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.
248 km round from Cangas de Onís - plan on about 4 h 29 of riding. On the way it passes Covadonga, Lakes of Covadonga, Fuente De and Potes. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
For about 11 km this is Picos de Europa Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
This part of the ride is 12 km of Picos de Europa Loop.
This is where Spain's story of reconquest is told, at least the way it is told in Asturias. A few kilometres up the road at Covadonga, the local lord Pelayo is said to have beaten a Muslim force around 722, an event that became the founding legend of the Kingdom of Asturias, and Cangas de Onís was that kingdom's first capital. So a small town of about six thousand people carries rather a lot of history, and it shows in the Roman Bridge, which is actually medieval, with its high single arch over the Sella and a cross hanging beneath it.
Read the complete Cangas de Onís write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cangas de Onis is where the day begins. Next is Covadonga.
Ask a Spaniard where their country's story starts again after the Moorish conquest and many will say here, in a green fold of the Picos de Europa, a few kilometres up the valley from Cangas de Onís. The tradition says a Visigothic noble named Pelayo and a small band of Asturians beat a Muslim force in the hills around 722, and the kingdom of Asturias grew from it. Whether the battle was as grand as the legend or a skirmish blown up later, historians still argue, but the place carries the weight regardless. Pelayo is buried in the cave.
Read the complete Covadonga write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Covadonga comes up about 11 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lakes of Covadonga.
The climb from the basilica to the lakes is a short road with a long reputation. Cyclists know it from the Vuelta, where it has been a summit finish with a brutal gradient, and the ramps are steep enough that you will use second gear more than you expect. Over about a dozen kilometres you rise from valley meadows to a high, rolling limestone shelf, and the road threads between steep grassy slopes with cow bells clanking somewhere in the mist. Expect hairpins, a narrow carriageway, and cattle that regard the tarmac as theirs.
Read the complete Lakes of Covadonga write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 23 km into the recorded legs you reach Lakes of Covadonga. Next is Fuente De.
Fuente Dé is the end of the road, in the best sense. The CA-185 climbs up a narrow glacial valley from Potes, the little capital of the Liébana region, and finishes in a vast amphitheatre of limestone, a cirque of grey cliffs that rise nearly vertically above the meadow and block off the sky. There is nowhere further to ride, so you park, tip your head back, and look up.
Read the complete Fuente De write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fuente De, about halfway. Next is Potes.
Potes is the capital of Liébana, a hidden-away valley in Cantabria that is walled in by the Picos de Europa on three sides and so mild and sheltered that it grows fruit and grapes at the foot of mountains that still carry snow in June. The town sits where the rivers Deva and Quiviesca meet, under a square medieval tower, the Torre del Infantado, with stone bridges, arcaded houses and narrow streets climbing away from the water. It has only a little over a thousand residents, which is why everybody on the street seems to know everybody else.
Read the complete Potes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Potes sits at 71 km, about halfway. Next is Arenas de Cabrales.
Arenas de Cabrales is the capital, if that is the word, of one of Europe's most pungent cheeses. Cabrales is a blue made from cow's milk, sometimes blended with sheep and goat, and it matures in natural limestone caves in the hills above the village where cool, damp air does the work that a refrigerator would elsewhere. It looks like something that has been left in a cellar, and it tastes like a punch to the tongue followed by a hug. Locals eat it with cider, or spread on bread, or melt it over beef. A late-summer cheese fair in the village celebrates it. You can buy a wedge here to take home, though think about where it will ride.
Read the complete Arenas de Cabrales write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Arenas de Cabrales comes up about 216 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cangas de Onis.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cangas de Onís write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cangas de Onis closes the day.
Cangas de Onis → Covadonga is 11 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Covadonga → Lakes of Covadonga is 12 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lakes of Covadonga → Fuente De is 119 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuente Dé → Potes is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Potes → Arenas de Cabrales is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Arenas de Cabrales → Cangas de Onis is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.