Bike Packing the GR240 in Parque Natural de las Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas

We went Bike Packing Bicycle Touring on the GR240 in the Parque Natural de las Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas in Andalusia Spain primarily to ride some of the famous GR240. We had the ambition to do some Gravel Riding on the GR240, camping sleep in a refugio and cook our own food on stoves 3 of these thing were a new thing for me. We parked the Van at Camping Bolera and pitched the tents with the intention of starting early first thing. 1) There were plenty of Restaurants around and coffee stops. We hit the trails first thing on day 1 and eventually climbed to 1900mts on entirely ridable and spectacular gravel track. We made our way to Arroyo Frio to a campsite that no longer existed so stayed in a Hotel 3) The weather was always threatening to pour down and on Day 2 it duly did. Because I suffer with the cold very badly we decided to take a shorter very beautiful road route to the start of day 2. We did stake a short off road around a lakeside which was Beautiful. We stopped in the ancient Pueblo of Hornos which as you could guess was at the top of a huge hill. Contact us for details of the Hotel. 3) We commenced towards a big day on gravel and to sleep in the Refugio. After 30k of beautiful challenging road we made our way onto the gravel. The roads were amazing and empty of traffic. We stocked up on water and kept climbing and climbing until the Refugio (after finding 1 that was closed). We sparked up mates some coffee and some food to top off an amazing day. 4) after seeing some deer We dropped down into the tiny Pueblo of Pontones in order to get a bit more Brekka and some water. Today was going to be a big day on gravel GR240 but along with a leaky front tyre and a lack of ability I was going to bail and we routed on the road and looked for a B&B as the Refugio were only available on the gravel. After putting some bacon on the tyre we started the route which meant a 90k day as opposed to a 40k gravel. But we were so pleased we did the roads and scenery were amazing and empty. After the shock of a sign stating that the 2000 meters altitude road was closed we flagged down some locals who assured us that it was open. After that it was very enjoyable despite it getting late and a bit dusky. The drop off of the mountain and in to the valley was world class. We rounded a reservoir and made it to a small Pueblo called Fatima. We were lucky to find a restaurant open where we ate and drank probably the best beer we ever had. 5) Day 5 left us with a short 60k sprint back to the van passed the ancient Pueblo of Castro (the sight of the first Pueblo in Europe) of course we had to climb 900mt to make it back. We spent the day with the huge snow capped Sierra Nevada on the horizon which reminded us that it could have of been tougher. I cannot recommend enough this area for empty roads beautiful scenery and perfect road surfaces. If you would like our routes contact me or search Strava or Wikilocs for "Webby Webby" Day 1 Camping La Bola - Arroyo Frio 67KM 1300 Meters of Altitude (Almost the whole day on Gravel with a maximum Altitude of 1800 Meters Stunning ride) The ride was amazing and challenging with a lot of first (yes still getting first at 65 years of age) i would give it a difficulty of 9/10 Day 2 Arroyo Frio - Hornos 53K 735 Meters Altitude (A wet day so we left as late as possible, we did squeeze in a little off road before the big climb to our digs) Day 3 Hornos - Regugio Campello 48K 1233 Meters of Climbing (beautiful route champagne gravel and nice surfaces. We cooked and slept in the Refugio! loved it. Day 4 Refugio - Fatima 99K 1569 Meters of Altitude (Stunning roads, empty, great surfaces awesom) Day 5 Fatima - Camping La Bola and fin 25km 421 Meters of climbing (Of course we started the day with a big climb and beautiful roads). #bicycletouring #cycling #bikepacking #bikelife #gravelbiking #gr240 #bikegr240