There is a grueling bikepacking off-road challenge that takes in the Gorafe Desert, the Pico de Veleta and Cabo de Gata known as the Bandlands 2024.

This is an endurance competition across high mountain and desert like terrain, so when the geo-locator that competitors wear show that a cyclist has stopped and hasn’t moved for a while, alarm bells ring.

The Bomberos de la Diputación Provincial based in Guadix were sent out with the Guardia Civil to find him, which they did, taking just over an hour in the darkness around midnight.

He had fallen with his bike down a steep bank, some ten metres and was in a state of semi-consciousness and in pain when they found him.

This is why the fire service was needed because it is no easy task to bring an injured person up that distance on a stretcher using ropes and tackle.

An ambulance had also accompanied the fire service and the Guardia Civil, whose paramedics treated him on the spot before taking him to a hospital to carry out more detailed check ups on him.

The Badlands event covers 800 kilometres, passing through the Sierra Nevada, Sierra de Huétor, Los Filabres and Gádor. They have to put up with temperatures of over 40ºC in the desert and the nighttime cold of the high mountains.

(News: Altiplano, Granada/Almeria, Andalucia)

Tags: News, Andalucia, Granada, Altiplano, Gorafe, Desert, Badlands 2024, Cyclist, Rescued