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.
224 km from Posada de Valdeón to Posada de Valdeón, about 5 h 26 of riding. The stops in between: Covaciella, Llonín and back through Covaciella. 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 88 km this is Picos de Europa Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
The beech forests of Cuesta Fría cling to the north-facing slopes of the Valdeón valley, on the León side of the Picos de Europa, where the limestone mountains rise abruptly above the green of the Cantabrian coast. They are part of a group of old beech woods across Europe that UNESCO recognised for their natural value, because the trees here have grown with little human interference for a very long time. Posada de Valdeón, a village of a few hundred people, lies about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria is where the day begins. Next is Covaciella.
Between the coastal town of Llanes and the high limestone walls of the Picos de Europa, a small cave near Carreña de Cabrales holds images that have been in the dark for something like fifteen thousand years. Covaciella was only found in the 1990s, and its paintings of bison, horses and deer, in black and red, are among the finest examples of Palaeolithic art in Asturias. It was added to the UNESCO listing of the Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain in 2008. The cave is closed to the public to protect the paintings, but the nearby interpretation centre explains what is inside and why it matters.
Read the complete Covaciella write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Covaciella comes up about 88 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 112 km into the recorded legs you reach Llonín. Next is back through Covaciella.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Covaciella write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Covaciella, late in the day. Next is Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria. That is the ride.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria → Covaciella is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Covaciella → Llonín is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Llonín → back through Covaciella is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Covaciella → Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Cuesta Fria is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.