We felt a bit rusty as we returned to our bikes after nearly a week off, but the hardest part of the day was over as soon as we’d pushed our way to the top of Bill & Sue’s driveway. Their home, where we’d spent the past few days doing some brush clearing and weeding, is located at the end of a steep dirt track, nearly 2km long. It was fun coming down last Sunday but a real slog getting back up! Once at the top, we cruised along the Haza del Lino road, which made us feel like we were on top of the world. We could see not only the tops of the clouds, but also the sun shining on the Mediterranean some 1,200 meters below us and dozens of mountainous slopes, cultivated with vines, almond and olive trees. It took us a good hour to get down to sea level, where we once again ended up on the N340 road, heading for Malaga. The day was full of regular climbs, but also plenty of downhill stretches, and always a gorgeous view to our left over the cliffs and water. After treating ourselves to a tub of ice cream in the afternoon (no worry about it going to our hips!), we found a 3rd class campground alongside the main road just outside of Almunecar. A welcome refuge after a long first day back in the saddle.
14th January 2007 at 12:41 pm #
GR443 Mellado – Pto Haza del Lino – A beautiful road, well worth taking for the views. Some woods towards the end where you might be able to wild camp, as well as a restaurant at the very end. Some ups and downs but nothing too serious.
Pto Haza del Lino to N340 junction – No number is given for this road on our map but it is the one passing through Polopos down to the coast. Locals call this the “yahoo” road because it’s so twisty you yell “yahoo” all the way down. Lots of fun though, the surface is in reasonable condition, hardly any traffic.
N340 to Almunecar – A bit hairy at times. The shoulder varies between being quite wide and non existant and one of the three tunnels we passed through had no shoulder at all and was not lit, making for scary cycling. There was a sidewalk that we were able to feel our way along on. Nice coastline for most of the way, although the area around Motril only features an industrial park. We found supermarkets in Castell de Farro, where they also had a bustling Saturday market, and in Salobrena (Lidl alongside the road). There is a 3rd class campground right on the N340 as you come into Almunecar.