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 San Vicente de la Barquera it runs 414 km to San Vicente de la Barquera; allow about 8 h 50 of riding. On the way it passes Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana, Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot, Tito Bustillo and back through 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 was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 44 km this is Picos de Europa Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
The Nansa is one of the shortest and wildest rivers in Cantabria, running from the high mountains on the edge of the Picos de Europa to the Bay of Biscay, and halfway along its course, near the hamlet of Riclones, a cave opens in the limestone above the water. This is the Cueva de Chufín, where Palaeolithic people engraved and painted animals, signs and symbols on the walls thousands of years ago. It is one of the caves of the Cantabrian coast included in the World Heritage site of Altamira and Palaeolithic cave art of northern Spain.
Read the complete Chufín write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chufín is where the day begins. Next is Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana.
Liébana is a green bowl surrounded by mountains, a valley system in south-west Cantabria with the town of Potes at its centre and the limestone towers of the Picos de Europa rising to the north and west. On a hillside above Potes, among oak and chestnut woods, stands the monastery of Santo Toribio, one of the holy places of Christian Spain. It keeps the Lignum Crucis, said to be the largest surviving fragment of the True Cross, and for that reason it holds a jubilee year whenever the feast of Saint Toribio, the sixteenth of April, falls on a Sunday.
Read the complete Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana comes up about 44 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 107 km into the recorded legs you reach Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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.
back through Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana comes up about 371 km into the recorded legs. Next is Chufín.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chufín write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chufín closes the day.
Chufín → Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana → Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot → Tito Bustillo is 100 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tito Bustillo → back through Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot → back through Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monastère de Santo Toribio de Liébana → Chufín is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.