Calpe/Denia area route recommendations

Thanks Enginerelight, appreciate that.

Hi Dave.

The first is an idea for a route towards Denia from Potes. It ends in Sigüenza. Sigüenza is a very nice, safe, good little town with plenty to explore once you get there and stretch your legs for. Apart form a very nice Parador in an old Castle.

http://www.parador.es/es/paradores/...esiguenza&utm_term=organico&utm_content=ficha

When I stayed there it was €80. Where in the UK can you stay in a 12th century castle (foundations dating back to the 5th) for €80?? Doable in 5 hours (riding, 6:30 with stops).

Although I have not done that exact route in it's totality I have done parts of it and can confidently say that it will be relatively traffic free and far more entertaining than the equivalent ride on a motorway via Madrid. That N234 towards Soria is a far superior route to the A1 for biking. I even take that road all the way from Asturias by car sometimes, it's part of the historical El Cid route. I usually head east from Soria but you will head south from there.

Here it is:

Standby...... just looked closely and too much motorway...... being edited.....done

https://www.google.es/maps/dir/Pote...ca2a607cc8955!2m2!1d-2.646407!2d41.071417!3e0

Part 2 to come......

The second part I have done a few times and is now my preferred route north. That road through the National Park Of the Serrania de Cuenca is a joy of wide, empty, flowing bends and straights, hills and forests. Make sure that your tank is full at the start because it will be some time before you encounter an en-route fuel station. However, easily doable on a GS tankfull. There is one in Tragacete as you exit the village.

It is quite a long day but when you get to Requena you have a choice;

You can follow my route down via Buñol to Bicorp which will make the day 8 hours long (less actually because Google plans with speed limits).

OR

You can carry on the A3 towards Valencia, pick up the A7 and be in Moraira in just over an hour cutting off an hour of your journey.

Personally I find these A roads far less tiring than motorways so it's a case of seeing how you feel when you get to Buñol.

If you choose to cut it short, then it's a good suggestion to go up that (Bicorp - Buñol) road on a ride-out from Moraira if you feel that you must.

https://www.google.es/maps/dir/Sigu...ee4f9f815c0a!2m2!1d0.1325342!2d38.6889452!3e0

I hope these help.

Trust me, I have a fair amount of experience of ways to go N-S and S-N and at the risk of seeming to be a real pain in the arse, unless you really love your motorways, I have to keep repeating that these roads are biking heaven.

You won't regret it, I promise you.

Enginerelight, your a star, big thanks for taking the time to compile those routes. I especially like the look of the Bunol one.
As to that route south from Potes I’m going to take a closer look and perhaps change my current route. I had planned on visiting the aqueduct in Segovia on my way to my overnight stop in San Agustin del Guadalix, I may then look at incorporating that Bunol route into my route down to Moraira.
Thanks again, much appreciated.

No Worries, you are welcome.

I was going to do that on my way up this year but sadly, I ran out of time. I stayed in Siguenza and then designed a route up to Puebla de Sanabria. Along the way I stopped off at El Cid's castle (called that but not sure it was actually his) and took a winding forest route. At midday I stopped for fuel and had a look at how many kms I still had to go and saw 350!!! So I decided to skip the aqueduct and head straight for Sanabria.

Anyway, enjoy, let us know how you get on.

All the very best,

Fred

Enginerelight said:

Hi Dave.

The first is an idea for a route towards Denia from Potes. It ends in Sigüenza. Sigüenza is a very nice, safe, good little town with plenty to explore once you get there and stretch your legs for. Apart form a very nice Parador in an old Castle.

http://www.parador.es/es/paradores/...esiguenza&utm_term=organico&utm_content=ficha

When I stayed there it was €80. Where in the UK can you stay in a 12th century castle (foundations dating back to the 5th) for €80?? Doable in 5 hours (riding, 6:30 with stops).

Although I have not done that exact route in it's totality I have done parts of it and can confidently say that it will be relatively traffic free and far more entertaining than the equivalent ride on a motorway via Madrid. That N234 towards Soria is a far superior route to the A1 for biking. I even take that road all the way from Asturias by car sometimes, it's part of the historical El Cid route. I usually head east from Soria but you will head south from there.

Here it is:

Standby...... just looked closely and too much motorway...... being edited.....done

https://www.google.es/maps/dir/Pote...ca2a607cc8955!2m2!1d-2.646407!2d41.071417!3e0

Part 2 to come......

Click to expand...

Stayed in Parador de Siguenza in June. Upgraded to a lovely superior room (balcony looking out into the castle courtyard) and it was 188 Euros for two of us, half board. Standard room, B&B, for one will probably be around 100 Euros. Thoroughly recommended!

The road between Soria and Siguenza is fantastic, especially if you avoid the tunnel.

And the road between Siguenza and Requena is great. Apart from my sorties ooop north and back I do two sorties of 3/4 days with my Valencia group in spring and autumn. This spring we went to Canfranc and we took this road home afterwards (but from Molina de Aragon - where there is another 12th c hotel). The autumn one is planned to go up to Siguenza initially because they want to ride that road again.

I have no idea where we'll go from there yet, but we have 2 days after Sigüenza to get back to Valencia and I haven't decided whether to loop north and back, or round the east of Madrid. I'm tempted to take a gamble and do the latter because it is an area I am totally unfamiliar with.

I hope you've made it safely to Potes, Dave. Two weeks until we're all there, eh, Arsey?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBZFfWLdGCQ

Here is a very small 8 minute video of a very small part of that road (east of Cuenca). The very beginning is a back road which improves. It shows you how empty these roads are, how wide and sweeping (at times) but also, as I said, through forests and moors.

The first 2:20 part of a back road that we took but he nice bit (most is more like this) starts afterwards.

As I say, it's only 8 mnutes of a very entertaining and much longer road.

Don't be too critical of my crap riding, I'd only had the bike a couple of months and was (am) still getting used to it.

Arrived in Bilbao in pouring rain which followed me on and off all the way to Ojedo, still at least it’s warm rain.
One thing slightly concerned me while chatting on board the ferry I was informed by another motorcyclists that it is illegal in Spain to use a helmet cam, is this true or not. I’ve searched the net but can’t find a definitive answer so just a little concerned that I may not be able to film my ride.
Can anyone advice me as to whether this is true or not, thanks.

Historically there were some anomolies in Spain & Portugal, relating to the need for consent from any person being filmed/recorded. My understanding is that common sense prevailed eventually, but some of our Spanish residents may chip in with an understanding of the actuality. Obviously hooning for the camera will attract undesirable attention everywhere.

Otherwise, radar detectors are illegal. Satnavs - OK, but you must not be seen to touch the screen or adjust settings on the move (hence BMW wonderwheel - very difficult to detect). Ear pieces/buds & headphones - technically illegal, but again difficult to detect unless obvious. Roadside checks a plenty I understand - not uncommon to be stopped & breathalised in the morning in some areas. DD not so bad in Spain now, but watch out around Gentlemans Clubs on the edge of town mid pm. If you stray into Portugal, you will detect DD regularly, particularly in country areas, so take care.

Check out the AA European Touring advice icon ......... https://www.theaa.com/european-breakdown-cover/driving-in-europe/country-by-country

Hopefully you will find some better weather further south. Have a safe trip.

Hi Dave,

Sorry to hear that you're having rain. September "can" be a mixed bag but generally it is the best month.

I use an app called eltiempo.es . There's a tab top left that comes up with a menu. If you tap Meteo Maps you will get a further menu where you can choose an area. Choose Spain. The first tab is a rain tab and it will play either automatically or you can slide the slider and it will give you the prediction in animated form of the movement of the rain band across Spain over 5 days. It gives you a broad brush picture intially. You can (from the home screen) tap the search tab and specify towns, cities and someimes villages. This gives you a 3 day accurate depiction of weather with wind speeds and probability of rain in percentages. There are two tabs; hours and days and the days tab will give you about 10 days worth of prediction which I find less accurate.

Cameras.

I have dashcams in all my vehicles and will be installing the INNOVV K2 on my bike next week.

I think we are confusing two seperate issues here and the laws are, indeed, woolly. As a safety camera, for the purposes of using the footage in court you may be wasting your time because usually the prosecution/defence (depending on which side you are on) will almost certainly motion to disallow the footage. As far as I know, there is no "precedent" system in Spanish law which is very backward. Personally, I defy a judge to disallow evidence which can help in the verification of facts where someone has lost their life. Dashcams are not common here, though so I haven't heard of a case. As I say, with no "precedent" law, then it's largely academic anyway because each case will be heard and judged on its own merits.

I suspect (I stress this is opinion - I have never been stopped for having clearly visible go-pros on my bike or dashcams on my windscreen) that what the authorites don't like is the Teletubbie look, and so sticking stuff that protrudes from helmets in such a way as to be able to cause leverage on the helmet in the event of a fall and therefore stress on the neck changes the properties of the helmet, or at least "can" do. Essentially, the general rule here in Spain is that if anything, by virtue of an add-on or modification from its original homologated form, has it's properties changed and has not been homologated with the new properties, then it's not allowed. And obviously, I'm talking about such things as vehicles, and safety equipment; anything that needs homologation in the first place as helmets inevitably do. Toilet paper or underwear (unless it's essential safety equipment) do not count.

Other cameras, like the Ghost or bullet cams that attach to the sides, whilst more discreet from a distance will be easily spotted unless you are swift with your helmet removal. They too effectively can alter the properties of the helmet and cause it to twist and therefore cause damage to the neck.

Thanks so much for all that info Enginerelight really useful.
I must be honest we always come away in September and have always had great weather so perhaps the law of averages has come into play this time, no worries as it certainly won’t spoil our week here in Moraira but I’ll certainly give that website a browse.
As to the camera issue I’m going to give it a miss and leave it in the tank bag as it’s a “sticky out” type.

Jacal said:

Sorry I can't help with any routes but we stay in Calpe most years and love the winding coast road, make shure you stop in Grizzlys, it gets a few bikers in there and the beer and food is good

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just been in grizzlys what a dissapointment,used to be the german bar i believe ? staff seen to be devoid of any personality or customer service and the food was at best average,of course just my opinion

autogs said:

just been in grizzlys what a dissapointment,used to be the german bar i believe ? staff seen to be devoid of any personality or customer service and the food was at best average,of course just my opinion

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Then it must have changed drastically since June and yes it was previously known as the "German bar"....Found the staff to be really helpful and the food delicious.....

Just my opinion

best paces to eat i reckon is the olive tree on the coast road from moraira to calpe and bistro selene in jalon/xalo, try em next time your out that way and tell me im right!

autogs said:

best paces to eat i reckon is the olive tree on the coast road from moraira to calpe and bistro selene in jalon/xalo, try em next time your out that way and tell me im right!

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Your first name isn't "Always" by any chance is it
The family have been going to Calpe for over ten years and staying in a villa not a quarter of a mile from Grizzly's which, I agree was better when it was the German Bar....We've seen a few good groups play there. I'm a pescetarian so the best places for me are the numerous fish restaurants down at the front also for a great curry there's the Himalaya Tandoori restaurant in Moraira but 'each to there own'....Just love the area

did the himalaya as well thought it was ok but prefered the punjab on calpe sea front by the dry river bed,not always right by any means but you wont go wrong with the other 2 i mentioned,do i get xtra points for having stayed in jalon for the last 12 years

Will try your recommendations BUT the Punjab!, just down one of the ally's from Coconuts ......Plaeeeeese Try the fish bars round the headland/rock....You won't go far wrong

Take the bike up to Guadlest - there's a cool Montessa/ motorcycle museum on the way if you go from Althea...

take a ride to xalo and enjoy the .... hold on it's a secret!