favourite roads

Riding in Spain is great, but there are a few points to remember.

The Police will stop you and fine you for not having a headlight on, no ifs or buts here.

Due to the amount of building going on in coastal areas, there is often a sand / dust coating on the roads, this is quite slippery.

Shiny generally means slippery.

Roundabouts in towns generally are very slippery.

Exit and entrance ramps to motorways can be very very tight.

OK a few ideas for a morning blast.

Don't really want to give too many secrets away here but here are a few roads that are better than anything I found in South West England. Wales has some comparable but the ones in Spain don't have bike hating helicopters hovering over them

Try the N332 between Gata de Gorgos and Alicante, drive at the speed limit through towns, traffic lights in towns are often overhead, the road between the towns is a brilliant mix of fast curves, hairpins and straights, be careful on the down hill sections and the gorge between Gata and Benissa as there is often a light sand / dust coating on the surface reducing grip. On the downhill section approaching Calpe from Benissa the bends actually tighten as you go which can cause excitement / release of brown adrenalin.

Sundays is a day to avoid this though as its the local "looney" day and the Guardia are out to ensure people don't hurt themselves, also Teulada market is on which means pedestrians and Sunday drivers wandering all over the place in the vicinity of Teulada

Altea to Benidorm is a pain, but the road between Benidorm and Alicante is worth it, fortunately just before Altea is a link road to the A-7 motorway, take this and then almost immediately turn right on to the CV-755 towards Callosa d'En Sarria, this road is my personal favourite so far, a fabulous testing road and great scenery when you are taking a breather. Be careful though as the CV-755 does not let you get away with mistakes, steep drop one side and a 3 foot concrete monsoon ditch / bike mangler the other. 

There is a turn off onto the CV-70 to Benidorm at Callosa if time is short, or carry on to Guadalest which is well worth a visit. 

At Guadalest you can turn round and come back, or you can keep going till you pick up the N340 towards Alicante, head back towards Alicante until you reach the N332 and then head up towards Benidorm. This part of the N332 is excellent as well, especially once you get past Villa Joyosa.

I am in two minds about mentioning the next road but it is too good not to list.

Run from Ronda to Marbella on the A376, this is a fabulous twisty mountain road, but as usual, not a lot of run off so a spectacular free fall results if you get it wrong. 

Thanks to Pete and co at PMCC for showing me this road.

There are many other interesting sections of road out in the hills and valleys, don't assume that N roads are good and C roads or unclassified roads are bad, often it is the other way round.