Ask a cyclist on the Costa Blanca about Coll de Rates and watch their face change. The pass road climbing from Parcent toward Tàrbena is a pilgrimage for professional teams in winter training, and it lies only a few kilometres from the Barranc del Xorquet, one of the ravines in the tangled limestone hills behind the coast. This is an area rich in prehistoric rock art: the shelters at Pla de Petracos near Castell de Castells hold some of the best examples of the so-called macro-schematic style, big abstract human figures painted in red thousands of years ago, and the ravines around here hide further sites.
The villages are tiny. Bolulla has a few hundred people and a ruined castle, Castell de Castells perches on its upland, and Parcent sits in the Jalón valley among vineyards and orange groves. Inland of the tower blocks of Benidorm, the landscape becomes another world: terraced almond and olive groves, cherry trees in the high valleys, dry ravines full of oleander, and mountains like the Serrella and Aitana closing the horizon. In February the almond blossom turns whole hillsides white and pink.
For riding, this is the good stuff. The roads are narrow, often freshly surfaced thanks to the cycling tourism, and they twist endlessly, with tight hairpins on the climbs and views opening to the Mediterranean on the way down. Share them politely with the cyclists, who come in big groups in winter and spring and expect to be passed with room. Blind bends are the norm, and a delivery van can appear at any moment. Wind can be strong over the passes, and the descents into the coastal valleys get warm fast.
Fuel is scarce in the hill villages, so fill up in Callosa d'en Sarrià or la Nucia before climbing in. Callosa is also the gateway to the Fonts de l'Algar, a chain of waterfalls and turquoise pools that make a fine cool break in summer, though they get crowded at weekends. Village bars in the hills serve robust mountain food, from rice dishes to stews, and the local orange juice is fresh and cheap. If you want to see the rock art, check access first, carry water and wear something better than riding boots for the walk. Then return to the bike, pick a road at random, and let the hills do the rest.