Why this ride
293 km from Portugalete to Portugalete, about 3 h 56 of riding. It goes by way of La Garma, Chemin de la Liébana and back through La Garma. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Vizcaya Bridge and Chemin de la Liébana
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 293 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 56
- 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. Vizcaya Bridge
Few riders get the chance to cross a river hanging from a bridge, but at Portugalete you can. The Vizcaya Bridge, opened in 1893 across the mouth of the Nervión just downstream of Bilbao, is the oldest transporter bridge in the world: a tall iron structure from which a gondola, suspended on cables, glides from one bank to the other carrying cars, motorcycles, bikes and pedestrians in a couple of minutes. It was designed by the Basque architect Alberto de Palacio, often described as a disciple of Gustave Eiffel, to let tall ships pass beneath while still linking the two towns, and UNESCO listed it in 2006.
Read the complete Vizcaya Bridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vizcaya Bridge is where the day begins. Next is La Garma.
2. La Garma
La Garma is a low limestone hill a few kilometres inland from the Bay of Santander, green with meadows and oak scrub, the sort of rounded Cantabrian hump you might ride past without a second glance. Inside it lies one of the most important prehistoric caves in Europe. Found by chance in the 1990s, the cave of La Garma contains not just paintings but preserved living floors from the Palaeolithic: hearths, bones, tools and the outlines of shelters left exactly as they were when a rockfall sealed the entrance thousands of years ago. It forms part of the UNESCO site of the Cave of Altamira and Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain.
Read the complete La Garma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Garma comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Chemin de la Liébana.
3. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 146 km into the recorded legs you reach Chemin de la Liébana. Next is back through La Garma.
4. back through La Garma
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Garma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through La Garma, late in the day. Next is Vizcaya Bridge.
5. Vizcaya Bridge
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vizcaya Bridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Vizcaya Bridge. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Vizcaya Bridge to La Garma
Vizcaya Bridge → La Garma is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
La Garma to Chemin de la Liébana
La Garma → Chemin de la Liébana is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Chemin de la Liébana to back through La Garma
Chemin de la Liébana → back through La Garma is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through La Garma to Vizcaya Bridge
back through La Garma → Vizcaya Bridge is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.