Picos and pyreneesup

hoping to spend some time in june exploring the picos and pyrennees....maps are all very well but anyone like to share their favorite routes with me??? (garminised if possible!)
the picos seem to have many interesting roads (i.e twisty and up the side of mountains), but a number seem to terminate at top of said mountains, which makes it harder to build a circular route to take in the best sights/roads!where/if possible to allow 2/3 days in picos and 3/4 days in pyrennes
cheers

1 Buy the Michelin maps of the areas,
2 Go for the roads with green snakes next to them.

BTW the N260 going along the Pyrenees on the Spanish side is very nice.

pyrennesup

john, thanks
1. got the maps
2. working on incorporating all those snaky green roads
3. n260 looks good too!
still cannot beat ex[perience of those who have been there and done all that!
cheers

Hi Russ haven't seen you for a while. Are you going to Abercrave later this week? Drove in the Picos some years back, and rode the Pyrenees 5 years ago. Unfortunately don't have a GPS so no computer maps. Great ride through the ' defile' to Potes. Few hotels in this area mentioned on the site. A few miles up the road is a Parador next to a cable car which gives a wonderful overview of the area if the clouds allow. Whilst at the top a chap turned up in a 4 x 4 having followed a very narrow bumpy track to the summit. I know you've done a fair bit of off road stuff, so might be rideable one up. Road out of Potes is superb, twisty and good tarmac (at least it was then ) look out for the snow poles at the road side as they help advance planning in the corners.
As for the Pyrenees, superb fast road from Pamplona to Jaca. Runs alongside a large reservoir. Bit like the A470 really. Open bends and then straights to get past the slower traffic. Road South out of Jaca is excellent for the first 10 miles or so. Long uphill sweepers, but a little bumpy on the concrete road. North from Jaca the road over the Pyrenees to France is excellent. Ends up at Lourdes! Just before Jaca on the Pamplona road look out for the turning on the R signposted to the Monastery of St. Juan de la Pena. Wonderfull ride up the mountain. There are 2 monasteries, the new one is 14th century, the old one dates from the 10th century if my memory serves me well. If you don't take this turning look out for the R then L bend over a bridge just further along. I found it so deceiving I got it wrong both ways!
If you want any more send me a pm, or see you ar Abercrave/on the bikes.
Ps loads of photos on the computer if you're interested.

If you pick up the N260 from Jaca heading east through Ainsa towards just sth of Andorra you will have a great days ride. Some of the road has been strieghtened and mordernised over the past few years but there are still plenty of twists as it snakes acorss the Pyranean foothils.

I stayed in the village of Sort for a few days last April 2005 and did a loop of the N260 - C14 to just sth of Organya, C26 to Berga, C26 to Ripoll and then one of my favourites - N152 to Bourg Madame (mid gears bend on top of bend). From Bourg Madame I took the E09 up the Col Du Puymorens and into Andorra (avoid the toll tunnel and go over the high pass). It was snowing heavily over the Col when I going into Andorra through Soldeu but the roads were salted and clear. Also strange to see people skiing in areas below where you were riding.

If you want to see how unbridled capitalism can spoil a mountain valley then Andorra is your place. The main road is congested and forces you to drive through built up areas for miles. Plenty of accommodation particularly out of the ski season; I would tend to stay up towards the French border if going there again as parking in Andorra town itself is a real pain. There are however various motorbike shops in Andorra with cheap gear on the sth (downhill) side of town. Only slight problem was I did not need anything and had no luggage space for shopping.

Sort to Vielha via C13 - C28 is another fantastic mountain road. I explored some of the signposted minor side roads off the C13 heading to the villages of Areu and then Lladorre. Both single track roads ended half way up mountains - in the latter case in a big snowdrift just when it was getting interesting. There appears to be a very ridable dirt track which crosses from Spain into Andorra however as I was alone & on an R1100S at the time I turned back after a few miles when the surface became a bit rutted and muddy.

I also tried the D618 from Bossost to Arreau (France) but found it ended in a snowdrift at the French border. I really must learn the Spanish & French for Road Closed.

Another good road is the D918 (France) from Arreau to Aeux Bonnes. I rode this in 2004 but did not try in 2005 as it appeared most of the minor high level roads were still snowbound in April. You could usually ride part way up to ski villages. May be worth following the D918 to west to Aramits.

The NA718 from Lumbier (Spain) - NA140 - D26 to Tardet (France) and then Aramits is a lovely area. The area around Lumbier / Yesa is barren, volcanic and like something out of the Wild West. In 2004 I stopped to watch vultures circling on the thermals. Not somethng you see in Britain, and a reminder to keep eyes on the road !

Depending how long you have to play, you could happily spend a couple of weeks just cris-crossing the general area from Pamplona to Andorra & Huesca to Lourdes. There are plenty of minor C and D class roads to search out which are fantastic and with little traffic. Lots of EU money means many Spanish roads are race track quality; most are certainly better than the UK. Some of the French mountain roads are, by contrast, a bit lumpy.

It is worth topping your tank at the start of the day as a lot of the villages, particualrly in Spain, are one-horse towns and there can be some distance between petrol stations.

Enjoy your trip.

This might help:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94081

does anyone have dates for next years Pyreneesup ?

This is our trip report picos, pyrenees, HUMM, morocco, spain, france italy, austria switzerland etc etc that we did in the summer.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154129

I know a fab english owned place to stay in the picos (its in the report). I also have portions of a tracklog. But then again we did do quite a bit off road, dunno if thats your thang?

I will try and find out which map you need for the pyrenees, the one we used on the HUMM, my team mate has it right now.

The HUMM in 09 i think is last weekend of July and its further east this time. PLus you dont get the map untill the day before

Russ, Been there three times in the last two years. Whatever you do, stay at Hotel Del Oso in Potes. Guarantee you won't be sisapointed. As for roads, well......................the others will tell you, there are very few bad ones.

If it's your first time in Picos you are in for a treat.

These are the routes I take:
http://euromototours.blogspot.com/
I add to them from time to time.. so keep an eye out.

I've toured the Pyrenees twice now on the bike, fantastic area.

This year were going to the Picos Heading down to Santander on May 13th return via Santander on May 20th.

Never been to that area before, looking forward to it. We plan to do a bit of camping too.

These should help, including track logs, waypoints & picture locations

Pyrenees trip report: http://www.ebbo.org/pyrenees2006-01.php

Portugal & Picos trip report: http://www.ebbo.org/portugal&spain-01.php

ebbo said:

These should help, including track logs, waypoints & picture locations

Pyrenees trip report: http://www.ebbo.org/pyrenees2006-01.php

Portugal & Picos trip report: http://www.ebbo.org/portugal&spain-01.php

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Your blog is our reference point

Last year we used loads of your routes for the Pyrenees, we also stayed in hotels you had used and found ourselves using the same restaurants We're not stalking you, honest

I've been reading your latest report about the Picos and we'll be using some of it on our trip in May. We hope to take in a few nights camping too.

Where are we going next year then

shready said:

Your blog is our reference point

Last year we used loads of your routes for the Pyrenees, we also stayed in hotels you had used and found ourselves using the same restaurants We're not stalking you, honest

I've been reading your latest report about the Picos and we'll be using some of it on our trip in May. We hope to take in a few nights camping too.

Where are we going next year then

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Orkney, Scotland this year

Would have been Santander, through the Pyrenees, up through France inc Millau & Ardesh in to Germany, Black Forest road and home via Hull ferry, all planed in great detail but the euro spoilt the plans, its on the back burner now Will be a epic when we do it!

ebbo said:

Would have been Santander, through the Pyrenees, up through France inc Millau & Ardesh in to Germany, Black Forest road and home via Hull ferry, all planed in great detail but the euro spoilt the plans, its on the back burner now Will be a epic when we do it!

Click to expand...

We did that last year, via Andorra (YUK). Went over the Millau Bridge, visited and stayed in Carcassonne and Orleans on the way to the tunnel for the return. Very good trip.

The Euro almost did for us too, but we decided that a bit of camping and cheaper Spanish/Portugese Hotels would level out the cost. The ferry is reasonable too, £250 each return inc. cabin.

Find some pyrenees here

Hi Russ !

You definatley are going to love the Pyrenees - I leave you a link to one of our tour PDFs in catalonia. You´ll find proposals for different tracks here.

Cheers,
Volker