What a fantastic trip report about an adventure cycling on the Via Verde de la Sierra not far from Ronda.
What is the Via Verde de la Sierra?
The Via Verde de la Sierra is one of 135 ‘green routes’ that chart a trail of disused railway lines across Spain. Here in Ronda, “our Via Verde” is part of a proposed rail route across the province of Cadiz between Almargen and Jerez de la Frontera.
Cycling the Via Verde not far from Ronda
Its final plan was to connect the cities of Cádiz, Malaga and Granada but, although much of the groundwork, including tunnels, viaducts, and railway stations, was completed in the early 1930s, the project was never finished and lay neglected until 1993 when the line was renovated for use as a walking and cycling route.
The Ronda area is, without doubt, a cyclists delight and can be challenging at times! In fact the areas around Ronda and the sierra de Grazalema are well known and a popular training destination for professional cyclist winter camps preparing for long distance road races and triathlons. So, lets take a look at Cycling from Ronda and around the Serranía.
Where to get more information, hire your bikes or book a cycling tour?
White Village Tours Cycling and the Via Verde close to Ronda
Experience a leisurely self-guided cycling excursion, With Ronda based White Village Tours Cycling, pedalling through the picturesque countryside north of Ronda. Journey through tunnels and across bridges, passing by olive groves and farmland, while traversing the mountains along one of Spain’s most exquisite Via Verdes.
The journey begins at an elevation of 450 meters above sea level, gradually descending to approximately 150 meters. You’ll ride on high-quality, well-maintained bicycles provided by the White Village Tours Cycling team, with the assurance of a support network as you navigate this scenic greenway at your own pace.
La Vuelta de España, known in English as the ‘Tour of Spain’ hit Ronda today on the first full day of racing from Alcala de Guadaira in the Sevilla province, racing through Arriate and Ronda on the way to end of stage two in Marbella.
In temperatures hovering around 38 degrees celsius the pack started their grueling 173km stage, and a little after 16:15 made it to Ronda with a huge Guardia Civil escort and several helicopters hovering overhead.
The UK’s Mark Cavendish, wearing the red jersey after winning the first stage sprint in Sevilla, however at the 4km mark as racing started outside Acala Cavendish had fallen back, allowing Javier Ramirez Abeja, Mickael Buffaz, Johnnie Walker, and Mickael Delage to make their first break from the pack, and by the time they had reached Ronda this had converted to a 45 second lead.
First to cross Ronda’s Puente Nuevo was Mickael Delage (FRA) from the Omega Pharma-Lotto team, followed 12 seconds later by Johnnie Walker (AUS) of the Footon-Servetto team and in third position, Javier Ramirez Abeja (ESP) of Andalucia-Cajasur whose close tailing of Walker as they passed the Santo Domingo Convent raised a huge cheer from Rondeños watching.
First of the pack to cross the Puente Nuevo were riders from team HTC-Colombia including the red shirted Cavendish, the noise of the bikes on cobbled stones was deafening, drowning out the rousing cheers of Rondeños and tourists alike.
After the pack came the team cars laden with spare frames and wheels on their roofs, and then the crowd expecting the race to be over dispersed.
Twenty minutes later the final lone cyclist passed in front of the Plaza de Toros, Arkaitz Duran Daroca of team Footon-Servetto, though it would be fair to say he received the biggest cheer of all, including a standing ovation as he passed Plaza de Espana.
Policia Local today estimated that between La Merced and the Museo Lara around 2,000 fans turned out to watch La Vuelta, which is a large crowd at that time of the afternoon with temperatures hovering around 36 degrees.
You can read more about La Vuelta de Espana on the official website of the race.
Leader Mickael Delage (FRA) crosses the Puente Nuevo
Johnnie Walker (AUS) and Javier Ramirez Abeja (ESP)
The service this article mentions has been discontinued in Ronda due to budget cuts, and we recommend CycleRonda for bicycle hire during your stay in Ronda.
Easy bicycle hire around the city for residents today became a reality as 7 hiring points were opened, with a total of 70 bicycles available to the people of Ronda. Readers may remember Ronda Today announced the intention to go ahead with this bike hire project some months ago.
Fantastic news for residents and tourists in Ronda, our fair city will soon have 70 rental bicycles available at four convenient points around the city to make Ronda cycling a reality.
Ronda joins the University of Málaga, Málaga city, Antequera, and also soon Velez-Málaga as being the only areas in Málaga province with bikes for hire. Programs such as these are already very successful in London, Paris, Sevilla and other major cities, and given the great enthusiasm towards cycling in Ronda, it seems fitting that Ronda should also have bicycles for hire.
Conceived by the Andalucían Energy Agency, a department of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise in association with the Ronda’s Delegation for Innovation, the scheme will cost 110,000€ and will see bike pickup points distributed around four locations in Ronda.
Initial expectations are that points will be located near Plaza de Espana, the railway station or above the carpark on Avenida Martinez Astein, at the end of Avenida de Málaga, and possibly in the Barrio de San Francisco.
Pilar Serrano, head of the Andalucían Energy Agency told Ronda Today the program is innovative and will see emissions improvements of 103 tonnes of CO2 not released into the atmosphere, equivalent to 39 cars less on Ronda’s roads annually.
A dedicated support technician will be employed by the city council to maintain the bicycles, although at this point it is not known if any of Ronda’s three existing bicycle shops will be able to contract for their maintenance.
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