pistonbroke wrote: As an example, in January, Chicken Legs of this parish found a 700km route running due south west from here and finishing on the Costa Blanca, I met him at Reus airport and we rode the 70km to my house where he spent the night. The following day I rode with him to the route and he carried on while I rode home. He apparently enjoyed the riding with no issues bivvying and flew back from Alicante.
Visitors to our Catalan Finca https://i ... lery/ErDWz

My route was based on The Burrally route, I can't remember where I found the route now but it was very good and I had no trouble bivvying out every night, apart from one wild boar being nosey.
I rode the route in March not January and had a bit of snow in the hills above Valencia.
Duncan's an excellent host and that part of Spain is well worth a visit.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1475206928

Sorry, Andy, memory plays tricks at my advanced age, it was Lee and Phillippa who were here in Jan/Feb, my bil came in early Jan and cycled in short sleeves and shorts. There's a wierd convention here that says from Oct 1st till end of April, full longs must be worn whatever the weather. I passed the Gasprom pro road cycling team on my ride today, got to be better conditions here than Russia

pistonbroke wrote:Sorry, Andy, memory plays tricks at my advanced age, it was Lee and Phillippa who were here in Jan/Feb, my bil came in early Jan and cycled in short sleeves and shorts. There's a wierd convention here that says from Oct 1st till end of April, full longs must be worn whatever the weather. I passed the Gasprom pro road cycling team on my ride today, got to be better conditions here than Russia

Ha , when I lived a bit further south than you Duncan the rule was October to may was full overalls in the workshop and may to October was bib and brace ,I got stared at constantly when I first moved there wearing shorts in Feb the Spaniards thought I was a right novelty

Arizona.

Much as I would like to visit Duncan and his part of the world Morocco has always appealed as a winter destination. Can't help with specific advise but plenty of suggestions via people of this parish

Sounds interesting, I'm am disappearing in to the hills this evening so comms will be almost non existant, I am back Monday night. I will continue this via email. I will pm you my email after this post, thnx Paul

Hi Duncan, how do I get in touch with you ? I was planning on PMing you my email address but as a newish user I couldn't see how to, thnx Paul

Select one of my posts and click on my user name which is in blue. You then get an option of send pm. Or go to control panel and search the letter P , I'm one of the first on here.

If anyone else runs a B&B in any of the other places I have mentioned, and aren't happy with my posts, then let me know and I will remove them.

To avoid another "dangerous" situation.

Similar situation; taking a month off between jobs and unsure whether to go skiing or cycling, or a bit of both. Was planning a bit of a cross-Thailand ride, but flights are still a bit pricey. Another trip to Morocco or Oman would also be appealing.

I'm off to Morocco this month. Hopefully.

Being doing some research and found some very cheap flights from LGW to Marrakech, however looking st the climate info for the routes east from there, it doesn’t promise the warm dry days I crave. However, the mountains west of Muscat appear to offer not only good riding weather in December, but some great route options and no problems with camping just about anywhere. Flights are not unreasonable either, so might use the 1000 km BikingMan route as a guide and take the plunge.

I'm seeing 25°C everyday for Marrakech. What temps are you seeing/after?

I was in Morocco over Christmas last year, and I was cold.
High single digits/low teens most days, Marrakech was mid teens iirc. Overnight in the desert was sub zero.
When we were in the sun it was nice, but if you ended up stationary in the shade you'd cool down quite quickly.

On the upside, it's dry, and you won't overheat riding!