Haza Del Lino (Polopos)
- One of the longest and most challenging climbs has to be from Polopos to Haza Del Lino. This loop is always a memorable day on the bike.
Haza Del Lino can be reached by climbing any of the eight, equally difficult routes to the top. The route via Polopos is just as unforgiving, yet as beautiful as any other way up. This 92km loop is the perfect way to spend a day on the bike as it has it all. The ride begins by climbing straight out of the gate to La Gorgoracha before then descending into the city of Motril and heading straight for the coast road. If you are lucky enough to have a tailwind on this road, the kilometers will fly by. By the time you realise that you are already 32km in, we suggest that you enjoy a tostada from Caferini. Caferini is an authentic Spanish bar on the coast in Castell de Ferro and they offer the best tostadas we have found in Andalucia for €2.50, again, definitely worth a stop.
Now you are full of bread, tomato, meat and oil, it’s a perfect time to get into a 16.5km climb from sea level to 1,280m elevation. The climb starts with relentless gradients which make you question your choices, but once the rhythm is found in the switchbacks and the gradient begins to settle down, the climb gives you a long time to enjoy the suffering. After taking a left turn through the town of Polopos, you continue to climb towards Haza del Lino where a welcome cold drink awaits at Restaurante Haza Del Lino at kilometre 57. From here, there’s a few more minutes to the very top of the road, but from there on, it’s all downhill to Vélez. The descent offers plenty of time to recover from the climb as you fly down the side of Sierra de Lújar towards Órgiva. After bypassing Órgiva, there are a few rolling hills before ultimately descending the rest of the way home.
This route differs to many of our others as the majority of climbing comes at all once, rather than rolling over hills all day. A lot of ground is made up on the flat(ish) coast road between Motril and Castell de Ferro before then hitting a climb, a descent, and then finishing the ride. More than half of the ride’s total climbing will come all at once on the main climb from the coast to Haza del Lino. One of the benefits of the elevation layout of this loop is the fact that once you get to the top of the climb, you know that it is all of the hard work for the day done, the freewheel home has been earned and should be enjoyed!
To take on this route you need a bike, rent your bike at Cycle Sierra Nevada.