Picos, when?

I think my question has been answered, I am thinking of hitting the picos in March, ideally for a few tet trails. Pot luck on the weather.

But, does anyone know if there is snow on the tet over the winter, would they still be iffey till the snow melts?

Am I mad to think of the tet routes till may or so?

Merv.

Well I'm the TET Linesman for Spain so I'd better chip in ...

Snow or not the TET trails will be 'iffy' in March as often the melt causes as many problems as lying snow, which is usually cleared at least at some point as many trails are used for agriculture, etc. whereas melting snow brings down trees, floods streams, causes new washouts, ruts, etc. etc. ... :)

There aren’t any TET trails in the Picos !!!
There are many trails, such as from Espinama to Sotres etc but the TET itself is at least 60 miles further south !!

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Yep, your man is dead right. In fact the TET doesn't go into Cantabria at all, of neighbouring Asturias either, as these autonomous regions effectively ban motor access to almost all trails. You can't even apply for special permission in Cantabria unless you're a) resident in the region (so not even me as a resident in Spain), and b) a registered tour guide, so pants to Cantabria ...

Regs

Simon
 
Weather makes snow. Snow makes things ‘iffy’. The result of melting snow can make things ‘iffy’, too. This is a great site and a major contribution to the Adventure bike riders’ world. We’d be lost without it.
 
Just to wrap up on my trip, I did go in March, and did see snow, but only leaving santander, After that it was just awesome. 'Very quiet as its so early in the year, but I'm afraid its going to be very quiet for some time. We were staying super isolated, late evening bivouacks, rolling again at sunup, but at a petrol/coffee stop we learned that the full shutdown was coming. We turned tail and shot for the bilbao rosslare ferry and got home on the 16 March. Lucky to get out, and pleased i didnt have to go into an airport or on a plane. ferry was half empty so good for social distance.

Self isolating at home to be sure, looking forward to getting out of the spare room!

Merv.
 
Just to wrap up on my trip, I did go in March, and did see snow, but only leaving santander, After that it was just awesome. 'Very quiet as its so early in the year, but I'm afraid its going to be very quiet for some time. We were staying super isolated, late evening bivouacks, rolling again at sunup, but at a petrol/coffee stop we learned that the full shutdown was coming. We turned tail and shot for the bilbao rosslare ferry and got home on the 16 March. Lucky to get out, and pleased i didnt have to go into an airport or on a plane. ferry was half empty so good for social distance.

Self isolating at home to be sure, looking forward to getting out of the spare room!

Merv.

Good man !
 
Just to wrap up on my trip, I did go in March, and did see snow, but only leaving santander, After that it was just awesome. 'Very quiet as its so early in the year, but I'm afraid its going to be very quiet for some time. We were staying super isolated, late evening bivouacks, rolling again at sunup, but at a petrol/coffee stop we learned that the full shutdown was coming. We turned tail and shot for the bilbao rosslare ferry and got home on the 16 March. Lucky to get out, and pleased i didnt have to go into an airport or on a plane. ferry was half empty so good for social distance.

Self isolating at home to be sure, looking forward to getting out of the spare room!

Merv.

Very lucky indeedy!
 
I suspect you won't be going this year.

Who?

The fellas already been and got back (This Year)

I am hopeful it will all be open before the end of summer, the big Question is will the Ferry Company still be in business and will everyone all want to rush out and get a Holiday in, or will most people of given up for the year and left me with a half empty ferry, huge discount and quiet roads.
 
Who?

The fellas already been and got back (This Year)

I am hopeful it will all be open before the end of summer, the big Question is will the Ferry Company still be in business and will everyone all want to rush out and get a Holiday in, or will most people of given up for the year and left me with a half empty ferry, huge discount and quiet roads.

Good luck with that. Before this kicked off the ferries to Spain were largely fully booked for bikes and cabins well into autumn. Space for cars but you were in expensive cabins or recliners. I imagine most people, like me, will be hanging onto their Sept/Oct bookings hoping that things open up again.
 
Good luck with that. Before this kicked off the ferries to Spain were largely fully booked for bikes and cabins well into autumn. Space for cars but you were in expensive cabins or recliners. I imagine most people, like me, will be hanging onto their Sept/Oct bookings hoping that things open up again.

I reckon some will of panicked and cancelled already ;-) Others will decide the world is way to dangerous to travel around for another year / 5 years / 10 years / ever.

But who knows???

I have a plan, it is flexible, I can deviate from it - and you must have a plan or you have nothing to deviate from, I will share my plan for the benefit of everyone else.

1. Wait until I can go somewhere
2. Go there

A bit complex I know, especially for some of the folks around here.

I already had trips with / to meet others in July and August - think July is screwed, but August, Maybe???

In September the Alps are an option earlier in the month, but Cevennes, Morvan, Ardennes, Luxembourg, Vosges, Picos, Black Forest and Hartz are all good up to (and maybe a bit beyond) the end of September - the last two are in Germany and they seem to be doing much better with Corona survival rates so maybe ideal for anyone worried about getting ill on holiday.

I might just look at the forecast in all of the above when I want to go away and set off to one where it looks nice, although Picos may not be so easy if ferries are all full, but if they are all half empty I might get a bargain!

In the mean time I can spend my Lock-Down days planning routes for all of these options, already had 3-4 options for this year planned, will add a few more and then bugger off ASAP.

For me planning is half the fun (well, maybe 10% of the fun - but when you cannot ride it is still a great way to spend some time)
 
Cevennes, Morvan, Ardennes, Luxembourg, Vosges, Picos, Black Forest and Hartz are all good up to (and maybe a bit beyond) the end of Septembe
Northern France and the Belgian / Luxembourg Ardennes can usually be good up until the middle'ish bit of November. The only real problem is the falling light and the chance of heavy frosts, leaving icy bits in the shade or on exposed bridges. If it snows? Don't go or stay in.
 


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