Lujar Coastal Loop
- If you fancy a bit of coastal riding beside the Mediterranean mixed with a challenging climb and flowing descent, this is the loop for you.
This 87km loop boasts a variety of roads, views, and gradients that aren’t quite as harsh as other climbs in the area. The initial climb out of Vélez to the tunnel is the perfect warm up; you’re at the top before you know it and the descent is entirely worth the climb. The descent from La Gorgoracha brings you into the heart of Motril before you begin to make your way towards the hills. After coming in and going out of town pretty quickly, you turn off the main road and beginning climbing towards the windmills on the top of the hill; they don’t look too far away, however, this climb seems to bring you the long way up.
After taking the left turn at the junction 27km into the ride, the top of the climb is only 3km away. After cresting the top, the descent will bring you right back down to the coast and is one of the best in the area. The descent flows through the town of Lujar where there is a bit of a locals only café on the right hand side called Andrés Barros Ruiz. The café is family run and the opening hours are very unpredictable; we have found that if they are there and they hear us outside, they will open their doors to us and invite us in for something to eat and drink on their terrace with panoramic views. This place is quite the experience. If there’s nobody home to open this bar, Caferini in Castell de Ferro is always a reliable shout and offers fantastic tostadas with gluten free options. Our go to is the avocado, ham and balsamic option.
After finishing your tostada in Castell de Ferro, the coast road is a scenic ride home. Bouncing from town to town, you will end up slightly bypassing Motril and finding your way into the iconic canyon road which will bring you right into the base of Vélez. We would advise bringing rear lights on your bike as you will pass few a couple of short tunnels on the coast road. It’s our preference to do this loop clockwise as we believe the descent into Castell de Ferro is more enjoyable than into Motril. There is one left hand corner 43km into the clockwise loop that needs to be mentioned as it is very tight and comes as a bit of a surprise considering the rest of the descent. There is also a grating on a right hand corner as the road flattens out at 44.25km which was definitely supposed to put in with the slats running horizontally rather than vertically as even if you are running 28mm tyres, a front wheel could very easily end up disappearing before your eyes. A guest who has been riding with us for years recently described this as the best loop that he has ever ridden.