CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Oviedo it runs 709 km to Oviedo; allow about 15 h 23 of riding. On the way it passes Tito Bustillo, Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria, Covaciella and Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 90 km this is Picos de Europa Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Oviedo is a small and handsome capital that sits a few valleys back from the sea, in a green country that the Spanish call the natural paradise. The old kingdom of Asturias was born here, in the eighth century, when a little group of Christian nobles held out in the mountains against the Muslim armies that had swept up the peninsula. The kings who followed, Alfonso II and Ramiro I among them, built churches on the hills above the city in a unique style that art historians call Asturian pre-Romanesque. Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, both from the ninth century, are among the oldest and most graceful of them, and UNESCO has listed them together with other Asturian monuments.
Read the complete Oviedo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Oviedo is where the day begins. Next is Tito Bustillo.
In 1968, a group of young cavers from Ribadesella found their way into a cave system beneath the Ardines hill, just outside the town, and stumbled upon an extraordinary gallery of Palaeolithic art: horses, deer and reindeer, painted in red and black, along with strange red symbols that some interpret as female figures. One of the group, Celestino Fernández Bustillo, known as Tito, died in a mountain accident a few days later, and the cave was named in his honour. Tito Bustillo is one of the most important painted caves in Europe, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of Cave of Altamira and Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain. Visits are limited in number and season to protect the art, and booking in advance is essential.
Read the complete Tito Bustillo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tito Bustillo comes up about 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria.
The beech forests of Cuesta Fría cling to the north-facing slopes of the Valdeón valley, on the León side of the Picos de Europa, where the limestone mountains rise abruptly above the green of the Cantabrian coast. They are part of a group of old beech woods across Europe that UNESCO recognised for their natural value, because the trees here have grown with little human interference for a very long time. Posada de Valdeón, a village of a few hundred people, lies about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
At least about 170 km into the recorded legs you reach Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria. Next is Covaciella.
Between the coastal town of Llanes and the high limestone walls of the Picos de Europa, a small cave near Carreña de Cabrales holds images that have been in the dark for something like fifteen thousand years. Covaciella was only found in the 1990s, and its paintings of bison, horses and deer, in black and red, are among the finest examples of Palaeolithic art in Asturias. It was added to the UNESCO listing of the Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain in 2008. The cave is closed to the public to protect the paintings, but the nearby interpretation centre explains what is inside and why it matters.
Read the complete Covaciella write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Covaciella, about halfway. Next is Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot.
Valdeón is the valley people forget to mention when they talk about the Picos de Europa, and that is a mistake. On the southern side of the range, in the province of León, it is a deep green bowl ringed by limestone peaks, with the village of Posada de Valdeón at its heart. The beech forests on its slopes, including those in the side valley known as the Canal de Asotín, are part of the UNESCO site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a transnational listing that grew to include several forests in Spain. Walking in them in autumn, when the leaves turn copper and gold and the ground is soft with moss, is unforgettable.
Read the complete Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot sits at 179 km, about halfway. Next is back through Covaciella.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Covaciella write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Covaciella comes up about 450 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 539 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria. Next is back through Tito Bustillo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tito Bustillo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tito Bustillo, late in the day. Next is Oviedo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oviedo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 709 km.
Oviedo → Tito Bustillo is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Tito Bustillo → Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria → Covaciella is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Covaciella → Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot → back through Covaciella is 101 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Covaciella → back through Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria is 89 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria → back through Tito Bustillo is 89 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tito Bustillo → Oviedo is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.