to the south, the Genal valley, full of chestnut trees. You will follow the undulating ridge line, passing through a series of white villages - Atajate, Benadalid, Algatocin, and Gaucin. Then head down off the ridge on a fantastic twisting descent past fields and farms to sea level. A final climb takes you up to the village of Jimena de la Frontera, where you will spend the night.

Riding Day 2 - Jimena de la Frontera to Arcos de la Frontera

63km +1356m

Today’s ride begins with a steady climb out of Jimena up into the heart of the Alcornocales Natural Park. The first half of your route is true “away-from-it-all” with no villages and only occasional traffic as you take a twisting road through acres of forests – pine, fir, and holm oak. Take a break at an isolated venta (roadside restaurant) then continue north, down towards the still waters of Guadalcacin reservoir. Ride on past the village of Algar and just a few small communities before you reach a sheer cliff with the town of Arcos de la Frontera perched on top. Ride up into the town for the night.

Riding Day 3 - Arcos de la Frontera to Grazalema

69km +1664m

A day with a series of hill climbs, finishing with a challenging Cat 2 ascent. In the morning the route is relatively flat, with dramatic limestone mountains directly ahead of you. You will touch the edge of this mountain range, then skirt around on more steadily rising ground via the small village of Prado del Rey. Continue on to the village of Zahara de la Sierra, then follow an undulating road along the edge of the blue waters of Zahara lake. At the end of the lake, you take a small road that twists and turns up the hillside to the village of Grazalema, nestled in between the mountains.

Riding Day 4 - Grazalema to Setenil de las Bodegas

69km +1740m

Leaving Grazalema you head straight above the village, up into the mountains to Las Palomas Pass – 1232m - from where you get fantastic views across the mountains to the north and south. Then enjoy the thrilling, twisting 12km descent back down to Zahara village. Done in reverse, this is a Cat 1 climb, so for stronger riders, you can switch around the end of Day 4 above and the start of Day 5, to include this Cat 1 climb. The route continues in a loop through more white villages (La Muela, Olvera, and Torre Alhaquime) before descending through the olive tree-filled countryside into Setenil de las Bodegas.

Riding Day 5 - Setenil de las Bodegas to Ronda

76km +1775m

A final day of riding takes you away from the forests into a completely different landscape, filled with acres of olive trees stretching out as far as the eye can see. There are still plenty of mountains, as olives can still grow on seemingly precarious slopes and the mountain villages stand proud on the tops of the hills, with views for miles around. The last climb up to the Puerto del Viento (Windy Pass!) is 10km on a beautiful but challenging road from the village of El Burgo to a max altitude of 1190 meters high. You ride through craggy mountains along the edge of the Sierra de las Nieves National Park and finish the day with a smile-inducing descent into Ronda.

Depart Day

Extra sightseeing days can be added on request

Check out from your hotel and have a safe trip home or to your next destination.

We can provide transfers to your next destination or airports of Sevilla or Malaga. POA

We hope to see you again in the future.

What's Included

 

WHAT'S INCLUDED 6 nights of accommodation on a B&B basis  Luggage transfers Carbon-framed road bike Helmet (or bring your own) & 2 water bottles Route GPS (phone App with daily routes, profiles, and maps, no Data-usage required) or GPX files Annotated route maps  Briefing Pack, incl day-by-day route notes Briefing meeting on arrival   We operate locally to Ronda, so support is always close at hand if needed See our suggested KIT LIST for mountain biking in Spain.

ACCOMMODATION Your tour goes through a mix of large and small towns and more rural areas, so the accommodation style and standard will vary greatly. In the larger towns, we usually book 4**** or 3*** hotels; outside of these, you will stay in countryside haciendas, boutique B&Bs or traditional-style village hotels. All rooms have en-suite facilities. Our selections are based on clean and comfortable accommodation (if sometimes quite simple), friendly owners and staff, a warm welcome, bike storage, and sometimes a swimming pool too.

ROUTE NAVIGATION For self-guided road cycling tours, we provide a GPS application on your mobile phone.  We give free access to the application which can be used in offline mode for each day's ride.  The app. shows maps and the route in great detail. We supply a quality phone holder on the bike to keep your phone safe. We also provide a large-scale, annotated map, designed specifically for your tour by Hike and Bike, giving you a perspective of where you are at all times.

FAQs

 

IS THERE A LOT OF TRAFFIC ON THE ROUTE?

Our Road Cycling Tours are designed to follow the ‘less-travelled path’. The routes avoid traffic and busier roads as much as possible, in favour of quiet country roads. Drivers in Andalucia are generally very considerate to cyclists.

 

HOW FIT DO I NEED TO BE?

Our Road Cycling Tours are graded from ‘Moderate’ to ‘Challenging’, with daily distances from 35-75km and varying levels of ascent, depending on the specific tour. They are designed for cycling enthusiasts who have good to excellent fitness and are happy to be on a bike for 4+ hours a day. Check the individual tour Itinerary for a daily breakdown of distance and ascent.

 

WHAT’S THE WEATHER LIKE?

Our cycling tours run from March through to November, with the best cycling weather from March to June and from September to November. Most routes are also possible during the summer months but we recommend an earlier start to beat the main heat of the day, and don’t forget to carry plenty of water.

 

WHAT HAPPENS TO MY LUGGAGE?

We transfer all your main luggage for you. We provide a rear seat trunk bag or small side pannier and a handlebar bag (per couple) to carry a few essential items with you each day e.g. water, snacks, sunscreen, but we recommend you travel light.

 

HOW DO I NAVIGATE EACH DAY?

Navigation on this tour is very easy with our phone app. RidewithGPS. We provide personalised daily routes from door-to-door of each day’s accommodation. The app shows maps and daily routes in great detail, with distances and route profiles, so you always know what is coming up. The app is used in offline mode so you do not need to use Data on your phone and can still navigate in areas where there is no phone signal.

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE A PUNCTURE OR PROBLEM WITH MY BIKE?

On this self-guided tour, we provide all the necessary kit on your bikes for you to fix your own flat tyres or deal with minor mechanical issues (e.g. broken chain). If you do not know how, ask a bike mechanic at home to show you before your holiday or check our Bike Repair notes at the bottom of every webpage. If you need our assistance, you can call us on the number provided and we will help as much as possible on the phone; we may be able to attend to minor mechanical issues but this may be subject to a charge. In the case of a more major mechanical issue, we will come to repair the bike or bring a replacement.

 

WHAT MEALS ARE INCLUDED?

All accommodation includes breakfast (unless specifically stated). Lunch and dinner are not included, so you are free to eat when and where you wish. We mark up your map with suggested lunch locations. Your hosts can recommend dining options, or sometimes they will serve dinner – this information will be included in your daily route notes.

 

IS THIS TOUR AVAILABLE WITH A GUIDE / SUPPORT?

We can offer a guided version of this tour with qualified guides and support vehicles or a semi-supported version with a support vehicle and driver/mechanic. There is a minimum requirement of 6 people to be able to provide this service. Please do not hesitate to enquire about price and availability.

 

WHAT IF I NEED TO CANCEL OR CHANGE MY BOOKING?

If you need to cancel or change the dates of a booking, we have a scaled set of charges based on the work already completed and any costs already incurred which we cannot get back. If you re-book a holiday with us within 12 months of a cancellation which has incurred charges, we will credit up to 50% of the retained amount to the new holiday. Our full cancellation policy can be found here