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 Tresviso it runs 580 km to Tresviso; allow about 11 h 11 of riding. The stops in between: Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot, Tito Bustillo, Basilica of San Julián de los Prados and back through Tito Bustillo. 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 111 km this is Picos de Europa Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
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 is where the day begins. 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.
Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot comes up about 111 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 210 km into the recorded legs you reach Tito Bustillo. Next is Basilica of San Julián de los Prados.
Asturias had a king who believed in building well, and Alfonso II, known as the Chaste, is the reason the church of San Julián de los Prados exists. He made Oviedo his capital in the early ninth century, and the basilica, known locally as Santullano, was raised outside the city walls around the year 830. It is the largest church of the Asturian pre-Romanesque style, a plain, tall building of stone with a red-tiled roof, and it has one thing that makes it unique.
Read the complete Basilica of San Julián de los Prados write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Basilica of San Julián de los Prados, about halfway. 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.
back through Tito Bustillo sits at 225 km, 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 comes up about 458 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
Llonín closes the day.
Llonín → Hayedos de Picos de Europa - Canal de Asot is 111 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 99 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tito Bustillo → Basilica of San Julián de los Prados is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Basilica of San Julián de los Prados → back through Tito Bustillo is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through 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 → Llonín is 122 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.