The Albuñol and Lújar climbs

The loop starts in Gualchos, a small white village above Castell de Ferro, about 90 minutes from Málaga airport. You begin by dropping straight down to the sea, so the legs are cold before any real work starts. Once you reach the coast you head east on the old coast road. It rolls past coves, rocky headlands and the old torres vigía, with greenhouses covering every bit of flat ground between the road and the hills. It's about 25 kilometres of warm-up with the Mediterranean on your right. La Rábita, at the mouth of the Rambla de Albuñol, is where I'd say it's a good idea to stop for a drink before turning inland.

Leaving La Rábita you follow the dry riverbed up towards Albuñol, and this is the one thing to get right on the whole route: take the road on the left side of the river. The road on the right also gets you to the climb, but it often has heavy traffic. The valley floor is greenhouses, almond and olive terraces, and then the gradient starts properly at Albuñol. From there it's a small road with smooth tarmac all the way, steady between 4 % and 8 %. There are no nasty ramps, so you can settle into a tempo and hold it. The landscape opens into the Contraviesa: bare ochre ridges, scrub, broom flowering yellow in spring, almond trees and the odd vineyard. When you look back over your shoulder the sea is still there. The full climb runs on to the top at Haza del Lino, but this route turns off before the summit and starts going down.

The descent towards Polopos is the part of the day I'd ride again tomorrow. It's about 14 kilometres long, a bit steeper than the way up, with a lot of hairpins and tarmac that's even smoother than the Albuñol side. You can see the switchbacks stacked below you and the Mediterranean fills the view the whole way down. It's an awesome descent. Keep something in reserve for braking, because the bends come quickly and after winter rain there can be grit on the inside of the hairpins. At the bottom you're on the coast at Restaurante Lancemar, a small restaurant at the foot of the Polopos climb, right next to the sea. Remember that in the province of Granada you get a free tapa every time you buy a beer or a soda. After two cokes and two tapas you're ready for another climb.

After lunch the route takes you back west along the coast and then inland for the second climb of the day, Lújar. It's a long one and it climbs into the valley where the village of Lújar sits, roughly halfway up. The village has two small bars and a natural spring where you can fill your bottles. On a warm day that matters, because there's very little shade on either climb. Above the village the last part of the climb is super smooth and nice. It rises through scrub and pine on the flanks of the Sierra de Lújar, and you can see brown ridges layered one behind the other in every direction.

From the top there's only a 7 kilometre descent left, on brand new tarmac, with the coast spread out below. It brings you back to Gualchos with 97 kilometres and almost 2,300 metres of climbing in the legs. Now you deserve a cold beer.