Posted by: Manon Koningstein
Cycling the mountains of the Costa Tropical by Manon Koningstein
White villages, olive trees, wineries and forgotten towns
One of the reasons we chose the Costa Tropical as our new living place after almost 9 years in Latin America was the proximity of both the Mediterranean sea and the Sierra Nevada mountains. I mean, where else in the world can you find blue seas, little rocky beaches and white villages in mountains with snow-capped tops?!
And of course the world-class cycling that this area is known for very much spoke to my dear former around-the-world-cyclist boyfriend. Al in all, reasons enough to continue our Cycling Sunday habit that we started in Colombia.
Because I had to sell my beloved Giant mountainbike in Argentina at the end of my trip some months ago I don´t currently have a bike in Spain. Luckily, one of our first weeks in Spain we ran into Jorn. A Dane with a passion for cycling, who not only knows all the great and hidden routes in this area, but also owns a cycling store in Almuñecar, Costa Tropical Cycling, where he sells and rents out road, mountain, city and electrical bikes. He´s been the one who has been advising and guiding us through some of our trips in this area, of which I´ll tell a bit more below.
One of my favourite areas to cycle around here is the Alpujarra. This is the area on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, basically between the mountains and the coast and with an average elevation of 1200 meters. Because of the snow and the melt water in the spring, this area is reasonably green throughout the year, with olive and almond trees all around, despite the drought and the heat in the summer. And, there is also s 
ome wine production.
Read more at ManonsBlog.
