I used the last couple of weeks to transfer the pages of my previous website to this one, and re-upload all the pictures after they were lost. All can be found under ‘My Bicycle Trips’ in the menu bar or in the side bar under the header ‘SOME OF MY PREVIOUS TRIPS’.
Reports of my first 2 longer trips in 2004-2005 & 2006-2008 are in Flemish, but pics are the most important. I also uploaded some pics of my regular holidays between 2009 & 2014. Maybe I’ll upload some pics of my 2015 bike trips as well, if I find the time. By the end of this week I plan to jump on the bike again, riding towards…. Portugal 🙂
Leaving Playa Flamenca, I chose to follow the Canal de Riegos de Levante, as I cycled the coastal track already a week ago cycling down to Cartagena. A strong tail wind blows me in 3 hrs all the way back to the hills, west of Cartagena and a picturesque and quiet wild camping spot.
Canal de Riegos de Levante
Next day I ride through the (sometimes steep ) hills of the Sierra de la Muela down to the coast at Isla Plana. This is a piece of Spanish coast without roads or buildings, just a few hiking (or biking) trails.
After Puntas de Calnegre there’s a roller coaster dirt track along the coast. Sometimes too steep to cycle. I spot a completely deserted beach below. It’s quiet a task to get down the steep rock and through the bushes with the bike, but I ‘m rewarded with a private beach for the evening and some wonderful camping. Even near the end of the year, the water temperature is still fine enough for a quick wash and swim.
Spot the tent 🙂
Continuing along the coast I pass Aguilas, a nice little town in the far south of Murcia province.
Right at the provincial border, I turn inland towards Lorca through a rambla and some orange orchards. Impossible to find a camping spot. I end up in Lorca and am forced to take a hotel for the night.
The track became really narrow and steep. Well, just a hiking trail basically. Pretty hard to stop the bike from tumbling down.
After Lorca, I mount into the hills towards the ‘Embalse de Puentes’. Many trees are still standing in the artificial lake but none are surviving.
Through a very dry area, I reach Caravaca de la Cruz, a really neat town, also the end of the famous ‘Camino de la Vera Cruz’, which start in the north of Spain. There’s a beautiful sanctuary at the top of the hill.
The least interesting part of the trip was the part between Cehegin and Calasparra. At the end of a long day, I pitched the tent at dusk in the Sierra del Puerto, just north of ‘Estacion de Calasparra’, at the border with Albacte.
View from the tent in the morning.
Now a really fantastic day follows, all on very decent gravel roads. From the Sierra del Puerto I headed to the spectacular ‘Cabeza del Asno’ mountain.
I continued along the norhern part of the Sierra Larga towards the Sierra Santa Ana.
Cycling in the ‘Sierra del Puerto’.
‘Cabeza del Asno’
Biking towards the ‘Sierra Larga’.
The ‘Sierra Santa Ana’.
In Jumilla, I could finally buy some food again. Following the small A15 road, meandering through vinyards, it was again just after dusk before I found a place to pitch the tent. Barking dogs keep annoying the wild camper in Spain. And I don’t seem to be alone, as I met an other couple on bikes that shared the same complaints.
A combination of minor roads and dirt tracks through the Sierra del Carche and the beautiful Sierra de la Pila, I ended up in Murcia. I only spend an hour in town to do buy some bread, cheese and fruit.
South of Murcia, I climbed towards the Santuario de la Fuensanta, then over the pass and back towards the coast at Playa Flamenca for a few weeks of rest.
The famous statue outside MurciaMurcia Cathedral
The rambla of the ‘Rio Seco’. I passed here again a few weeks later after the heavy rains and the place was unrecognizable (not so ‘seco’ anymore & loads of fallen trees and rubbish).
Vuelta a Murcia:
Distance: 556 km
Average km per cycling day: 79,42 km
Altimeter: 7.597 m
A combination of minor roads and dirt tracks through the Sierra del Carche and the beautiful Sierra de la Pila, I ended up in Murcia. I only spend an hour in town to do buy some bread, cheese and fruit.
