THE Guides
At Cycle Sierra Nevada all of our guides are experienced and fully trained cycling guides. They know every single road, trail and track in this region of Spain. They’ve left their blood, sweat and tears on many of the local roads here, so you can rest assured they know what they´re doing and where you´re going. They know how far it is until the next good coffee shop, so the only thing you have to worry about is riding your bike in the warmer climes of Andalusia, Spain.
CORMAC KEENEY
is a native of Ireland. Cormac splits his time between Spain and Norway
In 2014, Cormac was a member of Team YT Torshov Sport and competed in most of their races. The team took victory in the prestigious Lillehammer to Oslo 190km TTT in under 4 hours.
As of 2020 Cormac holds the fastest solo time on Atlantic Way Ultra Race - 555km, 7700m with an average pace of 31km per hour.
Having spent many winters in Andalusia, Cormac has a comprehensive knowledge of the local roads, the best places to stop for lunch and the best bars to go to for great tapas.
SZYMON Kotowski
joined us at the end of 2015 to document the 2016 scholarship program, and ended up staying on as a guide and photographer.
With a huge passion for cycling and photography, Szymon escaped the harsh winters of Poland to spend his winters here in Spain. His work on szymonbike helps him discover the most beautiful and rewarding places for cycling in the area.
He was one of the driving forces behind Roadtripping Sierra Nevada and spends his summers working on various projects throughout Europe.
Matthew Armstrong
originates from Northern Ireland, but has spent the past five years, studying, cycling, and working in the United States. Matthew first visited us in 2016 when he graduated from our scholarship as a bright eyed, bushy tailed junior. Five years later, Matthew is back and using his local knowledge of the Sierra Nevadas to guide our guests through the mountains on their week long camps, and also leads the occasional point-to-point trip through the south of Spain.
Ruben Rodriguez Escobar
has been the head mechanic in our shop in Velez de Benaudalla for two years and counting. Ruben comes to Cycle Sierra Nevada with a wealth of knowledge and experience gained working in the industry in the UK, Poland, and Spain.
As previous head mechanic at the British based professional cycling team JLT Condor and at Bespoke Cycling in London, Ruben has seen all that the industry has to show and for this reason, he is a huge asset to the team at Cycle Sierra Nevada. Ruben’s day usually consists of preparing bikes for guests, servicing bikes to make sure that they are running smoothly, building up new bikes, and not putting tools away at the end of the day.
While Ruben is pretty talented when it comes to working on bikes, we can confirm that his talents do not span as far as the coffee machine, but we don’t hold this against him.
As a local who has been born and bred just down the road in Granada, Ruben is not only a mechanic, but doubles as a guide. His local knowledge of the roads and the area in general is second to none and his cycling pedigree isn’t too bad either…
Ruben’s cycling palmarès consists not only of working on bikes; he has ridden in a huge variety of races in his time. When running his own bike shop in Granada, 126 Bikes, Ruben competed in the 2015 edition of Red Hook Crit in Barcelona, one of the most prestigious fixed gear races in the world. From fixed gear racing to adventure gravel racing, Ruben also took part in the 2021 edition of Badlands, a 750km unsupported ultracycling event starting in his hometown of Granada.