Asturias cycling , bike hire etc

devonp

Hi
heading over to Asturias (near Ribadesella) week after next
anyone recommend a shop for hiring a road bike
or any routes in strava/rwgps, think the Alto de Angliu ? is not too far away:P

cheers

Daroxtar

devonp wrote: »

Hi
heading over to Asturias (near Ribadesella) week after next
anyone recommend a shop for hiring a road bike
or any routes in strava/rwgps, think the Alto de Angliu ? is not too far away:P

cheers

Oh you will suffer.......
How much pain do you want? I have a load of routes plotted on my strava with plenty of pain mixed with incredible scenery (a fair few are absolutely ridiculous, I just wanted to see how much climbing could be crammed into a spin. You could manage 3500m in about 75-80km no problem)
Have a look at
http://bikeasturias.net for some ideas.
There's loads of routes and videos on there. I stayed with him last year, he's a mine of information and lovely chap too. I'm heading back to him in September.
You should also have a look at this list,
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=21779
Fantastic bucket list rides, some of which have made it into La Vuelta since it was published.

Finally just for eye candy and insane jealousy check out this post from a fella who spent a few weeks cycling almost every mountain in Cantabria and Asturias to help him complete his CIMA list (a mad Spanish challenge, we really need to get an Irish version going!!!!)
http://apmforo.mforos.mobi/570933/10964452-3-semanas-de-zurroneo-ye-lo-que-hay/

Do you intend on just cycling from your base? If so Ribadesella is a fair bit from the Angliru and you really need all you have in reserve for that baby. I was at about 15bpm above threshold for over an hour and averaging 6kmh!!!
If you're throwing the bike in the car and driving to the climbs then that's a different kettle of fish and opens up a fair few other areas such as the absolutely stunning Somiedo Park which has the San Lorenzo, Ventana and Farrapona.

From Ribadesella a good spin would be over to Lagos de Covadonga via Mirador del Fito. You could also try Jitu Escarandi. It's about 30 km from Covadonga and very similar in terms of overall toughness (tough but definitely nowhere near Angliru)
You could also try the 200km /4000m loop of the Picos De Europa. Clockwise would be up the Hermida Gorge to Potes then the 28km Puerto San Glorio and then descend 45 km from Ponton through the Beyos Gorge to Cangas Di Onis.

If you are driving then you should head to Pola de Lena. You have La Corbertoria, El Cordal, Gamoniteiro, Ermita de Alba, Pajares/Cuitu Negru, La Cubilla and the Angliru all within a few km of each other starting here.

Of course if you don't want climbing then there's a lovely network of quiet little roads close to the coast from Villaviciosa over to the Parque Jurassico in Colunga/Lastres and on past Ribadesella right the way to Llanes.

Bike hire, not overly cheap over there as so few do it. I used this crowd the first time I went over.

http://www.cycling-rentals.com/

I think there's a shop in Llanes that hires bikes, failing that contact Martin (Bikeasturias.net) he should be able to sort something for you.

I can't recommend the whole area highly enough. It's cheap, the food is great, so is the Sidra, the landscape is stunning, the roads are very quiet. I wish it was September already....

Edit: didn't realise some of my routes were set as private so here's some of them

Somiedo loop plus Farrapona - https://www.strava.com/routes/7765119

Angliru and Gamonitero https://www.strava.com/routes/3964981

Covadonga and Jitu Escarandi
https://www.strava.com/routes/4091013

Puerto San Glorio-Cain-Riano loop
https://www.strava.com/routes/8955580

devonp

@ Daroxtar

thanks for all the info, thats great
i'll prob do 2 cycles and will start from base i think
not sure i have another Evil in me....:eek: so might amend the plans but would still like to do the Angliu (maybe, just maybe...)

cheers

Daroxtar

devonp wrote: »

@ Daroxtar

thanks for all the info, thats great
i'll prob do 2 cycles and will start from base i think
not sure i have another Evil in me....:eek: so might amend the plans but would still like to do the Angliu (maybe, just maybe...)

cheers

Apart from the sheer torture the Angliru is such a beautiful climb. Descent is seriously tough too but the views are breathtaking. It's really worth it IMHO but as I said, it's a long enough spin from Ribadesella. Here's the video I shot on the way down. Way up wouldn't look as good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWeYi4tlfF8

If I was you I'd do the spin over to Covadonga and depending on legs you could cycle up the Desfiladero Los Beyos. Long but gentle gradient and the canyon is gorgeous.
No matter what you do it'll be a great few days on the bike.

FrankGrimes

If you're doing two days on the bike, defo make one for Angliru and one for Covadonga, everything else is a bonus, those are your two must-do climbs both for difficulty and role they have played in La Vuelta and also for the stunning views.

Just don't get the wrong impression from use of the word "spin" here: Covadonga is only very marginally easier than Alpe D'Huez, its 50+mins of serious climbing. Don't want you getting caught out like I did: Spanish girls we were on holiday with said "we're going for a walk, come cycle and meet us at the lake at the top of the hill later". Hadnt heard of it before then so set out for a hard intervals session then popped over to go up the "hill"...30mins later I'm dying in 38degree heat on the 15% section flagging down bus drivers trying to get some water but they all think I just want encouragement so beep their horns and wave....cursing those girls for calling it a hill! Came back the next morning to have a proper run at it before the heat and found the views absolutely worth it

Daroxtar

Ya, that 15% section La Huesara translates to The Boneyard. It's tough going alright 😂
According to http://www.altimetrias.net Covadonga has a difficulty coefficient of 271, Alp DHuez is 278 and Huatacam is 290. Mt Ventoux is 380.
Angliru is 515