More Picos & Pyrenees questions

ymfb

ymfb

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This year we caught the ferry to Santander then spent the first night at Hotel del Oso, next day back to Potes and Panes then rode around the Picos and across to Leerma. After that we headed to Jaca and did some of the Pyrenees, before riding up through France and returning home on the Caen to Portsmouth ferry.

Next year we are considering just staying in Spain and I wondered if we missed so much of the Picos that we could just spend a week riding the northern coast and Picos and save the Pyrenees for another trip.

We only ride on the roads.

What do those more experienced think?
 
ymfb said:
This year we caught the ferry to Santander then spent the first night at Hotel del Oso, next day back to Potes and Panes then rode around the Picos and across to Leerma. After that we headed to Jaca and did some of the Pyrenees, before riding up through France and returning home on the Caen to Portsmouth ferry.

Next year we are considering just staying in Spain and I wondered if we missed so much of the Picos that we could just spend a week riding the northern coast and Picos and save the Pyrenees for another trip.

We only ride on the roads.

What do those more experienced think?
Click to expand...

That's what I am doing next year, have booked the Hotel Del Oso for 5 nights for next August and me and the other half are going to explore the Picos - this year was curtailed a bit because Scottish bikermate got a bang on the head so we didn't get to explore all we could have.
 
You can easily do a week in the Picos & Asturias areas

Been going since 1995 & never tire of it
 
It's also worth going a bit further west . Some stunning empty roads in Asturias
2788b999d7cae9486aabf727e556ecf1.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
JohnnyBoxer said:
You can easily do a week in the Picos & Asturias areas

Been going since 1995 & never tire of it
Click to expand...

Have you ever been up the rough road to this place?

http://hotelaliva.com-hotel.com/en/

Just wondered how easy it was to do fully loaded two up on a GS - won't be staying there but the route over the mountains looks like an interesting ride.
 
Engineer said:
Have you ever been up the rough road to this place?

http://hotelaliva.com-hotel.com/en/

Just wondered how easy it was to do fully loaded two up on a GS - won't be staying there but the route over the mountains looks like an interesting ride.
Click to expand...

Having looked at the map,I think it used to be a sparse Refugio and has now been built into a tourist hotel and is just around the corner from the top cable car station

I think, from memory it's a spur off the Sotres to Espinama trail, which doubles back to Fuente De cable car

I've done it on a smaller trail bike but not since the late 1990's

2 up on a GS, maybe doable slowly, if the Espinama to Sotres trail is still used by 'non official' traffic and ok to do

From memory there were some large drainage humps every few hundred yards, so not the most comfortable as it's like riding a camel, so to speak

If a Landrover can do it, a GS should be ok

I guess they park you at the Fuente De car park and bus guests up in a free 4x4 shuttle

It all depends on local laws, we have been taken off the trails by Rangers and Police in 2005, so haven't done any trail riding there for at least 10 years
 
More Picos & Pyrenees questions

ymfb said:
Are these all on road routes ?
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I went to Fuente De on my R100RT many years ago.

These unsurfaced roads were called 'Rutas'.

There are quite a few of them in the Picos area.

I think that 'Ruta' means an unsurfaced road suitable for vehicles.

I am not sure of the legality of riding them especially inside a National Park.

You should check with the National Park Authority/Guardia/Tourist Office if a permit is required to use them.

Get a guide to the Picos from the Spanish Tourist Office to find put where all the rutas are located.

Using a ruta to access a public hotel may be permitted without a permit though.

There are similar type roads in the Peneda Geres National Park in the Minho district in north Portugal and no permit was required to use them if you don't mind crossing ravines on open wooden bridges and 2 inch hardcore surfacing!
 
ymfb said:
Next year we are considering just staying in Spain and I wondered if we missed so much of the Picos that we could just spend a week riding the northern coast and Picos and save the Pyrenees for another trip.

We only ride on the roads.
Click to expand...

You can have a brilliant week riding just in the Picos - not just around Potes. As has been suggested, going further west reveals more brilliant riding. The roads inland from Luarca are spectacular; there's amazing stuff further south, between Ourense and Ponferrada; and plenty of brilliant stuff nearer the Portuguese border (the ZA925 from Puebla de Sanabria to Bragança in Portugal is amazing). The roads around Chaves and Geres in Northern Portugal are also stunning. You're not settling for a lesser trip by ignoring the Pyrenees to explore more of the Picos, by any means – it'd be quite easy to argue that you're getting a better trip, especially if you're a pure road rider who likes wide, smooth, quiet roads with mind-blowing scenery.
 
If you have the time, as well as crashing on dirt roads there are some great towns to visit too

Santiago de Compostella is well worth a visit, it's surprisingly un-touristy, not what you'd expect at all

Salamanca is amazing go look for the frog

Segovia is also good and there are some smaller villages like Puebla de Sanabria which are "hidden pearls"
(The Hotel Victoria in Puebla de Sanabria looks shite from outside but inside it's all new and very nice :thumb)
 
Picos and Portugal

I am not waiting to Aug. Iam off, week after next.?

Can,t wait

:aidan
 
Currently in potes now for the first time. What an amazing place for bikers it's like the roads were built for a GS/A
 
MarkShelley said:
Now nearing the end of our tour of Los Picos and further West, i have decide that the Casa Rural places are more up our street than hotels. The ones we have used have been brilliant. In one now in fact https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...iews-Posada_La_Trebede-Perrozo_Cantabria.html

15 mins from Potes
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Definitely +1 for Casas Rurales, but I find booking.com a better bet for reviews, recommendations, etc. that TripAdvisor. The T's & C's are usually better too, espcially last minute cancellations although these vary from place to place.

Regs

Simon
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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