Northern Spain, Hidden Gem

[Marek]

Hello chaps,

Just back from an awesome week riding in Northern Spain. Rode just over 100 miles a day for 6 days taking in delights such as the Angliru and the Covadonga. I can tell you that the scenery and the quality of the hotels, food etc was amazing and pretty cheap in comparison to Italy and France where you find the really popular climbs.

The Angliru is a horror though, is very very steep, with one section near the top that goes on for about 400m at 24%, is ridiculous, it also has the added obstacles of getting around roaming Cattle. I didn't quite make it up and had to stop on the final 100m of that section and push the bike, I later found out that a few people in the group had to do the same, it was a bit too much for my heavy frame.

There are a number of really long 25km climbs in the area, and gradients are on a par with some of the more gentle climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees so really good fun. That is mixed in with some really fantastic windy riding through ravines. The area has a lot of rivers and is very popular with Rock climbers are lots of cliff faces. A truly inspriring area and one that I would defo go back to an ride again.

Did around 900km in the week, we had one cloudy day, the rest of the time the sun was shining. I think the area gets a fair amount of rain as was very green everywhere. On one of the days we did 185km ride that went up to one of the massive reservoirs aorund 25km outside of Potes, which is a lovely town where we spent two nights. Was a really tough days riding as the reservoir road is very undulating and we had to climb around 1000 metres out of Potes to get to it, but well worth it.

A massive thumbs ups for an area to ride, so if you are planning a tour then you should defo consider this area. We flew into Asturius and out of Santander.

Cheers

Marek....
[img]http://i40.tinypic.com/2vcufxj.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i41.tinypic.com/i41qax.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i39.tinypic.com/2i6gz1x.jpg[/img]

[Andrew G]

Looks great, will have to get the details off you as that area is one I've wanted to visit for a while and the Angliru on the to do list.

[Phil H]

[quote="Andrew G"]Looks great, will have to get the details off you as that area is one I've wanted to visit for a while and the Angliru on the to do list.

[Marek]

Apparently last year Contrador put a SRAM 32 mountain bike sprocket on his back wheel to get over it in the Veulta.

This is a photo of the steep section, unfortunately the photo does not do it justice. You hit this after about 11km of climbing up already steep ramps and then it goes to that, brutal:

[img]http://i42.tinypic.com/28kjxcl.jpg[/img]

[adrian]

Lovely part of the world indeed. My twin has lived there (in Oviedo) for about 20 years. He's done running races up the Angliru in which even the winner has to walk some of it.

[Amy]

Thought there was some nice country in last year's Giro, northern Spain. Would be interested in an ACC trip out that way. Make a change from Mallorca.

[Jon H]

I'm contemplating a trip to see the Vuelta in that area. Sports Tours International have a 10 day trip covering the Pyrenees, North Spain & Madrid. Bit pricey at £1300 + flights, but looks to cover some great ground.

[Marek]

Addiscombe should organise a trip rather than you doing it on your own. I went with a club that I have a few friends with in St Albans this is what they do:

1. Get 15 to 16 riders to pay a £200 deposit
2. Find someone who is willing to drive a hire van and look after the riders. The driver gets all expenses paid trip as recompense and maybe a present, getting this type of person is hard to do, but someone who does not ride so much any more but fancies getting out and seeing some of the major climbs and generally having a bit of fun would be good.
3. Arrange a route that involves a certain amount of difficulty each day. To some degree this depends on the riders, but we tend to split into two groups depending on ability and how bad the hangover is.
4. Arrange for certain members of the group to sort out a hotel in each destination town and dinner and breakfast and bike storage for 16 riders. Normally twin rooms, the driver gets a single, have one other single as a spare in case someone is ill else the booker gets the single. This helps to split up the jobs and also adds an element of competition in terms of who can get the cheapest and best quality hotel of the trip.
5. All riders drop off bikes and luggage to the Van drivers house one or two days before departure.
6. Riders all fly with hand luggage only to destination and either arrange taxi or a coach transfer to first hotel.
7. Van driver either gets ferry or drives to destination depending on where you are going. Driver would arrive normally before the riders. Normally have one of the riders with the van driver to share the drive and help out.
8. Riders show up and build up bikes and either go for quick ride to check bikes ok or go to bed in preparation for next day.
9. Breakfast at 7.30am and then aim to depart at 9am.
10. Bike bags are packed at back of van, then the main luggage goes into the van, and then you have a day bag near the door so that you can get essentials for the ride. Also Van driver gets a shed load of mineral water in the Van to ensure have stuff for the day, also bananas etc.
11. Over the day will stop for coffees and snacks and lunches etc. These expenses are paid for by the group, so whoever pays just keeps a record of what they have spent.
12. At end of trip load up the bikes onto the van again and luggage. Van driver goes back. Riders fly back. Then riders pick up luggage from Van drivers house a day or so later.
13. All expenses for the whole trip are combined and then split across all the riders.

Over the years I have done this with this group the cost has varied between £800 to £1,000 depending on the destination. Italy/Switzerland a bit more expensive than Pyrenees and Spain which I think are pretty cheap.

Is fantastic, works really well and if you can get it going one year it would become an annual event. I have just done my fourth trip with this group. Is really good fun, we have some different riders each year, but some of them have been doing for about 8 years I think. I have been to France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Spain on these trips and have seen and ridden some of the best climbs in Europe. The costs and logistics are so much cheaper when you do like this. Other option on the Van driver is that a few riders take a day out of the holiday to drive instead of ride and get a reduced cost for that day of non riding.

Cheers

Marek....

[Marek]

I got the final cost of my trip last week and I nearly fell off my chair at how cheap it was. The price included:

Flights
Cost of getting Van to Bilbao and back
Hire Van cost
Drivers cost of trip split across all of us
Dinner, bed and breakfast plus most lunches
Wine and a number of beers
£150 voucher for the driver as a thank you (split across us all)
Water on the road

All in my cost was £650. What an absolute bargain, we had really good food and fantastic cycling for the whole week.

Cheers

Marek.....

[Roy Green]

Very nice photos, Marek. You should join the area's Tourist Board!

[Alan M]

Sounds good - Northern spain is the best with a jurasic coastline and weather cooler but less predictable than the rest of Spain. You can also enjoy cidre from the barrel and eat great tapas - San Sebastian is a resort town that is similar to Cannes but much smaller and there are great walking trails. Good report M