When planning a cycling trip, Europe offers two main options: overcrowded destinations with good coffee, smooth tarmac and a sense of community, or hidden gems that require a bit more planning but pay off in beautiful roads so quiet you can hear the tumbleweed.

This ride is definitely the latter. I’m in Gérgal, a small town in the south of Spain about half an hour north of Almería city on the edge of the Tabernas Desert, which unsurprisingly doesn’t have quite the same level of resources as your Mallorcas, Tenerifes and Gironas. But I’m told that what it lacks in infrastructure and star-spotting opportunities, it more than makes up for in tranquillity, climbing and actual star-spotting.