Euro Bimble 2015 - Picos, Pyrenees and Alps

Monday 31st August 2015 We arrive in Santander at 11:45. It is a lovely approach into the harbour. The town tumbles down the hills that surround the inlet. No sign of my bank though.   The channel into the harbour runs past sandbanks to the east. They seem far too close for a boat this big. The town climbs up the hillsides to the west.   Sailing into Santander Santander harbour There are around a hundred bikes queuing to disembark so it takes a while. We are at the back of the lowest deck so almost last to get off. Eventually our turn comes and we head off up onto the wharf. Passport check are perfunctory and we set off on the Spanish adventure. It should have been easy to get out of the town and onto the coast road leading west towards the Picos National Park. But a combination of traffic lights and my inattention means that within five minutes I have lost Mick. Because I took a wrong lane up to a roundabout I am not sure if he

Tuesday 1st September 2015 We leave the campsite at Llanes and head west on the A8 motorway. It is a beautiful road, sweeping and swooping up and down the foothills of the Asturias mountains as they tumble down to the sea. It is a fairly new road, with the old road still visible in places. There are numerous viaducts bridging steep tree-clad gorges that carry the mountain streams and rivers down to the sea. There are plenty of tunnels too when the looming peaks reach all the way to the shoreline. The plan is to ride west along the coast then head off up into the mountains and spend three days wriggling through the Picos following country roads and heading in a general easterly direction.     |On the glorious back roads of the Picos We stop for fuel and food at a Repsol service station on the motorway. Petrol is €1.22 a litre, around 90p in English money. So why are we paying 20% more than that in the UK? We turn off in the small coastal tow

Wednesday 2nd September 2015    There is no sign of breakfast at the Grandas Hostal so we are on the road at 9am. There are miles of beautiful roads here in Asturias. We ride over two low passes of 1200 and 1700 metres respectively. Unfortunately any altitude over 800m is in cloud so we have few good views and the riding is difficult. There are lots of lakes created by small dams across the valleys.      Dam Mick and dam    and me too Again there is no traffic.We arrive in a small town and find a welcoming cafe. Six slices of bacon and two fried eggs for €4.50 cheers us up no end.   We continue riding west in deteriorating conditions and stop briefly for a snack lunch in St Martin. It is slow going in the mist and traffic is heavier here.   Mick communing with his phone ...and Mick communing with nature Finally we drift into Rioseco and find a hotel. It is a relief to dry out and neck a beer or two. There are so

Thursday 3rd September 2015 In the morning it is still raining. The forecast looks bad for the next few days in the Picos mountains, but things look a little better over to the west.   A very wet morning in the Picos So we decide to abandon the rest of the Picos route and head over to the Pyrenees in search of the sun. It is a long and very wet ride, back to the motorway and on and on to Bilbao. Finally the weather clears and in the centre of the city we see our first glimpse of the sun since arriving in Spain five days ago.   In the centre of Bilbao The ride down to Pamplona is fast and sweeping, and finally dry. I remember seeing the bull runs of Pamplona on TV. I remember narrow ancient streets with bravos running like hell and jumping over walls and fences just before they get gored by the angry bulls. If my memory is correct then things have changed a lot. Pamplona is big and busy and filled with traffic. There is a huge university complex in the heart

Friday 4th September 2015 We are away early on the A21 and soon in heavy rain. We ride along a lake shore as the weather improves and stop at a cafe where there are lots of bikers. A big group of Irish guys on there way east. The sun has finally come out.   English and Irish bikes at a cafe in Spain We continue on through and head up a beautiful pass road with a summit at 1433m. It is smooth riding, fast and technical. There are two narrow tunnels with traffic lights.   The Puerto de Contefablo road is newly surfaced, probably for an important cycle race, so the riding is great fun. The mountain passes are tree-clad and because they are not very high many of the trees are deciduous. The autumn colours are beautiful.   Not very high but great fun Selfie in the Pyrenees We stop for lunch in a pretty mountain village called Broto, A weird Spanish omelette with ham, then on down the valley to the wonderfully name La Pobla de Segur and the only hotel named i

Saturday 5th September 2015 Next stop is Andorra, another country to tick off the list. It is a horrible place, huge traffic jams at the border and through the main town. Spanish locals stocking up on cheap booze and fags and filling their tanks on the cheap petrol. There are more filling stations than churches in Andorra. Petrol is €1.09 (under 80p) per litre.   Coffee stop in the Pyrenees Shopping at 2000m We finally leave the jams behind as we head over into France. The sun is out again and the final pass out of Andorra is a huge sweeping road with wide perfect hairpins up to 2,400 metres. We stop for coffee and paninis at the French border. Customs are stopping cars and buses for contraband searches but bikes filter through without hindrance. And so we ride down off the high peaks into La Belle France.   Our overnight stop is at a beautiful campsite just outside the spa town of Aix les Thermes. We stock up on foodstuffs and liquor at a supermarket just