almeria

almeria & sorbas

located in the south east corner of spain, almeria is one of the lesser known of the eight provinces of andalucia. mountains, desert, beaches, plains, almeria has it all and holds the title of spanish region with the most sunshine per year, with over 320 sunny days per year and an average of well over 3000 hours sunshine per annum. the region has an average annual air temperature of 19 C and i have ridden with my bike computer showing 28 C in february! in the high summer it is common to see temperatures soar into the 40s but up in our hills at between 400-2000m above sea level it is a good few degrees cooler. much of almeria is officially classified as europe's only desert region and it is here that bici-almeria is based. you can look forward to warm, sunny days riding under some of the clearest blue skies and cleanest air on the continent, with a population density of less than 70 per sq. km (south east england is over 500!) there is little traffic and what there is tends to keep to the coastal resorts, main roads and motorways.

bici-almeria bases itself around the small town of sorbas which is 414 metres above sea level. sorbas is situated in an arid semi-desert valley between two large mountain ranges - sierra alhamilla and sierra de los filabres - both of which provide challenging climbing and spectacular descending. calar alto atop the filabres, at 2168m, is the highest point in almeria and its observatory is reached by a gruelling 25k ascent. the town is also in a designated natural park - paraje natural kart y yesos - and is a mecca for geologists and cavers. the nearby desierto de tabernas was used by sergio leone as the film locations for his spaghetti westerns as well as epics such as lawrence of arabia and patton, many of the original sets can still be seen from the roadside. more recently almeria has doubled for costa del crime in sexy beast, north africa in indiana jones and the last crusade and pakistan in four lions

the accomadation we use is in the small village of cariatiz only 5 minutes drive from sorbas and less than an hour drive from almeria international airport, almeria city and the coast