France and the The Picos

[coasty]

Hi All

I haven't been that active lately either on here on actually on my bike, due to a relationship breakup, a move from Kent back home to Cornwall and finally starting a new business (Setting up a Glamping business, but more on that in another post )

However I have a small trip planned and am after some advice re routes and locations if anyone has any suggestions.

The plan is Mon 13th June outbound Plymouth Roscoff, and return Thurs 23rd June Santander Plymouth. Two of us on the ubiquitous 1200GS's

First off the route through France. In the past I've done nothing but smaller roads and taken forever to get anywhere, but found some amazing stretches of roads as well. I've also done blasting down the auto routes, effective in covering distance quickly but boring as hell. Any suggestions for this route would be much appreciated, ie places to see, or roads to take off of the auto route.

Once in Spain the Picos is the main goal as well as maybe the top of Portugal. I have read about Mountains near Madrid, are these worth exploring or will the Picos keep us well entertained?. Regards the Picos what are the must see places/ areas to ride. I see there are a couple of decent length rides mentioned in "The Alps and Beyond". The area doesn't seem as well documented as Places like the Alps and Switzerland etc with the famous passes etc.

What is the scope for offroading/ gravel tracks etc? I noticed in a previous post some comments were not that favorable, however I've seen other reports suggesting it is amazing !! A couple of years ago we did the Stella, Monte Jafferau and another couple of off road passes in that area whose names escape me at the moment. These were the highlight of our trip and I would love to ride similar in the Dolomites but am struggling to find information on where we can and cannot ride. Any help and advice would be much appreciated, Thanks in advance

[Redmurty]

Good luck with the trip and good luck with the business, love Cornwall so keep us informed of how the business goes (thumbs)

cheers Spud

[misterlaffer]

Once in Spain the Picos is the main goal as well as maybe the top of Portugal. I have read about Mountains near Madrid, are these worth exploring or will the Picos keep us well entertained?. Regards the Picos what are the must see places/ areas to ride. I see there are a couple of decent length rides mentioned in "The Alps and Beyond". The area doesn't seem as well documented as Places like the Alps and Switzerland etc with the famous passes etc.

I can't comment on your Off-Road aspirations, but for 'road stuff' I can say you won't be disappointed with the Picos. That famous road down to Riano is a must (or back up depending on your direction). Perhaps take the mountain road to Fuenta De too. If you are camping I can highly recommend Camping La Viorna in Potes. Great spot. I also enjoyed the road to Covadonga to the cathedral on the hill.

Some years ago I took a ride south east from Potes down to a walled town called Laguardia through the Basque and dropped into Rioja. The road was amazing - void of any traffic over some high hills with Spanish shepherds. We were on the way to watch the Bull run in Pamplona and a most memorable days ride. Maybe you could ride West and pick up that road to the Picos instead in the opposite direction ?

Also ridden the mountains North West Of Madrid last year 'Sierra de Guadarrama' and enjoyed that too. Not the same as the Picos, the scenery is different but most enjoyable. Worth visiting. I recommend a stop in Segovia, and ride out to the Valley of the Fallen. We did a 'magazine' route that day and wasn't disappointed.

You mention the John Hermann book, you may want to consider the Toby Ballentine book by the same publishers (thumbs) - has more detailed routes on Northern Spain including Covadonga and Laguardia :

HTH

[Alan29]

Last year we did one day of autoroute then two days of the N21 south through dordogne etc. Made for some good variety.

[Tigerchas]

If you use sat nav try setting it to car mode with no tolls it will give you a faster run than bike mode which is handy to cover a few miles with out toll roads.

[coasty]

Thanks for the replies so far, it's great to have a few names of places to start planning around and looking up.
Any ideas on the off-roading side of things anyone?

[Simon_100]

Thanks for the replies so far, it's great to have a few names of places to start planning around and looking up.
Any ideas on the off-roading side of things anyone?

Yes, forget about Cantabria and head west to Asturias and Galicia - check out all the details in my blog - the Picos are fantastic but with two exceptions, mentioned above and well known enough, all the trails are closed - and heavily 'policed'.

I find the Guadarrsama mountains congested as they are so close to Madrid, but the Sistema Central in general is fantastic - follow it all the way to Portugal.

Are you camping or looking for digs?

Regs

Simon

[coasty]

Thanks Simon ... I will check out those areas and your blog. We are planning on camping predominantly but any suggestions for the odd night under a roof would be welcomed

[Simon_100]

Thanks Simon ... I will check out those areas and your blog. We are planning on camping predominantly but any suggestions for the odd night under a roof would be welcomed

You're welcome, thee are some fantastic camp sites on my 2011 tour posts. Regarding digs, just follow your nose when you arrive anywhere - no worries with availability at this tome of year - but if you like booking in advance use booking.com rather than tripadvisor as the comments tend to me more useful.

There's a page dedicated to finding d¡good digs and campings on the blog, as you may know.

Regs

Simon

[ollydog]

i can wave at you as i pass, we will be doing the opposite route roughly the same time, but treating jan to hotels all the way

steve