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long ride is what you do when there’s no deadline. There’s nowhere to be, nothing to do, and no one asking what time you’ll be home. Free to go wherever you want, a long ride is a chance to lose yourself a little without explaining why this is necessary. It also helps if where you ride unravels over thousands of kilometers (9,000+ kms. of gravel roads here in Spain, just sayin’) because your long ride could last for days, weeks, or even months.
These long(ish) rides start and finish in Granada and should only take a few hours. There seem to be endless combinations for shortening or extending rides, so you can dial up or down your ride distance depending on your preferences. Before you go, take note of both your ride’s elevation gain and the daytime temperature because they can conspire against you if you’re not prepared with water, snacks, sunblock, or extra layers.
There are a few perks to going long in Andalusia, which are: public water fountains in every village, town, or city that your route passes through; and abundant cafes/bars where you can get coffee (or a cold beverage) and something to eat. A couple more tips: leave early and head for the mountains to avoid late spring and summer heat; or go south to the valley during winter to take advantage of rolling terrain and abundant sun exposure.
Circular: Granada-Santa Fe-Dehesa de Santa Fe
You’ll enjoy this ride a lot more if you don’t put any guardrails on your time.
The original name was “Not a summer ride,” which could be a label for several rides around Granada. So why this one? This ride south of Granada felt almost entirely off-road to me, which is something to be savored and not rushed. Even if you leave early, the sun will start to be a bully on the way up to its zenith. Another reason to ride during cooler temps is because it passes by hot springs in the Dehesa de Santa Fe, which may be worth stopping for.
Save this ride for another day if you’re sensitive to heat, or if you have to be somewhere. If you do this ride, tell me about your experience by dropping me an email wendy(at)trailsofthealhambra.com.
Circular: Sierra de Huétor-Puerto Lobo-Aguas Blancas
*The start/finish for this ride is where I accidentally pressed “Finished” instead of “Resume” after a map check. When I merged the two segments, Komoot made my blooper the ride’s start.
This is a perfect ride for July or August because you start out with an early pass through downtown, which is even more vacant while people are away on vacation. Then — before it gets blazing hot — you’re on your way up to cooler temperatures.
It gets even better once you enter the Parque Natural Sierra de Huétor because it’s a protected space with well-cared-for gravel roads. After a buttery ride through the park, you descend to the Aguas Blancas recreation area and then drop onto the road that rolls back down to Granada.
Circular: Granada to Láchar
Do this ride for a flatter route with a one-of-a-kind snack stop midway.
Láchar has become the destination for road and off-road cyclists because of the genius behind Cafetería Los Arcos. The scene on a typical Tuesday morning in May saw cyclists buzzing in and out like bees to a hive because who wouldn’t want to stop at a place that has totally embraced its two-wheeled customers? Order a coffee and it comes with a tapa of a banana and a bite of cake. Los Arcos has even gone a step further and installed a custom bike rack to accommodate the hundreds of cyclists that stop by nearly every.
What’s even sweeter is the return route to Granada. Once outside of Láchar, you turn off road and stay pretty much on dirt roads until you’re back in Granada’s city limits.
Circular: Güéjar Sierra-El Duque-Dornajo and back down*
This is a climber’s ride up one of the many approaches to Europe’s highest cyclable climb. What’s to love about this climb is the shady leaf cover down low and the pine-scented alpine breezes up high. The steep, narrow El Duque road deters most through traffic, so there are few cars to deal with. Something curious about this ride is the number of pet dogs that people have along this route. You won’t notice them much during the daytime, but at night they bark enough to wake the neighborhood (don’t worry, they are fenced in and can’t reach you).
*This is almost entirely on pavement (but you’ll appreciate gravel gearing on the steep stuff).
This isn’t the end of this list (not even close given the thousands of kilometers to explore here). So, see you back here later!