Last week, along with my good friend Dave, we decided to go mountain biking in Valencia.
We parked the van in the town of Xeraco, just north of Gandia. After an obligatory coffee, we set off at 10:30, along a quiet country road that took us through orange groves and up the coast to the town of Cullera.
From there we followed 7km of road riding to the town of Sueca from where we entered the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia. This section of the ride was particularly pleasant as we rode through the rice fields along surfaced but very quiet country lanes.
By 12:30 we had reached the famous “Paella village” of El Palmar for another coffee break and to replenish our water supplies, before taking another quiet road out towards the coast, passing the lake of Albufera along the way. From here took another trail, this time right alongside the beach. This great little trail took us up the Mediterranean coast and right into the city of Valencia where we biked through the Turia gardens to the stunning architecture of the City of Arts & Sciences, just in time for lunch!
Our original plan was to take the train from Valencia back to our starting point. We´d done 63km and still felt fresh, and it was only just past 3pm, so decided to head back down to the town of Sueca, where having completed exactly 100.1 km, we decided to call a halt and take the 6:30pm train from there.
A new personal milestone for me and fantastic day out with great company!
