Why this ride
A 397 km round trip from Puente Viesgo - roughly 5 h 02 in the saddle. It goes by way of El Pindal, Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion and back through El Pindal. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Monte Castillo - La Pasiega and Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 397 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 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. Monte Castillo - La Pasiega
Puente Viesgo has the strange distinction of being a Cantabrian village of about two and a half thousand people that sits under one of the most important prehistoric hills in Europe. Monte Castillo is a steep, cone-shaped limestone mountain beside the River Pas, and it is riddled with caves. La Pasiega is one of four that have been explored and painted on a grand scale, the others being El Castillo, Las Chimeneas and Las Monedas. Together they form a small campus of Ice Age art, and people travel from across the world to look at them.
Read the complete Monte Castillo - La Pasiega write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monte Castillo - La Pasiega is where the day begins. Next is El Pindal.
2. El Pindal
On the coast of eastern Asturias, near the village of Pimiango, a cave opens in the cliffs above the sea, and inside, Palaeolithic artists painted and engraved animals on the walls: a mammoth, horses, a bison, a fish, and many red dots and signs. El Pindal is one of the caves included in the World Heritage listing of the Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain, and its location, with the sea pounding the rocks below and the Picos de Europa rising inland, is spectacular. Visits are limited and guided, to protect the paintings.
Read the complete El Pindal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
El Pindal comes up about 66 km into the recorded legs. Next is Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion.
3. Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion
Castro-Urdiales has one of the best harbour fronts on the whole Cantabrian coast, and it knows it. The Gothic church of Santa María de la Asunción stands on a rocky headland above the old port, its buttresses and pinnacles silhouetted against the sea, flanked by the remains of a castle that now holds a lighthouse and by a medieval bridge leading to a little chapel on a rock. Built from the thirteenth century onward, the church is one of the finest Gothic buildings in northern Spain, and it lies on the coastal route of the Way of Saint James, which is part of a UNESCO listing that covers the pilgrimage roads of the north.
Read the complete Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 198 km into the recorded legs you reach Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion. Next is back through El Pindal.
4. back through El Pindal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete El Pindal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through El Pindal, late in the day. Next is Monte Castillo - La Pasiega.
5. Monte Castillo - La Pasiega
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monte Castillo - La Pasiega write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Monte Castillo - La Pasiega. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Monte Castillo - La Pasiega to El Pindal
Monte Castillo - La Pasiega → El Pindal is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
El Pindal to Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion
El Pindal → Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion is 132 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion to back through El Pindal
Eglise Santa Maria de la Asuncion → back through El Pindal is 134 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through El Pindal to Monte Castillo - La Pasiega
back through El Pindal → Monte Castillo - La Pasiega is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.