Why this ride
A 256 km round trip from Araia - roughly 3 h 57 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz, Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro and back through Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian and Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 256 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 57
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Scenic road chapters
Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian → Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 41 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 85 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian
Imagine a mountain with a hole through it, and a medieval road running straight through the hole. The tunnel of San Adrián is a natural cave passage near the crest of the Aizkorri range, on the border of Gipuzkoa and Álava, and for centuries it carried one of the main routes between the Castilian plateau and the Basque coast. Pilgrims on the inland Camino de Santiago, merchants, armies and kings all passed through it, and a small chapel was built inside the cave. The old paved road leading up to it survives in sections, worn smooth by centuries of hooves and boots.
Read the complete Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian is where the day begins. Next is Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz.
2. Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital of the Basque Country and possibly its most underrated city. It sits on a high plateau, the Llanada Alavesa, surrounded by low mountains and wide farmland, and its medieval old town climbs a small hill in the shape of an almond, with the old cathedral of Santa María at the top. This is the cathedral the label refers to, a Gothic church begun in the thirteenth century as both a temple and part of the town's defences.
Read the complete Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz comes up about 85 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro.
3. Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro
Every year on the morning of 29 June, the people of Haro climb a hill outside town and drench each other in red wine, and nobody has ever satisfactorily explained to me why this needs to happen at nine in the morning. The Batalla del Vino is the loudest expression of a town that lives and breathes wine. Haro is the heart of Rioja Alta, and just outside it the old stone bridge at Briñas crosses the Ebro, a medieval structure of solid arches that has carried travellers, mule trains and wine carts across the river for centuries.
Read the complete Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 127 km into the recorded legs you reach Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro. Next is back through Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz.
4. back through Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz, late in the day. Next is Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian.
5. Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian to Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz
Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian → Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz is 85 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz to Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro
Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz → Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro to back through Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz
Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro → back through Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz to Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian
back through Cathedrale de Vitoria-Gasteiz → Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian is 86 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.