We are so excited about our fourth family vacation to Europe but our first trip to Spain. We are spending 5 nights in Barcelona then we drive down to Alcossebre for a week's stay to check out the coast (& a couple of days in Valencia, can't wait to see City of Arts & Sciences), then fly to Munich for a few nights around Easter before flying home.

Fodorites have been awesome helping us find our apartment in Barcelona, our rental car, showing us Mirabel's guides and a whole lot more. Now I need a bit of help finding a rental bike for our week in Alcossebre. I have found several bike rental stores in BCN but none further down the coast. I read LeClaire's tale of her cool folding bike, but what I have in mind is not an urban bicycle but a true road bike that I can take out for many kms over some cool Spanish back roads. I would rather not rent a bike before leaving BCN because I don't want to head back into town before heading to the airport for our flight to Munich. Any advice?

This is a question for where you are staying in Alcossebre. They will know better than we do, and will be able to help with logistics. Very specific questions need specific answers.

And, just for the record, on Sunday I did a 20 mile ride on my folding bike which included going up a mountain, hitting dirt and gravel paths, and winding all over the ridges and it held out like a champ. Best buy ever!

while in valencia city, there is a bike rental place at the beginning of Avenida Aragon, at an internet site shop. bring an excellent HIGHEND lock for any bike. they tend to lose seats and disappear when parked and locked with ordinary chains.

JFYI

I think your best bet is asking for bike rentals in Alcossebre at the place you are lodging. I don't think you will have any trouble finding it, really. Are you going to stay at a hotel ?

I wouldn't rent a bike in Valencia..too much traffic. Sure some people uses it there (a friend of mine does) but you have to know where you go and it's not a leisure activity..most of the time you have to go fast !!

Oh! If you want to get an idea of the biking terrain in the villages near Barcelona, I took a video of a recent bike ride to Folgueroles. You can watch it at:
landofguirisvideos.ning.com/

It is the one entitled "Bike ride through Folgueroles."

In the footage I stick to the regular roads, but most of that day was me going over very rough terrain on dirt roads and around fields, finding little Romanesque churches and abandoned structures along the way.

if you do come to valencia, the bike rental would be used best for going on the paths along the riverbed where all the museums are.

there are a number of new bike paths around the new areas, but the riverbed is very nice for that, and NO CARS!

Just found out that our rental house in Alcossebre will have some bikes which we can use. Even if they're cruisers, at least some exercise will be nice (I'm bringing my clipless pedals and shoes so I can always switch them out).

So what about a rental road bike in Barcelona for a day? I found around four different stores that rent bikes in BCN, but no road bikes. Any ideas?

laclaire, the neighboring villages around BCN look great; the roads are a bit rough though! Thanks for the video link.

There are a few places in BCN city (Fat tire has great stuff) but one thing you need to remember is that you only need a bike that is as hard as you will be. I use a sturdy mountain bike for leaving the city and doing mountain trails, and that is usually what you can find to rent. I don't need more because I am not tricking or dropping down the mountain. Unless you are an extremely advanced road rider (I can see you bike because of the shoes and clips, but for road biking you will not want to use those as it can become dangerous), you will be fine with a multi-gear mountain bike.

If you do rent in BCN, I highly recommend riding up to the Carretera de les aigües and then riiding that over the mountains and back into town. I ride up as well as down the mountain, but the trails are confusing and very strenuous. You can take the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (leaving Plaça Catalunya) up to the Carretera de les Aigües stop and then ride the ridge, heading back into the city. It is a few hours (I did it last week and with up as well as down it was 6 hours, starting and ending downtown) and well worth it for the views.