La Carrasqueta is 12 kilometre climb lying just inland from the city of Alicante
The spectacular climb takes us up to a natural balcony at @1020 m.a.s.l. overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Alicante, some 40 kilometres away.
Puerto de la Carrasqueta
Starting from the town of Xixona, the initial hairpins on the southern side of the @550-metre climb's gradually give way to a spectacular ascent at an average gradient of 5% offering beautiful views over the Mediterranean coast and opening up routes to the north of the province and beyond.Location
 |
| Location of el puerto de la Carrasqueta, Alicante |
The climb can also be accessed from the north from the cities of Ibi and Alcoy, although this ascent is neither as physically challenging or visually exciting as the southern ascent covered in this article.
The start of the climb is in the town of Xixona (synonymous throughout a Spain as the location for a type of soft nougat known as turrón), although if we start our ride in the city of Alicante we will have already covered around @500 metres of constant ascent by the time we reach its base. This approach doesn't present any great difficulties and climbs uphill gradually through fields filled mainly with tomato crops.
A roundabout shortly after the exit from Xixona gives access to the CV-780 road, leading to the village of Torremanzanas and el puerto de Benifallim (or puerto del Rentonar), which crosses the Sierra del Rentonar in parallel to the Sierra de la Carrasqueta via the village of Torremanzanas and the CV-780 road.
The combination of its length, straight stretches and hairpins has made la Carrasqueta a very popular destination for motorcyclists, and especially at weekends. This is worth bearing in mind when choosing a day for tackling the climb.
Profile
 |
| Profile of el puerto de la Carrasqueta |
At around 12 kilometres in length, depending on where we take the start, la Carrasqueta is usually classed as a 2nd-category climb, with an average gradient of around 5% and maximums of around 8% on the final hairpin around 3 kilometres before the summit.
On the whole, the gradient is fairly constant throughout, meaning that la Carrasqueta can be taken at an even, regular pace from start to finish.
Starting altitude: @520 metres
Length: @12 kilometres
Average gradient: 4.5%
Maximum gradient: 8%
Altitude gain: @500 metres
Maximum altitude: 1020 metres
Difficulty: Medium
The Climb
We've taken the start of the climb as the roundabout on the CV-800 (N-340) just north of Xixona. |
| The lower slopes of la Carrasqueta rise at around 5% |
 |
| The Serra de la Grana range appears to our right at the base of the climb |
 |
| The climb offers very little shade for cyclists |
 |
| Venta Teresa, a former post house, lies a little under half-way up the climb |
 |
| The hairpins begin once we pass Venta Teresa |
 |
| The road over la Carrasqueta is generally in excellent condition |
The current road is a @10m-wide carriageway in generally excellent condition with clear signage and reasonable hard shoulder.
 |
| The Mediterranean coast is clearly visible from the climb |
 |
| The popular mountains of inland Alicante are visible to our right |
 |
| The gradient remains steady at around 5% as we approach the summit |
There's not much to go to the finish and, as throughout the climb as a whole, the gradient stays steady at around 5%.
There really is no shade at all on this final section of the climb, and once again this is imortant to bear in mind when planning to climb la Carrasqueta, and especially so during the summer months.
 |
| The summit of Puerto de la Carrasqueta |
 |
| The summit of La Carrasqueta offers excellent views over the surrounding countryside |
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario