Toward the South

Ribadesella Gijon

9 mai 2022

A difficult route but with beautiful views. And always with good weather.
At the start of Ribadesella I climb a cornice with beautiful views of the sea, fields, and the Picos de Europa appearing behind the coastal mountains. There are some nice climbs but it passes ! Maintenance ( continued ) : my sun block stayed at home. I buy some more from Colunga and can finally take off my waistcoat ! (the elbow crease on my left arm was starting to redden the day before).
I’m happy because I (...)

San Vicente de la Barquera - Ribadesella

8 mai 2022

Really easy route today, no real difficulties. It’s like the Sunday morning ride : departure a little after 8.30am and arrival a little after 1pm.
On the road I stop for a coffee and I do the Spanish thing : tortilla and coffee.
Arriving in Ribadesella, the hotel is very welcoming and tells me where to put the bike and makes me wait 15 minutes before my room is ready.

Santander - San Vicente de la Barquera

7 mai 2022

Shorter and less difficult stage today. It is indicated as for all by Komoot but, at the exit of Santander we leave a (short) cycle track to be obliged to cut a roundabout to follow the road ! And the first alternative passage to the national road shows short passages at 13%... and all that to arrive on a bridge in renovation ^^
Stop on the way in Santillana del Mar, the city of the three lies : there is no saint, there is no sea and it is not big ! But nevertheless very pretty : a well (...)

Bilbao - Santander

6 mai 2022

Early start this morning,
I had several concerns about the route : its length with a rather steep slope impossible to avoid, the Portugalete bridge which is in fact a "ferry bridge", there was also a ferry to take to finish the trip...
But in the end, on a sunny day, everything went very well !
With a little more detail : Arriving at the ferry bridge (Puente de Byskaya) I ask a lady when is the next one : "a cado poco", all the time roughly, and indeed 10mn later I am on the other (...)

Ondarroa - Bilbao

4 mai 2022

Once again I miss a junction but this time I have a more difficult route than expected : the slope is steadier, longer and steeper than on the initial route. The 7.3% and 7.7% are displayed 8 to 10 on my counter... I don’t take any pictures during the ride, so all the pictures below are taken in Bilbao, at the Gugenheim, in the old quarter. The rest stage allowed me to do some maintenance : replace the pair of gloves that were getting seriously worn and buy some oil for the chain... I (...)

Donostia - Ondarroa

3 mai 2022

The rain had the good idea to fall during the night and to stop before the start ! So the ride was more pleasant than I feared at the beginning. Also the slope announced at the flyover by Komoot was less important than expected : it was necessary to go up on the mountain to have a rather calm road and a beautiful sight and it was less difficult than expected. Besides, I will stay on the ridge beyond my track, having missed a junction, and it’s so much the better, the road is very pleasant (...)

Sare - Donostia

2 mai 2022

The weather was gloomy when I left Sare for the first stage of my ride. And it turns into rain as we leave Irun.
The road is quite pleasant on the French side, but to reach Donostia the cycle track runs along the main road. Ander will tell me that it’s better to go through the mountain... next time... Fortunately, when we arrive in Donostia, the rain stops and the city is quite well equipped for bikes.
I hadn’t been to Donostia for a very long time and I regret to spend only a short (...)

At last to the South

Two years after the initial project... it is once again possible to cross the borders without fear and the Spain-Portugal trip can finally take place. In any case no blockage anticipated today 🙂 Like last year on the small Auvergne loop I start the ride by passing by friends. The real departure will be Monday towards Donostia !
The route has changed a bit. I will now mainly ride along the coast and down to the Algarve. At the beginning I had planned more small stages, I compacted the (...)

Para o Sul

After having been to Eastern Europe, for next year the project is to go south and west, a passage through the "end of the world", Finisterre !
Then a loop that will pass under Lisbon to go around Portugal to the Algarve.
I would only go through places I have never been before, Galicia, the Algarve... A temporary journey that currently covers about 2500 km.