Why this ride
From Camargo it runs 97 km to Camargo; allow about 2 h 02 of riding. The stops in between: Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître, Hornos de la Peña and back through Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
El Pendo and Hornos de la Peña
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 97 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 02
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. El Pendo
In 1997, in a cave that people had been visiting for over a century, a group of researchers noticed paintings that everyone had walked past: a frieze of red figures, deer, horses and goats, high on a wall in the main chamber. El Pendo, in the municipality of Camargo just south of Santander, had long been known for its deep layers of Stone Age occupation, but the frieze made it one of the important painted caves of Cantabria, and in 2008 it joined the World Heritage listing of the Paleolithic cave art of northern Spain alongside Altamira.
Read the complete El Pendo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
El Pendo is where the day begins. Next is Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître.
2. Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître
The saying goes that Santillana del Mar is the town of three lies, since it is not holy, not flat and has no sea, and the truth is that it is none of those things and one of the prettiest villages in northern Spain. The name comes from Santa Juliana, a martyr whose relics are kept in the collegiate church, and the town grew up around the monastery that held them in the early Middle Ages. Stone houses with carved coats of arms, wooden balconies and cobbled streets line the main road, and cows still wander through the lanes at times.
Read the complete Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hornos de la Peña.
3. Hornos de la Peña
Above the village of San Felices de Buelna, on a limestone hillside in the Besaya valley of Cantabria, a cave called Hornos de la Peña holds engravings made by Palaeolithic hunters. The most famous is the outline of a horse, scratched into the rock thousands of years ago, along with other animals and signs that take time and a good guide to pick out. The cave is one of the seventeen in northern Spain listed by UNESCO alongside Altamira, and visits are limited and guided, so check ahead rather than simply turning up.
Read the complete Hornos de la Peña write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Hornos de la Peña. Next is back through Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître.
4. back through Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître, late in the day. Next is El Pendo.
5. El Pendo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete El Pendo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at El Pendo. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
El Pendo to Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître
El Pendo → Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître to Hornos de la Peña
Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître → Hornos de la Peña is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hornos de la Peña to back through Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître
Hornos de la Peña → back through Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître to El Pendo
back through Collégiale de Santa Juliana et son Cloître → El Pendo is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.