Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro and Santimamiñe

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro

   Every year on the morning of 29 June, the people of Haro climb a hill outside town and drench each other in red wine, and nobody has ever satisfactorily explained to me why this needs to happen at nine in the morning. The Batalla del Vino is the loudest expression of a town that lives and breathes wine. Haro is the heart of Rioja Alta, and just outside it the old stone bridge at Briñas crosses the Ebro, a medieval structure of solid arches that has carried travellers, mule trains and wine carts across the river for centuries.

   Read the complete Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro is where the day begins. Next is Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian.

2. 2. Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian

   Imagine a mountain with a hole through it, and a medieval road running straight through the hole. The tunnel of San Adrián is a natural cave passage near the crest of the Aizkorri range, on the border of Gipuzkoa and Álava, and for centuries it carried one of the main routes between the Castilian plateau and the Basque coast. Pilgrims on the inland Camino de Santiago, merchants, armies and kings all passed through it, and a small chapel was built inside the cave. The old paved road leading up to it survives in sections, worn smooth by centuries of hooves and boots.

   Read the complete Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian comes up about 126 km into the recorded legs. Next is Santimamiñe.

3. 3. Santimamiñe

   In 1916, a group of boys exploring a hillside in the Basque Country found paintings deep inside a cave, and Santimamiñe became one of the most important prehistoric sites in the region. The cave, near Kortezubi in the Urdaibai valley, contains Magdalenian paintings of bison, horses, goats and deer, made around fourteen thousand years ago, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of cave art of northern Spain. To protect the paintings, the cave itself is closed to the public, but a visitor centre offers a virtual tour that recreates the interior in detail, with guides explaining the art and the people who made it.

   Read the complete Santimamiñe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 232 km into the recorded legs you reach Santimamiñe. Next is back through Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian.

4. 4. back through Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Chaussée et Tunnel de San Adrian, late in the day. Next is Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro.

5. 5. Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Pont de Briñas sur le Fleuve Ebro. That is the ride.