From Where We Ride: Alicante
Words and Photos by Tristan Cardew

It’s a funny thing, cycling in Spain. It’s popular everywhere, of course, but there are a few spots that really take the cake over everywhere else in Europe when it comes to tourist numbers.

Mallorca has always been big. Girona has recently been growing. But Alicante has absolutely dominated when it comes to training camps for both professional and amateur cyclists alike. Thousands of riders converge on the region each December, January and February to gain fitness, escape the cold, meet up with friends and have a break from the brutal chill of their more northern European home countries.

It’s for this reason I was hesitant to head the six hours south to Alicante when one of my oldest Sydney riding mates, Alex Nazarewicz AKA: Naz, asked if I wanted to come visit he and his family in early June. I like my little spot further up the coast…I didn’t want to trade it for busy roads and frustrated drivers.

But alas, visit Naz I did, and what we found was so much more than I had ever realised was there. After living in Girona since 2017, it was hard to imagine a place I might enjoy riding my bike more. Having been to Alicante twice during previous winters and seen the vast swathes of cyclists taking over the climbs and becoming the ire of locals trying to go about their lives, I was honestly expecting more of the same - it’s something I generally try to avoid, myself.

Little did I know that once the race season begins, the professionals head home, amateurs are off their winter breaks and the temperature in Spain gets a little too much for many, the area becomes far more relaxed. And far more enjoyable.

Ribbon roads flow endlessly west from the coast, and rides with 2500+ meters of climbing are easy to achieve. The scenery is mind-blowing and the mountains are stunning. There were only a handful of cyclists about and even fewer cars. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was learning something new about riding in Spain. Something I hadn’t realised I needed, until those few days in June when I went to visit Naz and his family. A world away from our old lives in Sydney, and the perfect break from my new life in Girona too.

Tristan Cardew (@tristantakephoto) is a photographer, YouTuber, and road and gravel bike racer from Sydney, now living in his new adopted home of Girona, Spain.