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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Estéiles de la Balouta and Chemin de l’Intérieur

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
339 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 25
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Puente de Domingo Flórez it runs 339 km to Puente de Domingo Flórez; allow about 4 h 25 of riding. It goes by way of Roman Walls of Lugo, Chemin de l’Intérieur and back through Roman Walls of Lugo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Estéiles de la Balouta

    Estéiles is the local word for waste, the spoil heaps of rock and gravel that Roman gold miners left behind, and in this corner of León and the Sil country the name has stuck to the landscape itself. Nobody lives on a spoil heap, but the shapes are unmistakable once your eye is trained: pale, steep-sided banks of washed stones, too regular to be natural, with young oak and chestnut growing over them. This stop is a good place to get that eye in.

    Read the complete Estéiles de la Balouta write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Estéiles de la Balouta is where the day begins. Next is Roman Walls of Lugo.

  2. 2. Roman Walls of Lugo

    Lugo is the only city in the world still completely surrounded by intact Roman walls. Built in the late third century, when the Roman Empire was under pressure from invasions, the walls run for more than two kilometres around the old town, with dozens of semicircular towers and ten gates, some Roman and some added later. They are wide enough at the top for a walkway, and walking the full circuit, with views over the rooftops of the old town on one side and the modern city on the other, is the best way to get a sense of the place. The walls were listed by UNESCO in 2000.

    Read the complete Roman Walls of Lugo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Roman Walls of Lugo comes up 86 km in. Next is Chemin de l’Intérieur.

  3. 3. Chemin de l’Intérieur

    Pilgrims have been crossing this green upland of Galicia on their way to Santiago de Compostela for more than a thousand years, and the scallop-shell waymarkers still guide them through the villages around Vilalba and Guitiriz. This is the Terra Chá, the flat land, a high plateau in the north of the province of Lugo where the northern pilgrim routes come down from the Cantabrian coast toward the interior. The Ways of Saint James in northern Spain are part of a UNESCO listing that recognises not only the famous French Way but also the coastal and inland routes that run through this region.

    Read the complete Chemin de l’Intérieur write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    172 km in you reach Chemin de l’Intérieur. Next is back through Roman Walls of Lugo.

  4. 4. back through Roman Walls of Lugo

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Roman Walls of Lugo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Roman Walls of Lugo, late in the day. Next is Estéiles de la Balouta.

  5. 5. Estéiles de la Balouta

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Estéiles de la Balouta write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Estéiles de la Balouta. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Estéiles de la Balouta to Roman Walls of Lugo

Estéiles de la Balouta → Roman Walls of Lugo is 118 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Roman Walls of Lugo to Chemin de l’Intérieur

Roman Walls of Lugo → Chemin de l’Intérieur is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Chemin de l’Intérieur to back through Roman Walls of Lugo

Chemin de l’Intérieur → back through Roman Walls of Lugo is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Roman Walls of Lugo to Estéiles de la Balouta

back through Roman Walls of Lugo → Estéiles de la Balouta is 118 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

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