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.
A 557 km round trip from Posada de Valdeón - roughly 8 h 07 in the saddle. The stops in between: Llonín, Tito Bustillo, Chemin de la Liébana and Hornos de la Peña. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 94 km this is Picos de Europa Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
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.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot is where the day begins. Next is Llonín.
The cave of Llonín is not one you can walk into. It sits in the valley of the river Cares in Peñamellera Alta, in the far east of Asturias, and it is one of the decorated Palaeolithic caves of northern Spain listed by UNESCO alongside Altamira. Its walls hold engravings and paintings of deer, goats and other animals, and the cave has been studied by archaeologists for decades, but access is restricted to protect the art. What you get instead is the landscape that sheltered those artists, and that is very much worth the trip.
Read the complete Llonín write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Llonín comes up about 94 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 165 km into the recorded legs you reach Tito Bustillo. Next is Chemin de la Liébana.
San Vicente de la Barquera is where the Camino Lebaniego begins, the old pilgrim route that leaves the Cantabrian coast and climbs south into the mountains of Liébana to the monastery of Santo Toribio. The town sits on a pair of estuaries, with a long medieval bridge carrying the road across the water, a castle and the Gothic church of Santa María above the harbour, and on clear days the snowy peaks of the Picos de Europa rising behind the marshes like a stage set.
Read the complete Chemin de la Liébana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chemin de la Liébana, about halfway. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hornos de la Peña sits at 204 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chemin de la Liébana.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chemin de la Liébana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Chemin de la Liébana comes up about 328 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Tito Bustillo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tito Bustillo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 391 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Tito Bustillo. Next is back through Llonín.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Llonín write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Llonín, late in the day. Next is 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.
The route ends here after 557 km.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot → Llonín is 94 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Llonín → Tito Bustillo is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tito Bustillo → Chemin de la Liébana is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Chemin de la Liébana → Hornos de la Peña is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hornos de la Peña → back through Chemin de la Liébana is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chemin de la Liébana → back through Tito Bustillo is 63 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Tito Bustillo → back through Llonín is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Llonín → Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot is 95 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.