The Ride Tour Of Spain

The general impression gained from other posts and threads is that RiDE’s recommended routes are pretty good. They garner them from various sources (their own, other ‘sister’ magazines, third parties) so they cover a reasonably broad spread. That being said, as a mass market magazine, catering for a whole bunch of riders’ skills and wants, they maybe head towards ‘comfortable’ riding, so don’t expect too many gnarly goat tracks or epic 1000 mile iron arse days.

Report back when you’ve ridden it. I’m sure the magazine would like to hear from you, too.
 
I used some of their routes when coming back up through Spain last April, minor changes to meet my milage and destination needs, they make a great starting point that you can change to suit you - :thumb
 
Days 7 & 8 show the route using the A-7/E-15 Autovia, avoid it and take the N-340 instead.

Since the Autovia has been completed to Almeria the old coast road is almost empty of traffic.

I also prefer the A-366 from Alozaina to Ronda rather than dropping down to Marbella and then taking the A-397.

I've done both and in my opinion the A-366 is better. :thumby:
 
Post #4 shows that for every “Tell me great roads to....” request and answer, there will always be an alternative, based either on time elapsed since the suggestion was first put forward - roads changing - or due to someone else needing to fit something into a tidy 12 day suggestion. This is made more evident when the distances / days away involved increase much over 200 miles or one day’s riding.

There is no cast in stone or Bible like reference book on how to go anywhere. The best suggestion is to always suck in ideas from assorted sources and adopt or adapt them to suit an individual’s ideas / time away. That though requires some effort and imagination.
 
Days 7 & 8 show the route using the A-7/E-15 Autovia, avoid it and take the N-340 instead.

Since the Autovia has been completed to Almeria the old coast road is almost empty of traffic.

I also prefer the A-366 from Alozaina to Ronda rather than dropping down to Marbella and then taking the A-397.


I've done both and in my opinion the A-366 is better. :thumby:

Plus one.........:thumb
 
T... They garner them from various sources (their own, other ‘sister’ magazines, third parties) so they cover a reasonably broad spread. That being said, as a mass market magazine, catering for a whole bunch of riders’ skills and wants, they maybe head towards ‘comfortable’ riding, so don’t expect too many gnarly goat tracks or epic 1000 mile iron arse days. ...

"they maybe head towards ‘comfortable’ riding" Not any more they don't ... :cool::clap:clap:clap

Regs

Simon
 
I often use other people routes as a starting point and then look at other roads in the area, street view has revolutionised this process as I can now check the back roads to make sure they are suitable. On longer "Transit Days" I need fairly quick routes, once in the nice areas I can choose more gnarly roads.

I often look at Ride Routes as a starting point for places I have not visited and then ask around here for a bit more advice.

I also know the kind of pace we can maintain on various road types, obviously it is not an exact science. I also use My Route App for planning and take note of the times estimated by Google / Garmin and Tom-Tom - on a good day I can beat the lowest time, but I look at the slowest one as well as this is possibly more like my time in poor conditions. I tend to set limits as 450 for Motorway / 300 for Mainly main roads / 250 for Mix of main and minor roads / 200 for Mountain Passes (150 if they are particularly gnarly ones or I want time to stop and press flowers etc)

I often have several options for a day, weather is too unpredictable in most of Europe so I will have a route that can easily be modified at the roadside (on Garmin) or a choice of several routes, or sometimes a slow and fast option often for AM and PM so if weather changes half way through the day or we are behind schedule we can change tack.

Unfortunately I have not ridden in Spain much (a bit of the Pyrenees) so cannot help on what to ride other than a few well known top tips for the Pyrenees.
 
I hesitated before replying because, obviously, as the bloke who plotted the route I could be seen as biased...

It's not the perfect route for everyone, but like all our routes is designed to be the best compromise suitable for any competent rider with a pillion. This means those who ride really fast everywhere, or who want higher miles may find the days too short; the bias towards broad-and-smooth roads may not work for those who want more of the gnarlier single-track stuff; and there's no off-road at all (unless your sat nav gets its own ideas). But on the other hand it is still a good ride that will reward with memorable roads and views each day, but larger groups (which always end up moving slowly) can do it without falling out because Johnny Handbrake's constant faffing kept them on the road until the sun went down; pillion couples should be able to do it without the trip ending in divorce; and anyone trying this trip with no prior experience of riding in Europe should be fine. As a rough rule of thumb, if you set off between 8:30-9am, have a couple of short stops and a relaxed (but not two hour) lunch, you'd be off the bike around 5:30-6pm each day, riding at legal speeds.

So it is a compromise - or you could look at it as a starting point. The aim behind this was to avoid motorways as much as possible while taking in as many of the "must-ride" roads in each area as possible, without sticking too many extra miles/hours on the day. Motorway is used only when the alternative adds too much time to the overall riding time for the day, but can always be dropped. The secret to making it your trip is to look at the area of each day and working out if there's something else you want to see, an extra or alternative road you want to ride... and whether the additional time or miles fit in with how long you want to be out there.

The vexed question is always the same: what are the must-ride roads? Everyone has a different opinion, but you get that everywhere. The Malaga one is a good example: I put the A397 in, because that is the most famous road in the area. If you ride the area a lot, you might not think it's the best one – but it's the one used on 95% of all bike launches held in the area for a reason. If someone's only going to make just this one trip to the area, that's the one I'll recommend – for the same reason that if someone says they're doing a single cross-country British ride with an overnight stop in Macclesfield, I'll recommend they ride the Cat n Fiddle: if you come back and everyone asks "what did you think of the Cat n Fiddle" and you say "I didn't ride it, I rode the High Peak instead" you'll start to wonder why you weren't told to ride the road everyone knows. If you ask around and hear that Snake Pass, the Via Gellia, Winnats Pass and Holme Moss are great too, and you can fit in riding them into your day so much the better – some may be better for you than the Cat n Fiddle. But if you had to ride only one... Well, clearly everyone will have a different opinion about that too.

But that's the point. If you're putting enough prep into the trip to really make it your own, you do need to find out which roads you want to ride to in each area. But for the base, safe route that will work for John P Tourist who doesn't want to do that, we our version of the must-ride routes - but not based purely on my opinion, but also on those of the people who recommend stuff (road testers for the local-nation bike press, locals, tour operators and other experienced riders). And I can tell you that when I did the initial research that led to that tour in Spain, the two most-recommended roads were the N260 in the Pyrenees and the A397 from San Pedro to Ronda. But it was the A397 that almost everyone mentioned.
 
And I can tell you that when I did the initial research that led to that tour in Spain, the two most-recommended roads were the N260 in the Pyrenees and the A397 from San Pedro to Ronda. But it was the A397 that almost everyone mentioned.

Hi Simon,

thanks for all the effort put into the routes that you provide.

I was a little surprised that your route diverted down to Marbella to take the A-397 as the more direct route would be to take the A-366, two of us have local knowledge and agree that the A-366 is the better route. I was certainly not dismissing the work that you've put in just offering advice to tweak it slightly with some local knowledge.

Next time your down this way have a look at the A-366.

Keep up the good work! :thumby:
 
Hi Simon,

thanks for all the effort put into the routes that you provide.

I was a little surprised that your route diverted down to Marbella to take the A-397 as the more direct route would be to take the A-366, two of us have local knowledge and agree that the A-366 is the better route. I was certainly not dismissing the work that you've put in just offering advice to tweak it slightly with some local knowledge.

Next time your down this way have a look at the A-366.

Keep up the good work! :thumby:


Very well put, you cannot plot any route, that will suit every rider, as we are all different. I think you do an excellent job on all the routes that you post about. A big thank you for all the time and effort that you put in. There are some fabulous roads up and around Ronda and Grazalema, as Pol382 has said. Next time you are down this way, please feel free to PM me, and perhaps meet for a coffee somewhere........:thumb
 
Routes, a bit like bikes, there is no perfect one to suit all, but a few that would do the job.
 
I hesitated before replying because, obviously, as the bloke who plotted the route I could be seen as biased...

And may I say well done Simon for doing so. You're talking absolute sense.
 
Hi Simon,

thanks for all the effort put into the routes that you provide.

I was a little surprised that your route diverted down to Marbella to take the A-397 as the more direct route would be to take the A-366, two of us have local knowledge and agree that the A-366 is the better route. I was certainly not dismissing the work that you've put in just offering advice to tweak it slightly with some local knowledge.

Next time your down this way have a look at the A-366.

Keep up the good work! :thumby:

Er, he does, including me! :)

Regs

Simon
 
A good reply from Simon W, explaining how RiDE arrive at the routes they suggest in their magazine and share (for free) to anyone willing to click onto RiDE’s website. Good replies from members of the forum too, each explaining the roads they like to ride and the methods they chose to use when planning their holidays.

To go back to the original question: The RiDE tour of Spain will make for a great holiday, no doubt about it. Can you amend it to suit your needs or because it’s too hot (or pouring with rain) or because the road is shut? Definitely and nobody, least not RiDE, will mind.

My suggestions:

1. Ride it and report back

2. Change it as per the suggestions above and ride it. Then report back

3. Change it in any way you like, ride away and report back

4. Always enjoy your holiday, wherever and however you go
 


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