Straddling Asturias, Cantabria and León the Picos de Europa is a mountainous area formed of limstone in the north of Spain. It forms part of the Covadonga National Park which was expanded in 1995 to include these mountains and to protect both the wildlife and the age-old way of life carried on here - especially the farming practices.
To reach the Picos I took the P&O ferry from Portsmouth to Santruzi (north of Bilboa). I only had a week spare to make this trip, so I knew that I would have to put in some serious hours in the saddle to allow for a spot of siteseeing in the area around Potes (where the Picos sit as a backdrop). In retrospect I probably should have caught the ferry from Plymouth to Santanda, here it would have only taken a day or so to reach by bicycle.
This bike tour took 7 days and covered 609Km. Here is a brief overview:
Day 1 - Santurtzi to Arija (Embalse del Ebro) (124Km)From the word go the road kicks up, it felt like I spent the whole day climbing, and that is what I did. Sometimes the gradiants were steep and other times they were not noticable, but nethertheless you were climbing all the way to the Embalse del Ebro.
Day 2 - Arija to Cervera de Pisuerga (78Km)Another day climbing!
Day 3 - Cervera de Pisuerga to Camalno (via Potes and Fuente Dé) (100Km)Todays highlights include cycling over the Puerto de Piedrasluengas, which at 1355m high gave some splendid views. On the decent into Potes I discovered that my brakes were useless at slowing down a fully loaded touring bike, in situations like this you learn quickly how to handle the bike around hairpin bends and how to avoid debris on the roads. Just hope I never have to do that again. Later on that day I went up to the Funte Dé, a place popular with the coach tourists for the cable cart ride to the top and the views of the waterfall and huge limstone cliff face.
Day 4 - Camalno (Rest Day)I had a rest day today (ate a fair bit and rehydrated), but to stop the legs from going to sleep I left everything at the Campsite in San Pelayo and went walking around the surrounding area.
Day 5 - Camalno to Mazandreva (nr. Reinosa) (133Km)Crashed on a hairpin bend down from the Collada de Carmona, a car traveling the other way cut the corner forcing me to make an abrupt turn and as a result the front wheel lost traction causing me, bike and all to slide across the road at 60Km/h - not too pleasant I tell you. The rest of the day was spent climbing the Puerto de Palombera (1260m high) and after yet another hair raising decent I found a campsite near Reinosa where I spent the night cleaning my wounds and eating plenty of pasta.
Day 6 - Mazandreva to Santurtzi (174Km)The run into Santurtzi is more or less down hill so covering a large distance was fairly straightforward, and it felt like I was riding a motorbike for most of the way... great stuff!
Day 7 - Santurtzi (Rest Day)Eventhough Santurtzi is a small town, I soon found that there were plenty of sights to be found, and after a strong coffee I went for a walk around town snapping away with my camera and regreting the decision to leave the sketchbook at home. Around midday I caught the boat back to the the UK and on to London.
To view mini slideshow, click here.
To view detailed slideshow, click here.
