5 breathtaking climbs during your Almeria getaway
If we talk about cycling climbs in Almería, is talking about experiencing demanding conquests, some of them quite long.
Here we have 5 of them, but they are just a small representation of everything you can enjoy.
Take one! Action! (and we don’t say that just because of the movies shot in the Almería desert…)!
The 5 bike climbs in Almería…
If we speak of the CONQUEST of Almeria in capitals, we have no other choice but to speak of Calar Alto. We are facing the highest mountain of the Sierra de Los Filabres, with more than 2,100 m of altitude, on a geodesic summit located in Serón.
At its top is the Observatorio de Calar Alto Observatory, a strategically located astronomical center as it is in a spot with a low rate of cloudy nights.
The quality of the sightings is so great that a number of cameras are installed to watch Calar Alto live, a joy to see and more in the Perseid period.
We are facing a Calar Alto climb with a very good road condition, very hard, irregular and long like few others, especially via the Tíjola slope. 30 km with an acummulative gradient of up to 1,500 m.
It starts off with gentle inclines at first but things get serious as we climb. Particularly challenging is the Collado del Ramal section, 5 km at an average gradient of 9%, with more than a slope that is greater than 10%. In this section, there is the kilometer with the hardest average gradient, 11%.
Right after overcoming this key point, after a small truce, we will have to face some 17% ramps that will put us to the physical and mental test until the crossroads of the road to Serón.
From this moment, not without enough fatigue accumulated in the legs, we will enjoy the climb to Calar Alto, but not without first going through the Collado del Conde and the Venta Luisa.
An essential climb that has already shown its demanding challenge during the Vuelta a España 2017, when Superman López, now in the ranks of Movistar, was the first to reach the objective located next to the Observatory, with Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali fighting for the general classification.
Very challenging and demanding climb, the ninth stage of La Vuelta a España 2021 and the second with the most elevations of the entire cycling calendar of the year: in total, 4,725 m.
And a large part of it, thanks to the Velefique: in Almería they only understand long climbs: 23 km of ascent with an average gradient of 6.6 % and ramps that will reach 16%. The first section is the most powerful, maintaining the 5 km requirement with an average gradient of 9.3%. If you make it out of this section alive, the rest will seem like a formality.
The ascent to the pass of Venta Luisa presents a very similar level to that of Calar Alto. Almost 29 km from Serón to reach almost 2,000 m and 1,300 m of positive slope. An average slope of 4.4%, with a section of 5 km with an average slope of 6.6% and with a kilometer in which we will have to undergo an average slope of 8.2%. As in the case of Calar Alto, its biggest handicap is the distance.
The climb to Sierra Cabrera from Turre, south-east of Mojacar, is an ascent to conquer. Even if we will not reach a remarkable altitude compared to the other climbs mentioned, a little more than 12 km with an average slope of 6% will lead us to reach a positive slope of nearly 800 m. There are some real surprises, a 21% slope, which begins at the start of the climb!. However, the section from km 7 to km 10 will suffer the most, especially km 8, with an average gradient of 12%.
By the way, this mountain pass offers one of the most famous restaurants in Almería and Sierra Cabrera: Riad Cabrera, known as Fátima. We leave it there!
We have already talked of the climb to Collado del Ramal, when we mentioned the climb to Calar Alto. From Bacares we will have to face 5.5 km until an altitude of 1700 m and a positive slope of 500 m. We are talking about 5 km, very hard with an average gradient of 9.3% and slopes of 17%.
Have you already decided to explore Almeria? Remember that on our site you can rent your bike, find acommodation or explore many other routes.
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