December in Alicante

[mnichols]

I'm thinking of getting a cheap flight to Alicante at the beginning of December for a long weekend of cycling. I've never been there before.

Is it a good base for cycling? What weather should I expect?

[Ti-bride]

Hi. My Mrs and I went from faro to alicante in about 11 days over Xmas in 2007. Weather poor at start. The nearer to Alicante we got the better the weather. Ace cycling near there. Our usual mantra is buy Michelin maps, head for smallest roads with the green borders ( they are the scenic ones) - rarely fails to ensure great touring.
Enjoy.
I

[iviehoff]

I'm thinking of getting a cheap flight to Alicante at the beginning of December for a long weekend of cycling. I've never been there before.
Is it a good base for cycling? What weather should I expect?

You wouldn't want to stay in Alicante itself, all big roads, too far to the nice countryside. In general, the coastal strip is very densely populated and heavily trafficked and you need to get a short distance inland. Excellent cycling is a short distance north in the Costa Blanca mountains. As well as hilly roads, if you like tracks, there are lots and they are well mapped. Although you are already there at Xixona, the best is a bit further NE of there. For a fixed base, Cocentaina is apparently popular with both mountain bikers and professional racing teams. But there are also small places nearer the coast like Tárbena and Parcent and Sella which give direct access to a good network of roads and tracks, and more immediate access to the mountains, and should hopefully be a little warmer than on the western side of the mountains. A moving on tour, or multi-centre with 2-3 days each in various centres, would be very straightforward to route, try to be as serpentine as possible to see all the best bits, but probably wise to phone ahead as small inns might close down for the winter, and be a long way to the next one. There is a train from Alicante to Benidorm and also to Alcoy and Concentaina.

By the coast, you can expect an av max of 16C in Dec (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benidorm), which means some days will be into the low 20s but some other days it will struggle to get much above 10, because they do have weather, it isn't just a British phenomenon. Inland it will be a several degrees cooler, (eg http://en.climate-data.org/location/56855/ Alcoy is a short distance from Cocentaina) not least because it is mostly rather higher. A bit of snow on the passes (which go up to around 1000m) and in inland towns is possible in a cold snap, but snow is very uncommon by the coast. Overnight frosts are also possible.