Spain (all)

The mountains of the Sierra de Gredos lie to the north west of Madrid and regularly feature in la Vuelta - the Tour of Spain. As well as providing the opportunity to tackle some interesting climbs on quiet roads, travelling west through the Sierra de Gredos leads to the fascinating area of northern Extremadura. The return to Madrid contoured the slopes of the hills to the south of the river Tajo, through some very quiet roads, eventually leading to Toledo and Madrid.

The mountains of the Sierra de Gudar and El Maestrazgo lie due north of Valencia. Maestrazgo spans the boundary between Aragon and Valencia. It is one of the most sparsely populated areas of Spain, rich in historic detail and with a fine network of roads that link the ancient villages. Returning to Valencia from the west, via the Sierra de Javalambre, provides access to some quite different but equally impressive roads and scenery.

This webpage is intended to provide information for cycle tourists who may be considering tours in the countries I've visited. For more information, journals and pictures leave a message in my guestbook or send me an email.

`` Yes, it's hot. But we've seen worse haven't we my friend. There was that day east of Warnambol when the chip seal melted and the chips stuck to the tires. A few revolutions later we had flats front and rear. So we pushed for a mile seeking shade to repair the punctures. And the flies Ah! And there was that time in Zamorah. Ah! But not now.''

It began as a crazy idea whilst on holiday in France back in 2003 and within a couple of weeks had turned into a serious plan. Now after two years preparation and a couple of false starts we're finally off.

The plan is to ride from our home in Chesham to the south coast city of Portsmouth where we can catch a boat to Bilbao on the north coast of Spain. Then we'll cross France to the Black Forest in Germany where we can pick up the famous Danube cycle path which we plan to follow to east to Vienna. After that we want to spend a couple of months in the Alps before heading south for a lap of Italy. The final leg of the tour will see us cross France again to the Pyrenees before we head south to Spain where we plan to follow the coast round to Portugal and back into Northern Spain where we can catch the boat back to England.

27 days of cycling throughout the Pyrenées and Cantabria (start and finish in Lourdes). On 27 days I cycled 4474 km (165,7 km/day); 83551m (3095m/day) (height meters) and visited ca. 241 cols. (Only counting the 24 full cycling days, I did 4131,5 km (172,1 km/day) and 77108m (3213m/day).) The longest day was 274,5 km from Esterri d'Aneu in Spain to Lourdes (via Mourenx). Max height meters on one day was 4270m. Got a gold classification in the l'Etape du Tour race (the day after cycling 274,5 km) on a half-decent time around 6h30mins (ca. 2 hours slower than the Tour de France winner this year). Steepest was the famous Angliru climb in Asturia (26%). Lots of facts, but some nice photos and stories.

Pictorial personal diary, equipment list, and route guide for a 4.5 month cycle trip, Boston, England to Gibraltar.

We are 2 18 year old students. We made a tour across Europe from Holland to Sweden and Great Britain. After this we took the boat to Holland and set off to the south of Portugal.

In the spring (2006) we are going to make a trip from Anataly Turkey to Holland.

Early June 2004 we got a week free and booked a trip to Mallorca. We had been in Alcudia, on North Mallorca, twice, riding MTB and felt that we had rather exhausted the fun of the gnarly trails around Lluc, Binifaldo, Massanella, and other trails accessible from Alcudia, so we bet on bringing our road bikes and staying in South Mallorca, to see some new land.

We winded up in Illetas, a quiet but nevertheless touristic place straddling the cliffs between Palma Nova and Palma. We had a small appartement in the Illetas Club Playa.

The riding was excellent, though we found the traffic dense and dangerous. For most rides we would have to spend an hour before we were on a road in open country. Going east of Palma was not much fun as routes were poorly marked, traffic congested, with plenty of diverts and circuitous one-way streets, through one beach resort after another.

It's 2004, and my dream came true: to go on an extended cycling trip of Europe, taking in Portugal, Spain, France and the UK. I left Brisbane on January 22 for a Tasmanian ``warm-up'' trip before my BIG trip, which started on 27 February. Here are my favourite photos and some thoughts I had along the way. I hope you enjoy them...

There are a number of routes to Santiago de Compostela. The most famous - and currently most well-traveled - is the Camino Frances (or French Road). One leg begins its Spanish phase in the Pyrenees at Roncesvalles. An alternative way from France starts at Somport. Both routes from France converge at Puente La Reina. From there, a single route continues to the destination on the west coast of Spain.

Today, about 50,000 people a year make the pilgrimage. The majority (70%+) walk. Crossing Spain from the French border to Santiago de Compostela on foot takes about a month. Why do people do it? Religion. Spirituality. Culture. Or simply to take part in the river of history - to participate in something that has endured for twelve centuries. [...]

If you can find the time, do it. My pilgrimage was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. It's a great bicycle tour. It was profoundly moving, fun, and you'll meet interesting people from all over the world.

The Camino, or Road to Santiago, has been for a thousand years the magnetic axis of Europe, and once you experience its peculiar attraction, it will form part of your very self. It still has that millenary magic that has fascinated the millions of pilgrims who have walked its path over the centuries. You will find yourself in the truly human dimension, passing through magical towns belonging to times different to ours, with fantastic landscapes changing at every turn; and even if you start alone, as I did, you'll end up making new friends from all over the world.

Suddenly I was in Tenerife. From one cold day in the Swedish forest to a warm beach close to Africa. I love airplanes. [...] It was very thrilling to go downhill when the bed was sharp lava stones and gravel. No soft moss to land in after an eventual unintentional air trip. I got a way with some small wounds and bruises after loosing the grip with the front wheel once. I was on my own on the mountain, so I better be careful and ride safe. [Warning, popups.]

The route follows the northern rim of the Mediterranean Sea, along the coast of Spain, France, across north Italy, the coast of Croatia, Greece, and Turkey. Powered by pastry, we pedaled and pushed our bikes from the sandy beaches of Spain to the sandy beaches of southern Turkey, over hills, over mountains, and across rivers of all sizes. Along the way, we found helpful people, stunning scenery, and great food.

Riding in Tenerife is fine, and on bicycle unspoilt sites with few or no tourists are within reach. The reasons for going to Tenerife are manifold: 20 C in both air and sea during winter, natural beauty, challenging riding and trekking, it's easy getting there and equally easy staying there, it's affordable, it's cycle-friendly etc. etc. [This] is a diary from 14 days, 9 of which I cycled.

Total Kilometers/Miles Cycling: 3849/2392 - Total Kilometers/Miles by Train: 435/270.5 - Total kilometers/Miles by car (rushing to Kirkenes to catch the plane to Chicago: 519/322.5 - Average distance per day 167/104.

My name is Louis Tousignant, a Canadian in his mid-fifties, living in Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic shore. I am always on the look out for riding partners, as I plan one major trip every year, up till now in Europe, but New Zealand and South East Asia are in the wings. All my recent trips have included the following parameters: 100 km/day (give or take 20%) on average; hotels, B&B's or pensions, no camping; most meals in restaurants; start in one country, exit in another, to maximize coverage; 5 to 6 week duration (participation in one leg of the trip is of course possible for those who can't spare the time). [...]

This was a solo trip, from September 4 to October 7 2001, with 23 days cycling and the remainder traveling and visiting cities along the way. I covered 1742km, for an average of 75.5 km/ cycling day.

[Titus is the bike] - 12195 km in 8 months through France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy and Greece - includes travelogue and many fine pictures

I've travelled quite a bit through the years, hiking on foot, by car, bus, plane... But cycling is just the right speed. Fast enough to actually get someplace, yet slow enough to smell the flowers as you go... Plus, it's the only mode of transportation where the engine actually improves with usage... Anyways, a friend lent me this book about a couple who spent a couple of years cycling around the world and I thought to myself that I wanted to do that ! So, off I went ! Well, I didn't quite make it... After 8 months on the road, I came back... Mostly due to homesickness, but I should have expected that, particularly on a solo trip...

Mid-morning after leaving Santillana [in Northern Spain], I take a break after a long cycle uphill and watch the progress of this little fellow... That's exactly how I felt... slow... but steady!

From Barcelona to Venezia (including [among others] Provence and the Dolomites).

Erik had spent the winter looking at pictures of famous Alpine passes, and that's where we were going. Languedoc and Provence also caught our attention, as did Costa Brava in Spain. We therefore decided to start our journey in Barcelona (which we passed through on our Iberia Tour 1999) and to finish in Venice (where we had been during the Touring Italia 1998).

We both signed up in the winter to participate in the ``Vätternrundan'' (a one-day 300k event in mid-June around the second largest lake in Sweden), and trained more than 1000 km during the spring. This training was absolutely necessary, not only for the ``Vätternrundan'', but also for the very hilly tour. In the end, after five weeks, we saw that we had had no more than three days without mountains. The first day through Barcelona, one day along the coast in Southern France and the last day on the plains to Venice. We were also certain that it would not be our last tour in the Alps. The climbs were hard, but the views and encouragements from other cyclists and car-drivers made it all more than worth-while. You are hardly ever alone as a cyclist. Standing on the summit after an hour or more of climbing you feel just as great as when you sweep through the switchbacks, going downhill for tens of kilometers on end!

That was going to be the first of my cycling tours and I had been thinking on a plain and not really long-distance trip. Simply a little adventure in order to test if the experience of touring thanks to your own energy and on a simple economical and amusing mechanical invention as a bike, was so exciting and attractive as shown by the many trip reports already read on the net and also as my mind used always to imagine.

On the other hand I haven?t seen too much material on the net about cycling in the Canaries, therefore I thought that a trip report would be a reasonable and refreshing contribution.

This web site is really just a day to day account of my 2000 mile lone cycle ride undertaken in July and August 2000. Most of my friends thought I was mad to try it at the age of 56 especially since I had never cycled much further than the local pub before. Had done no training, and my fifteen year old MBK mountain bike and heavy tent and things were hardly high tech. Yes I probably was mad but as things turned out most of the trip was great fun and I had very few problems, not even any aches and pains after the first couple of days.

A 2200km ride starting from Bordeaux on the French side of the Pyrenees, and finishing at the rock of Gibraltar off the South West of Spain. We averaged 100km/day, taking a mountainous route through 4 major mountain ranges - the Pyrenees, El Maestrat/Sierra de Cuenca, Sierra de Alcaraz/Cazorla and the Sierra Nevada.
Includes Map, Diary, Kit List, Pictures, Mechanicals, and Quotes...
``The pain in Spain falls mainly on the moun-tain''
``May the flies of a thousand camels infest the armpits of your children''

Santiago de Compostela, next to Rome and Jerusalem, is an important pilgrimage route for christians. According to the legend, the apostle Saint James is buried in the cathedral. Modern science has disputed the fact that the apostle ever reached Spain, however, thousands of people annually make the pilgrimage either by foot, horse, or on bicycle. The historical atmosphere and the spiritual adventure, as well as the physical challenges, cast their spell on the contemporary traveller.

Il seguente viaggio cicloturistico ripercorre una delle vie di pellegrinaggio utilizzate fino dal secolo IX per raggiungere le ``estreme terre della cristianità'' e il sepolcro dell'Apostolo Santiago (San Giacomo Maggiore). Durante questi 2000 chilometri si attraversa ogni paesaggio, dalle Alpi ai Pirenei, dal Mediterraneo all'Atlantico passando per zone montane e pedemontane, altopiani, prati, campi coltivati, fiumi, città d'arte, semplici villaggi, ecc., ecc. Il tratto in territorio spagnolo è meglio conosciuto come Camino de Santiago, Chemin de St. Jacques o Cammino Reale Francese ed è stato dichiarato ``Patrimonio dell'Umanità'' dall'UNESCO e ``Itinerario Culturale Europeo'' dal Consiglio d'Europa dal 1987.

The trip was an attemp to beat Fritz Hansens record from 1999. He did the trip in 20 dayes and nights, 3 hours and 12 minutes. I also went for his average of 289 km a day.

Why alone? It gives you some satisfaction, to know you did the trip alone, and without any help. If you bike in a group, you have to adapt yourself to the groups choice of route and daily distance. When you are alone you are completely free to follow your own rhythm.

Chemin de St. Jacques - Camino Frances - da St. Jean Pied de Port a Santiago (Capo Finisterre). Useful practical information, maps, etc. This is part of the longer trip from Italy through France: Torino - Capo Finisterre 2000.

Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage route taken in honor St James buried in Santiago. There are numerous routes starting at different points - all ending in Santiago. The most famous is the French route starting on the French side of the Pyrennees. Due to limited time, we are riding only part of the route - from Leon to Santiago - a distance over 300 kilometers, in about 6 to 7 days.

Madrid, a cyclist's no man's land - Riding the French Basque Coast - From Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago in 15 days - The Galician Coast.

Wir folgen nun weitgehend den Spuren der Pilger, wobei wir mit unseren Rennrädern natürlich auf der Landstrasse bleiben. Das erste Pässchen - die Hulftegg - fordert etwas Schweiss und wir geniessen die Wärme in der Abfahrt. Das Tösstal ist am Montagvormittag von Autos entvölkert und schnell erreichen wir Schmerikon am Zürichsee. Hier gibt's Kalorien für die nächste Stufe. Die Sattelegg lässt uns reichlich schwitzen und bei leichtem Rückenwind beginnen wir langsam zu kochen. Die Passhöhe erläst uns und bis Einsiedeln sind wir schon wieder abgekühlt. Wir zünden in der Klosterkirche eine Kerze an, fällen die Bidons am grossen Brunnen und weiter geht's über den Sattel nach Schwyz, mit einem herrlichen Blick auf den Lauerzersee.

The Iberia Tour 1999 is our longest journey so far, both in distance and number of days. We went by air from Norrköping in Sweden to Paris on the 9th of June. From Paris, we first travelled southwards to Orléans, then followed the River Loire to Tours, went on to Bourdeaux where we turned towards southeast and followed River Garonne to Toulouse. From Toulouse we began to climb up the Pyrenees and arrived in the mini-country Andorra on the 20th of June. One day later we left Andorra and rode down to Barcelona in two days, then followed the coast to Andalucia, left the coast for Sierra Nevada, Granada and Ronda and arrived in Gibraltar. After a short visit to the African continent, we went on to Seville and then followed the coast to the Portuguese border and further on to the most south-western point of the European continent; Cabo de São Vicente. We arrived in Lisbon five days later on the 29th of July. The total distance amounted to 4630 km and we had 49 days of active bicycling and 4 days of resting. It was just not our longest journey so far, but also the hilliest and the hottest journey, in Spain the temperature at daytime was steadily above 30 degrees Celsius.

I had a wonderful time, everywhere I went the people were friendly, the drivers reasonably considerate, and the touring spectacular. Why the Extremadura? The Extremadura is a very interesting part of Spain for any American because the people in Extremadura have had such a profound impact on the history and development of America. It turns out that the two most famous (or infamous) conquistadors, Pizzaro and Cortez, both hail from the Extremadura. Many other Extremadurans joined them in the conquest of central and south America by the Spanish. Why? During the early 1500's, the Extramadura was a relatively undeveloped part of Spain, filled with minor nobility and controlled by absentee landlords. There were few prospects for a second or third son growing up in this region, and it was a tough neighborhood. The region had long been a contested area in the wars between the Moors and the Spaniards, it was dotted with walled towns, and inhabited by enduring people accustomed to hardship and violence. The opportunity for wealth and fame in the Americas was a magnet for aggressive young men who had few prospects for inheritance and were well trained to fight for what they wanted. Very many of them did achieve wealth and fame, very few of them died peacefully in their bed. They were prepared to live and die by the sword and their wits, most did so.

Middle of June 1998, we [...] started the trip we had dreamed of for a long time: by bicycle from top to bottom through Europe. A view on the map shows that this journey covers 36 degrees of latitude and in total has a length of 7200 km. The trip started in Norway and from there led us through Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and finally to Gibraltar. Not the shortest route, but also an exploration of the better parts of Europe. This on-line trip-report was built up while cycling.

From Glenn and Sheila Ord's Home Page: On the Road to Nowhere - Nowhere is the Place. With an emphasis on budget travelling - Our experiences and advice for cycling in Europe. This guide is entirely based on our 7 1/2 months (12,000 km) in 1998 across (and back) Europe: staying almost entirely in campgrounds (185 tent nights). This was supplemented by our time in Italy (April-May 1999).

The idea of cycling in Europe had hit me in England in June: I was cycling from my home in Oxford up to Yorkshire and persistently got lashed by wind and near freezing rain, a thought quickly formed in my mind: time to head south and do a proper cycle trip - to the sun.

From Santiago I headed west to Cabo Finisterre, and Galician equivalent of Englands Lands End, jutting out into the Atlantic, pointing to the American continent. One local I asked directions from said to me; 'Finisterre really is the end of the civilized world', and looked out west towards America. It was a longish days cycling, 140km, and into a head wind, but nice and warm, about 27 degrees.

Es ist schon faszinierend einen kleinen Rucksack zu packen, das Fahrrad aus dem Keller zu holen und sich darauf setzen mit der Zielsetzung Gibraltar zu erreichen. Vor allem, wenn der Startort Zürich heisst und 2800 Kilometer Asphalt in allen möglichen Modifikationen dazwischen liegen. So geschehen anfangs August wo wir uns in Balterswil im Thurgau zum Prolog - so heisst heutzutage der letzte Materialtest - trafen. Der ging über 50 km nach Zürich, bei Wunderwetter das pure Vergnügen, und das Material war perfekt. Also etwas Carbo laden, letzte Details besprechen, die leichte Aufregung spüren und dem nächsten Morgen entgegenfiebern.

Theft Incidents:

• Muesli and milk (fox suspected); Germany
• Dog chewing Glenn's dinner plate; France
• Cat burgler..feline attempt at food in tent vestibule; Spain

A 15-day tour of the Canary Islands, complete with maps.

Gran Canaria is one of the islands of the Canarian archipelago. The island is crowded with small, bending roads. Although the island is not very big there is much to cycle for more than a week. Because of the barranco's (canyons) riding is also very hard. I have been there for twelve days and stayed in an apartment in Playa del Ingles, the tourist centre of the island.

Nice layout, good pictures, altitude diagrams, maps, useful information - well, the works. The route follows the rim of the Alps, crosses the Rhone valley close to Montelimar and enters the Massif Central to follow the gorges of the Tarn river. With an excursion to the Lacaune Mountains and Pic Noire we cross the Garonne valley and head the Pyrenees to climb the Mountains to Puerta Envalira and Andorra. After this excursion to big tourism we enjoy the quietness of the Sierra Cadi from where we visit the Monastry of Montserrat and finally ride down to Barcelona.

With photos, and useful and well-organized information.