Whenever I post a ride in the Bikers España facebook group I never know what to expect, sometimes it's me and one other person, occasionally just me on my own which is fine as we all have family and work commitments to fit our hobbies around, but occasionally there are a few of us that go out and have a great day. Sunday 29th September was one of these occasions.
Meeting at Castelvi in Alcalali, Costa Blanca, I already knew that there would be at least five of us setting off for the day. Five is a good number when you are leading a ride as you can mostly keep an eye on everybody from the front, any more, and it starts to get difficult you have to alter the route or use the "Drop Off System" to keep everyone together.
Two of the people coming I already knew, I have been biking with Roger for around 15yrs and John for probably 5 or 6 but we also had a couple of John's friends from the UK with us, Peter and Charlie. Charlie had ridden here a little before when he had flown in for a visit but Peter had never been and they had ridden down for a week in the area so it had to be a good route.
Starting off with a run-up Coll de Rates is always a favourite as the views from the top are superb on a good day and this was. Suitable pictures were taken and off we went down through Callosa d'en Seria, La Nucia and into Benidorm to Barnie's for breakfast.
After a good fill of Bacon, eggs etc we headed down the coast towards La Villa Joiosa before turning inland and heading through some lovely countryside past the reservoir at Orxeta to Penàguila and eventually Alcoi. The roads are superb, if a little tight, but everybody managed and were still smiling at each stop.
After a quick top-up of fuel in Alcoi, we headed to Venta Teresa to see who was about. Sometimes there is hardly anybody there other times its packed, this was a good day with a lot of people and a great selection of machines on display. I even bumped into Clive on his GSA, I haven't seen him for a year or so.
After Venta Teresa we headed down towards the coast and turned to Busot, getting a little lost as there were road closures for a sporting event. We managed to ride through the village in the end allowing us to continue on great roads to Relleu where we were treated to the daytime fireworks of the local fiesta. From here it is a short but fun journey back down to the N332 and turned left, back towards the Jalon valley via Benidorm, Altea and Calpe.
We finished the ride off with a cold drink in Bar Citrus in Orba before parting ways. A great ride was had by all.
Click the image to see the route on Google maps.
Total Distance: 250km
