Douwe´s Mountain Bike Trails

A slightly faster downhill track

2011-05-16T10:52:00.004+02:00

Still bringing together some footage together for an edited video. Until I have that done, here is some more Lake District helmet cam footage, this time of a slightly faster downhill.

Some raw helmet cam footage from our Lake District trail

2011-05-12T20:32:00.000+02:00

Here is some unedited footage from one of the downhills along the Lake District trail we did over the Easter break. Am in the process of editing some 16 GB of footage and will post it as soon as it's done (and when we have picked the right music to go along with it... ;-)

2011-04-25T09:55:00.004+02:00

The four day mountain bike trail in the Lake District is behind us now. Of the four days, three were sunny with clear blue skies, and we had one overcast day with a couple of hours of rain. Overall much better than we had bargained for, considering this is the north of England. We cycled an aggregate 220 kilometers, but am unsure of the cumulative climb. Frans brought his brand new Suunto GPS along, but left the manual at home. One thing´s for sure, we climbed a helluvalot!

As you can see from these two little youtube clips the scenery in The Lake District is amazing. The weather made a difference I am sure, but we did pass through some fantastic bits of England. I guess one of the nice things of mountain biking is that you pass through some countryside that you would normally never get to .

So now all we need is the footage of he helmet cam, which I will put on here (if it´s any good..,-)

hasta la próxima
Douwe

We just arrived in Ravenglass, after 80 kilometers with significant climbs

2011-04-22T21:05:00.001+02:00

As you can see from above photo we are on the coast, and we arrived in Ravensglass. 80 kilometers in our legs, and I can honestly say that I am knackered. Especially the rather long 25% climb was tough.

Our guesthouse for tonight is stategically situated beside the local ale house. More tomorrow, on our last day of cycling back to Windermere.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Third day on the trail

2011-04-22T15:59:00.001+02:00

We left Keswick a little later today, perhaps not great planning as today we have a 70 km track ahead of us. We'll see. We just arrived in Borrowdale and stopped for some tea and scones. We figured it would be a good idea to mentally prepare for the 25% climb we will have in a few km's from here.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Second day completed, we are in Keswick

2011-04-21T19:41:00.001+02:00

So after lunch we climbed up the hills surrounding Keswick, also our destination for today. On the main road it was only about 4 miles to town from our lunch pub. Our mountain trail was at least triple that, with some tough climbs and awesome downhills.

The last bit of today's track was amazing, with steep drops on our left and some skill required not to fall down semi ravines. All grat fun and we shot some amazing helmet cam footage soon to feature here.

The George pub in Keswick is our target now, real ales and some hearty food after a sunny day.

Above postcard was too funny to leave behind, it's become our motto of this trip, we hwve been lost on occasion ;)

great trail on the second day

2011-04-21T15:45:00.001+02:00

today's route started beautifully, with a fairly long 20 % climb out of Pooley Bridge. On above photo you can see Frans sweating towards the end of one of these ascends.

Unfortunately we descended a bit to far at one point towards Ulswater lake. Luckily we found a great cafe with a terrace, for some coffee before heading back up.

Following some more climbing we were awarded with an amazing downhill all the way to Threlkeld, where we found a great pub with a beergarden for lunch. Thqt is where are resting now, about to set off for the last leg of today's trail. We are expecting some difficult and technically challenging single tracks. We'll see.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

we kicked off our Lake District mtb trail

2011-04-20T21:20:00.001+02:00

We are on the trail, let me tell you: I have fallen in love with the Lake District. How beautiful, some of the most spectacular terrain I have cycled in for a long time.

Today we cycled from Windermere to Pooley Bridge, and we had to cross a particularly tough mountain. The climb involved some walking, and the descent was very technical. The attached photo is a view from the top of that dreaded hill. All in all we pedalled about 45 kilometers, unsure of the cumulitive ascend. Judging by the state of our legs it was plenty.

Off to find a pub for a good pint of bitter and some grub. Tomorrow's trail will be easier, we'll see ;)

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Lake District 4 day loop 2011

2011-04-16T12:50:00.004+02:00

It has been a while since I last posted any mountain bike action on this blog, in fact it has been a while that we set out for some serious MTB action. We moved to the UK, so many of the new posts will be more UK centric, such as this one. Finally, next week we´ll be off to the Lake District to cycle a 4 day loop of some of England´s most beautiful terrain.

Our trail will start in Windermere, with a first leg to Pooley Bridge. From Pooley Bridge we will continue the next day on to Keswick. The third day will take us to Ravenglass, and on the fourth day we will cycle back to Windermere.

On our previous excursions we usually brought our luggage along with us, but this year we decided to include a sherpa service. In other words, our luggage will be delivered from B&B to B&B. As middle age is clearly creeping up on us, we opted for this little luxury. Besides, it will leave us to engage full heartedly in many of the spectacular downhills we will do. The tracks are supposed to be amazing. Expect some nice footage to be published here soon, as Frans will bring his helmet cam. There will be four of us next week, Frans, Jeroen, Marco and I.

More news from the trail next week.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Critical Mass in Madrid- BiciCritica

2010-05-01T22:53:00.003+02:00

Today a special edition of BiciCritica, Madrid´s version of Critical Mass, was organized. Essentially a large mob on bicycles that take the streets of the city centre, today some 3000 strong.

The weather was amazing and at around 18:30 we pushed off from Cibeles, first in direction Neptune for a u-turn again in direction Cibeles and following that toward the north to Plaza Castilla. The police were trying to guide all as much as they could, and really only succeeded at the front of the mass.

It was awesome to take the major thoroughfares of this wonderful city, and we soon filled the entire width of the Castellana, hardly a narrow backstreet. Some of the motorists, who had no choice but to wait, were a little peeved. The majority took it well through and were in awe of the sheer number of bikes passing by.

Prior to pushing off I was interviewed by the TV station Cuatro, for a nine o´clock news section. Checking it out later on I noticed they had reduced my contribution to the mere "Soy de Holanda.." (I am from Holland)...:-) Below some video footage of my own of parts of the BiciCritica.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Camino credentials ready, good to go

2010-04-27T20:18:00.001+02:00

We just picked up our credentials for the Camino. This is essentially the booklet you fill up with stamps on your way to Santiago. It is required to demonstrate the minimum number of kilometers such that you can qualify for the Compostela, the proof and official document. For cyclists the minimum is 200, and we will do about 700 so no problem there.

This time I will claim to have done the Camino for pure religous reasons. This in order to receive the niver caligraphy version with my name translated into Latin.

Let the fun begin, only a couple of weeks until we embark on the Camino del Norte.

Hasta la próxima.
Douwe

Pedriza on a wonderful sunny April day, with a twist

2010-04-26T09:59:00.004+02:00

Yesterday, Sunday 25 April the sun was out and it felt more like summer than spring. We headed out to La Pedriza in Manzanares for an MTB trail in the afternoon.

The climb was tough as usual, and as we were approaching the top a few dark clouds were gathering around the peaks. It looked a little ominous and from experience we know that the weather in these parts can turn quite quickly and become real nasty in a matter of minutes. The only reason for us to choose an alternative route, was the thunder and lightning that we saw approaching from the north-face of the mountain.

So we descended using a route we had not taken before. It took us right through the pine forest on the southern side of the mountain, taking us right back to the Manzanares valley. Yet again an amazing trail, and certainly great for training as we are approaching the Camino del Norte in May.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Camino prep in full swing, all set to leave on 8 May

2010-04-16T16:47:00.001+02:00

After a long night of planning the Camino de Santiago last night, with Real Madrid playing in the background and some red wine for inspirarion, we have decided to do the full Camino del Norte starting in Irún. This is on the French border in the Basque country. On 8 May we will take some form of transportation to Irún, one-way of course.

8 days will be the time we will take to cover the 850 kilometers to Santiago. The Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and of course Galicia will be the Spanish Autonomous regions, sort of like States, that we will cycle through. An aggregate 16 km of climbing over the total stretch.

Tomorrow we'll be heading into the Guadarrama mountains for some much needed training... ;)

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Training for Camino in full swing

2010-04-11T22:05:00.005+02:00

With the Camino del Norte about a month away, we figured it might be a good idea to step up the training schedule a little. So today we decided to head out on this beautiful day to ride around the mountains of Cercedilla. After stuffing the car with our gear we headed out there, sunshine and not a cloud in the sky it promised to be a wonderful trail.

We decided to climb up to Puerta de Fuenfría, passing the Roman way and ending up on the Carretera de la Republica. Climbing this beautiful stretch of the Madrid mountain range, we came past one of of the downhill tracks that a local MTBer once pointed out to us. A downhill cutting right through the pine forrest and passing a few streams. Clearly the snow is in full meltdown mode, as there is plenty of water coming down the mountain.

So after we climbed all the way up to Puerta de la Fuenfría, we decided to take this forrest path to descend back to the car. It was awesome! Technical and required all the concentration and skill that we could muster. Needless to say, there were a few crashes. I took the lead in falling off my bike, and have some scratches and a bloody knee to prove it. No real damage though, neither to me nor my bike, so the descend continued. Moments later, just as I was clearing some major rocks, I noticed Edwin as he flew through the air, with the bike right behind him. Both airborn for what looked like a slowmotion scene in a movie. The landing was a tad rough, but also Edwin continued the trail with just a bloody knee. Apart from our slightly dented pride, all was well and we continued an amazing downhill.

It is time to mount some helmetcams for this sort of action, to be continued.

The Camino training will need to be stepped up a little bit more still. But today´s trail and more the coming weeks will surely help, all we need to do now is to not break any bones.. ;)

hasta la próxima
Douwe

Training run in Casa de Campo, Madrid

2010-02-13T13:17:00.002+01:00

We set out a little after nine this morning on this beautiful day. A crisp sunny day with around freezing temperatures. We started at our usual hang Restaurante Montaloya At 9 in the morning this place is filled with what can only be described as a colorful crowd. From working girls warming up for a busy day, to runners and cyclists getting ready for a workout. What they all have in common though, is that it takes a few coffees and some inspiration in order to head out there for an accomplishment of some sort.

Both Edwin and I had a bit of a cold, which left us a little out of breath on some of the steeper climbs. The trail was still frozen hard, which made it very easy to cycle across. At times though a little tricky to navigate around the frozen tire tracks and other marks left in the frozen mud from the torrential rain that we have seen the last few months.

All in all a great morning and it looks as though training for the Camino in May is very much on schedule.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Tres Valles, blood, sweat and tears (with a touch of snow)

2010-01-30T22:10:00.008+01:00

Today we cycled the Tres Valles tour around the Manzanares National Park. The tour starts in Cercedilla, with a first climb up to Puerta de la Fuenfría. This basically takes you past an old roman road and eventually a trail that curves along some stunning views of Navacerrada and Manzanares.

As we got closer to the top the amount of snow started to increase quite a bit, although all packed together into a thick layer of ice. Much easier to cut through compared to the snow we had two weeks ago in Pedriza.

As we reached the top of Fuenfría, we had noticed that this was going to be a tough trail. Once we decided to cross the Madrid / Segovia border though, by descending on the other side of the mountain, we had basically decided to go for it. Once you go far enough it does not matter if you go on or turn back as the distance and ascend will be the same. So we descended into Segovia, took a right turn towards the CL 601 after passing the ruins, and retook the camino on the other side of the highway.

At the end of the smoothly paved trail, we quickly found the ascend to Cotos to be far from ideal for cycling. Snow, ice, puddles softly frozen over and very deep trench-like and frozen tire tracks, made it all very challenging. Not to mention the fact that it was all incredibly steep. The last bit we had to dismount and walk, after which we took a warm cup of coffee at a nearby ski-hut.

From Cotos we made our way to Puerto de Navacerrada, a place that as you can see in above video is a ski resort. Minus 4 Celsius temperatures, and people walking around with ski and snowboard gear, made it all a bit strange to be here on our bicycles. We did not fancy the Schmidt trail, so took the 601 highway down towards Navacerrada and turned right to Cercedilla. The downside of this route was that we had another climb to get back to the car. All in all we cycled over 50 kilometers with a aggregate climb of nearly 1.5 Km. Needless to say we were kind of nackered at the end of this and were extremely pleased to be able to defrost our feet. Despite the protective gear they felt like blocks of ice. To give you an idea how cold it was at the top, my camelback tube froze up constantly, such that the water I drank came with crushed ice. Frans´s water bottle froze completely.

You may think, where is the fun in all this? I promise you though, it was awesome and am sure we´ll head into the mountains again soon.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Pedriza with snow, cold and muddy but amazing

2010-01-18T19:11:00.002+01:00

OK, so we did it... Frans, Edwin and I headed out to Manzanares el Real last Sunday and climbed Pedriza, in itself nothing special. But this time there was still a considerable amount of snow at the top of the trail.

As you can see in below videos the natural park of Cuenca Alta del Manzanares is absolutely stunnig, also with low hanging clouds and rain. We passed a few amazing ice walls created by the many water falls that are active this time of year.

Just as well we undertook this pretty tough trail, as we have set the first week of May as the week that we will complete the "Camino del Norte". The wet and sludgy trail, mixed with snow and ice made the climb exceptionally tough on our ageing legs.All in all a pretty good work-out.

We descended the same side of the mountain which had climbed. There was simply too much snow at the very top, which we nearly made by about a kilometer, and we did not fancy walking the last little stretch. Our feet were already near amputation state as it was, so we figured we'd head back down.

Next up most likely the three-valleys trail...

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

OK, it´s winter... we don´t care

2010-01-14T00:36:00.003+01:00

Snow, and lots of it.. even in the mountains surrounding Madrid... OK, would we rather head out there in short sleeves and with semi descent weather? Absolutely! But, we have decided to ignore the weather and are planning for a winterwonderland adventure this coming Sunday. Without a doubt the downhills will be slippery, spectacular and not without some interesting crashes.

At 9 AM on Sunday we are planning to start our ascend of Pedriza, one of the MTB trails near Madrid, that is sure to be covered in snow. As this is all very wintery, we needed to kind of bribe ourselves..so, the tour will be celebrated (if completed) with a typical Swiss cheese fondue in one of those smelly cheese places in Navacerrada. Just to kind of round off the winter sport experience. Al this hoping that all snow will disappear quickly and that warm weather will return to this part of the world. I mean, we need to get ready for the Camino after all.

More on this MTB snow extravaganza over the weekend

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

A nice training run in Casa de Campo

2009-12-06T09:43:00.000+01:00

Just went out on a nice training run on the MTB in Casa de Campo. By far most of the time the trails will be dry here, as Madrid does not get much rain. Now that it has been raining though the terrain was quite different. Besides the rain having created cracks in the normally flat dirt tracks, it was challenging to keep my "footing" at times due to the mud.

Besides many tracks I had not been on before, I also passed by the dreaded downhill where I crashed recently. This time I descended with skill and grace, bummer there were no witnesses. At 8 in the morning it's very very quiet in CdC. Neither Frans nor Edwin were able to join today so I guess they'll have to take my word for it.

All in all training is going well, should keep this pace up and pick it up maybe a little running up to the Camino early next year.

Am writing this blog post from the warmth of our local aprés-MTB hang out, a bar at Lago called Montaloya. The café con leche and tomato bread went down real well.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe
Enviado desde mi BlackBerry® de Vodafone

The Kodak Zx1 pocket camera

2009-11-20T22:17:00.003+01:00

Was given a great gift today, and it´s always great to be given a present, especially when this gift is a way cool new gadget... It is the Kodak Zx1 pocket camera.

The point of this camera is to easily shoot HD footage, to be used on YouTube or whatever. This particular pocket camera is ruggedized, and all buttons are rubberized. So sand and spots of water will be no issue, because of this rubberization as well as the fact that all ports (USB, SD etc.) are sealed off with thick rubber seals.

The camera comes with a cover, so that small incidents such as a massive MTB wipe out, will not matter as much (for the camera anyway). It also ships with a special mount strap, such that it can be easily mounted onto say a helmet or perhaps the handle bars of an MTB.

This newby to pocket cameraism will set out tomorrow on an MTB trail. I will be on a mission to bring you some glorious footage from the mountains of Madrid.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Camino del Norte planned for 2010

2009-11-17T20:26:00.003+01:00

Following this year's Camino to Santiago (St. James Way) from Madrid, we are planning for another and similar adventure in the new year. In April or May we will be heading out on the Camino del Norte.

The Northern Way (Spanish: Camino del Norte) runs from France at Irún and follows the northern coastline of Spain to Galicia where it heads inland towards Santiago joining the Camino Francés at Arzúa. This route follows the old Roman road, the Via Agrippa, for some of its way and is part of the Coastal Route (Spanish: Ruta de la Costa).

This Camino will be a little bit longer than the one completed this year (820 km vs. 740 km.). It will also be quite different in other respects. As it largely follows the coast lines of the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia, it will present us with many short climbs. All in all though, at first rough calculations, it will be an overall climb that exceeds the cumulative climbing we did on the '09 trail. Needless to say, we have started getting in shape for this 820 km feast that we will want to complete in 7 days. One thing's for sure, we will be eating well, as the regions we will cycle through are well known for its good food.

More on our preparations in upcoming posts.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

A good weekend with two separate trails

2009-11-15T16:41:00.003+01:00

Madrid has a number of really great spots for mountainbiking, of which many are really close to the city. Yesterday we decided to do a trail in El Pardo, a large nature reserve of which part is open to the public.

It is just north west of the city, and surrounds the village of El Pardo. This is partly known for the palace of El Pardo, which during the Franco years was the private residence of Franco himself. In below picture you can see Frans posing in front of this palace.

The MTB trails in El Pardo are great, but there is a lot of loose beach-like sand, so cutting corners here and there proved to be rather tricky. Only one minor crash though.

Today another trail in the Casa de Campo, and it is amazing how many hidden trails this gigantic city forest still has for me. Today I discovered a number of trails I had never been on before. I also descended the dreaded hill where I crashed the other day... this time I made it down OK. Casa de Campo is real popular with Madridś MTBers, and the restaurants at Lago usually serve as the watering hole for after a descent work-out.

We have started planning our next Camino, for 2010, and are considering doing the Camino del Norte. Essentially along the coast from San Sebastian in the Basque country, to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Among other great sights this will take us over the Picos de Europa. Cannot wait, we are condidering anywhere between March and June. We will be training through the winter, wanna make sure I'll be fit for this one. More on our plans in upcoming posts.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

A delightful day in the Casa de Campo

2009-10-18T19:42:00.004+02:00

well, the day was simply amazing. Blue skies, no wind and 24 degrees centigrade made for perfect conditions for some mountain biking in Casa de Campo. This is an enormous park, a forest rather, bordering the city center of Madrid. To give you a feel of its size, it is five times the size of New York´s Central Park.

Casa de Campo is also where the mountain biking world cup was held this year in May. So we were obviously keen to try out some of these WC trails. This was by no means our first time there, in fact we have cycled through it many times before. Its extremely convenient location in the city as well as its great tracks make it perfect for a few hours of MTBing.

All was well today as we ascended and descended, until I decided to gun it down one of the more challenging and steep world cup runs. It was very steep and somehow my front wheel got a bit stuck. I soon found myself airborn and doing a bit of a somersault, with bike and all. The landing, face first, in the dirt took the wind out of me for a bit. Part of the landing was broken by my helmet and I was glad to be weiring all finger and tough gloves. Besides some token blood (to impress the girls) I was fine and left the area of the crash unscathed. It happened right underneath the gondola, and am sure it must have provided some of its passengers with a spectacular scene. I aim to please of course... ;)

anyway, the bike will need to be tuned a little bit and will go in for service tomorrow, will want to head out again next weekend of course.

hasta la próxima
Douwe

La Pedriza, Madrid

2009-10-04T09:21:00.006+02:00

I have done Pedriza twice before, once in April (although we did only a snippet of the entire trail) and once on June 20 of this year. An amazing circular trail, which we did counter clockwise. This meant that we had the steapest climb to start with with a long descent to take us back to where we had parked the car.

This trail is not particularly difficult, technically speaking. The difficulty is in the steep and long climb as you can see in below diagram.

Once you start to climb a little bit the views start getting better and better. There is a viewpoint (mirador) at the top of the trail, with stunning views of the peeks of Pedriza and down below Manzanares and the lake. In the distance you can also see the city of Madrid and its unmistakable 4 towers.

This trail is definitely worth going for, but don't underestimate the climb. If you stay on the track, a pretty smooth dirt track with small rocks and gravel, it is very easy going. Next time I am keen to take some of the forest trails that are around. The park, up until you reach the hight of the mirador, is pretty much a pine forest with huge rocks. Am looking forward to doing a winter wonderland trail once there will be snow later in the season, is supposed to be amazing.

We only had one incident happen yesterday, one that has now got Frans convince that he will in fact bring his gloves and helmet next time.

BajaBikesMadrid now on YouTube

2009-09-29T10:44:00.002+02:00

With Baja Bikes you can explore Madrid in a unique way, you will see the best highlights of the city during a relaxed bicycle tour. You will cross the old city centre, the Retiro Park and cycle past many interesting sights. The BajaBikes Madrid guides know the city and its history very well, and will open up a complete new Madrid for you.

cycling through Madrid, awesome!!

2009-09-23T19:11:00.003+02:00

at first I was a little skeptical about cycling through the center of Madrid, but after having been here for three years I have gotten to know the city quite well by cycling through it. It must be said, it is best done with someone who knows the best routes, better yet.. which streets to avoid as Madrid is quite the car-rich city and can be a tad chaotic. But if you know where to go and how to best navigate through the stunning center of Madrid it is really cool and a brilliant way to see the sights.

I recently came across a great guided bicycle tour company in Madrid who employ very knowledgeable guides. They take you through the center of Madrid in three hours, native speakers of English, Dutch and German. check it out on BajaBikesMadrid

Back on the saddle again

2009-09-03T20:43:00.002+02:00

OK, so it has been a little quiet on the MTB front lately, partly due to the hot summer and vacation period, and mostly due to a fairly busy travel schedule. But, am back on the saddle and have started training. This week I started by going to work by bicycle. You might think, big deal.. but going from one side of Madrid to the other, which is far from flat, can be a bit of a workout. Click on below Google Map to get an idea of the distance... The route take me right across central Madrid.

View office home route 31 aug 2009 in a larger map

Besides the work-out it is also a learning experience. For instance, you get to know the city quite well. I have taken this route (back and forth) three times this week. Not once did I take exactly the same route, which helps me get a better feel of the lay out of the city. You also get a better understanding of typical driving behavior and how to anticipate. Luckily I have been on a bicycle in many cities, so it helps.

What´s funny is that many of the stereotypes are well confirmed. For instance, the typical BMW driver does not take it well at all being overtaken by someone on a bike. The (usually) male drivers of this type of vehicle cannot help but demonstrate their frustration of not being well endowed, and they need to have their revenge by overtaking you no... matter what it takes.

Other than that though, fairly easy to navigate through town. A refreshing way to leave a day´s of work behind and burn some calories.

We will be picking up the schedule again, and are in fact planning for an awesome 200 km mountain bike trail in the south of Spain in October. Will need to train for this as it appears to be a fairly tough and technical route.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

From an MTB to a windsurf board

2009-07-27T23:31:00.002+02:00

Ok, so nothing to report on the MTB front as I have been on vacation in the Caribbean for a couple of weeks. Not much in the way of mountainbiking on the island of Bonaire, but did manage to get a fair amount of windsurfing in whilst I was there. Check out below YouTube video for some of the footage.

Am keen to get back on the bike, check back soon for some more MTB stuff from Madrid and the Tarragona province in Catalonia.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

30 K ride near Rascafria

2009-07-12T18:55:00.005+02:00

We initially intended to do a rather tough ride around the mountains surrounding the town of Rascafria. What started real good ended up in us getting terribly lost, to the point where we ended up on a rather difficult and in the end impossible trail.

What followed was a lot of climbing where we had to dismount and carry our bikes across some very rough terrain. The surroundings were beautiful (see above picture), but it was not the one we intended to ride today.

We will do this trail again soon and will write a more inspired and detailed description of it. We'll make sure to prepare better to make sure we can find our way around. Even the GPS did not help us today. So more about this supposedly wonderful ride soon.

Hasta la proxima
Douwe

4 July, Tres Valles MTB trail from Cercedilla

2009-07-05T20:28:00.010+02:00

I was intending to do a small triathlon, but as I was still recovering from a minor injury that I had from a cycling tour (a small rock smacking into my shin) I was not sure if neither running nor swimming would be a great idea. The movement for cycling does not bother my shin, so decided to head out on a 50 K MTB trail near Cercecilla with a couple of friends. For details of the trail in Google Maps click here or view below map

View Bike Trail 4 July 2009 in a larger map

The trail started in Cercedilla (alt. 1150), we set off in direction Fuenfria, first hitting the viewpoint of Vicente Aleixandre (alt. 1670). By this time we were on the Caretera de la Republica, a road that was intended to connect this part of the valley with Puerto de Navacerrada. Construction started just before the civil war, and well.. the road was never finished. In the second half of the 20th century it was reopened for recreational purposes for hikers and cyclists, but never paved an left in gravel. No cars on this trail as it is all fenced off.

Next stop was Puerto de la Fuenfría (alt. 1796), essentially where Madrid and Castilla y Leon border. By this time we had climbed a little over 600 meters and had warmed up nicely. Puerto de la Fuenfría is also where we retook the Camino de Santiago downhill, but only for a few kilometers. Passing the ruins of Convento de Casarás, we took a sharp right onto a smoothly paved connecting road. This path lead us up to the CL 601 highway. This was a fairly steep downhill, essentially loosing most of the altitude that we had just gained with blood sweat and many tears.

At the CL 601 we turned right and cycled for about a kilometer,to find the continuation of our trail on the left. Passing another barrier, one of the many that keep the cars off the mountain trails in this nature reserve, we started a much more serious climb. The first few kilometers were not that bad, but the last stretch leading up to Puerto de los Cotos (alt. 1830) was very tough. Technically the terrain was challenging, but it was also steep. Below at the CL 601 we were at 1400 meters altitude, and Cotos is at 1830, so we climbed 430 meters in just five kilometers. This really got our hearts pumping and we were glad to have made it up to Cotos.

From Cotos we took the M 604 country road all the way to Puerto de Navacerrada (alt. 1860). At first a slight descent, which of course meant we had to climb a fair bit at the end. At Puerto de Navacerrada we had reached the highest point of the day, so our spirits were up. Now all we needed to do was to find our easy descent back to Cercedilla and we could call it a day. We had a bit of a hard time finding our intended trail down, so when we asked some fellow cyclists they recommended that we follow them.

What a mistake... Although the Schmidt trail (leading from Puerto de Navacerrada to Puerto de Fuenfría) was amazing, it was much more in terms of technical skill and endurance than we had bargained for. It was stunning though, and with hindsight I am glad we did it, but at the time we figured it might have been the wrong choice.

Back at Fuenfría our way back to the car was easy, a long and fast downhill.

This is a trail I would certainly recommend, the most thrilling one I have done in the Madrid area so far and I am sure to want to do it again. Be advised though, you will be looking at 50 kilometers with an aggregated climb of 1125 meters.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

40 Km MTB trail in Cuanca Alta del Manzanares

2009-06-28T20:52:00.004+02:00

Today I cycled approximately 40 Km´s with some friends just north of Ciudalcampo, in an area known as Cuenca Alta del Manzanares. Fairly easy terrain wihout too many long climbs, but it was a nice work out. Amazing I even made it, we set off at 8:30 AM and had some difficulty getting out of bed after a rather pleasant and late BBQ party last night. I managed to drag my ass out of bed though, and drove the 25 or so kilometers just north of town where we were supposed to gather to push off. My breackfast consisted of a delicious and large piece of left over home made tortilla, breakfast of kings.

I forgot to bring my GPS, but of you want to have an idea of where we cycled, I drew up a quick mock-up on Google Maps. Will make sure to register the trail on GPS next time.

On the way we crossed an MTB race, which looked real cool. Kind of triggered me to look at entering a race after the summer holidays. Some time to get fit still..;)

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Back in the pool

2009-06-24T21:27:00.012+02:00

The pool season in our neighborhood, and therefore also in our building, started a few weeks ago. Great for cooling off of course with temperattures that are already high as it is, but that are looking to get to around 40 Celsius the further we get into summer. Also perfect for some exercise, especially as I have decided to do a mini triathlon on 4 July. For more information, check it out.

It is indeed a small triathlon, so nothing to get worried over. But as it will be my first I thought it wise to get back in the pool for some training. I used to swim competitively and played water polo, so the technique is still there. Now for some more endurance. Swimming, cycling and running I have all done to more or lesser extents. It will be interesting to combine the three in a row. We´ll see...

70 kilometers on the race bike

2009-06-21T09:34:00.005+02:00

I dusted off my race-bike yesterday and figured it might be fun to go out for a bit of speed for a change. So this morning I took it out and pushed of to Colmenar Viejo. There and back is some 70 kilometers and there are frequent ascents and descents, not very steep but enough to break a sweat.

For those of you interested in cycling this route, which can get you as far as Soto el Real, there are various comprehensive Spanish descriptions on the web: Here is an example. The bicycle lane takes you right along the M 607, so is not the prettiest of routes, but if you are set on cycling a long stretch without having to cross busy roads and deal with the dangerous Spanish motorists, than its perfect.

I left home at around 6:30 AM, right around the time that it started to get light out. There was a fair amount of wind, luckily frontal on my way out which gave me confidence of an anticipated tail wind for the way back. The other way around would have been much worse. My usual route to the Colmenar bicycle lane is by taking a bit of Madrid´s so called green ring, or anillo verde. Essentially this is a bicycle lane that acompanies the M40 ring road all around Madrid. It is not bad for easy cycling, but as there are many crossings and thus places where you need to stop, it is not that well suited for a bit of racing. At this ungodly hour in Madrid however traffic is very light, so was able to make my way to the Colmenar lane quickly.

The weather was stunning and once on the Colmenar track you are immediately awarded with a very nice view of the mountains, the ones I was cycling in only yesterday morning. I pedalled quickly and soon found myself at Colmenar, figuring that it was probably a good idea to turn around.

I really enjoyed being on a racer again for a change after having had my ass firmly planted on an MTB for the majority of my trails lately. The first few kilometers took a lot of getting used to, but after a bit I was flying down the streets and the bicycle path. I do believe to have a preference for mountain biking however, which if done well gets you to the most beautiful and remote places. What struck me as odd was that a large percentage of the cyclists that I encountered on the bicycle lane were actually on mountain bikes, what´s the use I thought... off road with an MTB is so much more fun.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

La Pedriza, an amazing 40 Km trail

2009-06-20T14:42:00.011+02:00

The alarm clock woke me at 6 AM this morning, I had plans to do a trail early in the morning at a time that the temperature would still be bearable. Pedriza was my destination, a name for part of the nature reserve Cuenca alta del Manzanares. I got there a little before 7 AM and set out on a stretch that is actually part of the Camino de Santiago, I was here a week earlier on our way to Santiago.

The trail, including a little stretch leading up to where I had parked my car, is about 40 KM. I opted to ride the trail clock-wise and started with my climb, which promissed to be an aggregate of a little over 1 Km. I had done the Pedriza before with Frans, in fact it was the first training run for the Camino. When I look back at it that now, and remember where we decided we had had enough of the climb, I now realise that we actually only climbed 1/3 of the total. It seemed so heavy at the time, but I now know how heavy this trail really is. I was glad that I had set out at such an early hour as the 18 degree temperature was great and I was dreading having to do this in 35 plus degree weather. At the top of the regular trail there is an extra run up a peak called La Nava. It looked amazing, but I figured I would keep that for another day. I did the entire trail within three hours which I thought was pretty good. During the descent back to Manzanares I passed loads of MTBers that were working on their first ascent.

I will definitely come back to this amazing trail again soon.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

We are checked in and ready to go

2009-06-14T09:31:00.000+02:00

Amazing, seriously the first time ever for me that I have experienced an effortless check-in with Ryanair. Usually it's a big pain and they make you go back an forth to another desk for previously unadvertised extras you never thought you needed. It must be our Pilgrim karma that paved our way through what's usually a Ryanair hell. Perhaps I am jinxing it by being this positive before getting to Madrid and picking up our bikes from the belt in good condition. We'll see...so far so good.

As we entered the airport we saw a couple of Dutch pilgrims fannying about with Iberia bicycle boxes, desperately trying to get their bikes to fit whilst working towards a check-in deadline. We looked at each other and agreed that we did ourselves a great favor in preparing as well as we did.

Hasta la próxima, in Madrid
Douwe

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Preparing for our trip back home

2009-06-13T19:11:00.000+02:00

We have a semi early flight back to Madrid tomorrow, so decided to prep all we can in terms of packing up our bikes. Knowing how the luggage Neanderthals throw around luggage, including items marked fragile, we made a trip to Decathlon for travel bags and the next door DIY for half a mile of bubble wrap. We wanna make sure our precious gear gets back home in one piece.

We are nearly done and than it's off to a nice terrace for beer, general relaxation and extremely bad jokes.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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We are official

2009-06-13T14:11:00.000+02:00

We just queued for nearly 2 hours, but have our document confirming our pilgrimage. Filling out the form you could state the reason for your trip, religious, other and religious, and non-religious. As Frans took the second category and I the third, we soon discovered that the nicer document is definitely for the religious types. Go figure.

We are off for some beers.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Santiago, we have arrived?

2009-06-13T12:31:00.000+02:00

720 Km's
Approx 100 Km's per day
173 hours in total
About 8 hours on average on the bike per day
Effectively 57 hours on our bikes
4,5 liters of water per person per day
Frans used 4 liters of factor 50 sunblock
500 grams of pasta per person per day
4 pieces of fruit per person per day
7 cups of coffee per person per day
3 liters of sweat per person per day
25 swear words on average per person per day (with peeks on the peeks...;)
10 ML of blood in total (Frans)
25 liters of beer in total
And 25 stamps each

Just some of our trips statistics in case you are preparing a Camino of your own. We arrived safely, and are queuing for our official Camino document. It is quite busy, heaps of Pilgrims. We smell so badly that what must be a stench does not even faze us. The clean everyday tourists passing by however are giving us wide birth.

After we are done here we will find our hotel, check in, shower and plant ourselves on a terrace somewhere.

More later.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Getting ready for the last 36 km's

2009-06-13T07:02:00.000+02:00

It is a little foggy outside, but we are up and getting ready for our last bit on the Camino. We think that it might be a tough last 36 k's as it pretty much is up and all the way with a number of steep climbs. But, all in all nothing we have nor already conquered earlier on this journey.

So, more from along the route and of course from Santiago.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Arzua, our last watering hole before Santiago

2009-06-12T18:35:00.000+02:00

We made it to Arzua, our last stop before we set off on our victory sprint to Santiago. We toyed with the idea of continuing on to Santiago today, but decided against it as we entered Arzua. This was our scheduled stop, and we wisely chose to take it. Checked into our hotel we are now enjoying a bit of a beer and just realized that leaving Madrid seems like ages ago, while we only left last Saturday.

Frans had a minor crash today, see bloody knee photo. It is nothing serious. If you ask me it is God's way of telling him that he should not have taken as many short-cuts on the Camino as he has. At one point Frans calls me explaining that he accidentally took the wrong turn, I guess the yellow markers were not obvious enough. Consequently Frans awaits me, feet-up on a terrace as I arrive just after completing the most horrific and muddy stretch of the actual Camino. Need I say more. But God is forgiving, it was only a warning, a mere flesh wound. So mom and dad of Frans: He is OK.

We find ourselves having beers on a terrace right on the busiest street of Arzua. So after we finish up here we will see if we can find something more in line with our mood: Chill.

More tomorrow, as we embark on our finish to Santiago.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Having a quick bite to eat in Portomarín

2009-06-12T12:12:00.000+02:00

What an amazing ride. From Sarria we headed deep into the wilderness, where the Camino took us through some extremely muddy terrain.

In one of the villages we were greeted by two very chirpy French Bulldogs, who were snoring of delight as we stopped to pat them. My parents had French Bulldogs in the past, and I can tell you they are as friendly as they are ugly. The French might want to follow their namesake dog's example, some of the French Pilgrims on the route are downright bitter. It is interesting to see how different the reactions are from some of the walking pilgrims. Most are actually fine. What's striking is that the Spanish tend to react with the most enthusiasm, especially when I sound my Camino horn. The Spanish love any kind of noise ;)

We decided to stop in Portomarín for an early lunch, as we already completed 50 km's. We parked our somewhat sore asses on a terrace for some pizza and general relaxation.

The weather is actually perfect for cycling, overcast, not too warm and dry.

More from our next stop.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Sarria, a good place to break for coffee

2009-06-12T09:25:00.000+02:00

We just wizzed from Triacastela to Sarria, a little over 25 km done. It's a little foggy in the mountains but we are pretty sure to have great weather further down as the mist settles. It's just passed 9:15 am and we are making good progress.

The next stretch will be a slight climb to Feirreros, after which it's pretty much up and down all the way to Santiago.

We might actually decide to go to Santiago today, we'll see how it goes.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Goodmorning Triacastela

2009-06-12T06:51:00.000+02:00

Once again we slept like babies and are completely refreshed after 8+ hours of comatose sleep. Frans jumped into his jeans and ran to the hotel garden where we had locked up our bikes for the night. Turns out he had a nightmare of our bikes being stolen and us having to catch a smelly bus to Santiago. Luckily also in this case dreams don't always come true :-)

Our hostel is right at the 129 Km marker, so no guessing how far we have left. Today we will see how it goes, but we want to do a minimum of 100 km, such that if we overnight before Santiago that we have little left for tomorrow morning. The plan is to have at least half a day there before we catch our Sunday morning flight back home.

It's been an amazing journey so far, a lot of which we captured on video. As soon as I will have had a chance to edit them, they will feature on this blog.

Time to get ready for what will be a tough day. More later from along the trail.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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We arrived in Triacastela

2009-06-11T20:45:00.000+02:00

We arrived, after the climb we were able to descend pretty much the last 20 km's. Pretty spectacular, the views as much as the descend it self.

We found our hotel without any problemsn, and have a room that thus far is the most kitch of all places we have stayed at. But, a room, a hot shower and some restaurants at spitting distance.

Now for a hot shower. We have a pretty heavy day ahead of us tomorrow, a little over 100 km's.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Resting our legs in El Cebreiro

2009-06-11T18:03:00.000+02:00

OMG!!!! We are on what is most likely one of the toughest trails this week. We just climbed from 500 to 1300 m altitude, after already having climbed some 750 meters on this mornings track.

But, we made it: "con dos cojones" as the Spanish would say.

The weather is great, a little hot (35 degr.) so we are taking in simply liters of water. A lot of it comes back as sweat, and quite a bit we cop-dust along the route. What's remarkable is that when we relieve ourselves, it sort of stains the grass a similar yellow as used for the Camino markers. Hope we're not misguiding too many fellow pilgrims with our urine graffiti...

El Cebreiro is a little hippie place on the edge of the Galician border. We are indeed in Galicia!!!! Getting pretty close now.

Ok. More when we get to Triacastela.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Having lunch in Villafranca de Bierzo

2009-06-11T13:43:00.000+02:00

Another 20 km done, which puts us at 50 for the day. We decided to break for lunch in Villafranca del Bierzo as we have a rather heavy trail still ahead of us. We are facing a 750 meter climb. Triacastela seems another world for us now, but I am sure we'll make it.

Bierzo is a lovely district, also known for its amazing red wine.

Lunch is mediocre, Frans his Cordon Blue is deep fried it seems. But the sun is shining and we are enjoying actually sitting down on something other than a saddle.

More after our monster climb.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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A coffee break in Ponferada

2009-06-11T10:44:00.000+02:00

We just cycled to Ponferada, 30 km's. This puts us at the 200 minimum for cyclists, that is if you want it all to be official. From here we need to get the minimum 2 daily stamps. We will get our first of the day here at the Ayuntamiento which is right at the terrace where we stopped for some coffee. Well, tea for me actually, as I woke up last night and projectile vomitted out my supper. Am pretty sure it must have been the Gazpacho that was dodgy. In any event I was not in my best form this morning. Cycling seems to be going alright, but I will have to watch what I eat today.

The first part of today's trail so far was made up of a relatively short climb, and a spectacularly long and winding descent towards Ponferada. It helped us get here relatively quickly. We need it as we have another 60 km to go today, which includes a tough and long climb.

After coffee we'll go and visit the castle of the Knights Templar. After that I am sure we'll need to make our way towards Triacastela, our target town for today which is in Galicia.

Meanwhile we are enjoying the sun and resting our legs.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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We made it to Rabanal del Camino

2009-06-10T21:18:00.000+02:00

We made it, a cool 70 km's, it turned out slightly more than anticipated. But the weather was amazing, and all the rain and ugly weather preparations were unnecessary in retrospect. Hind sight is 20 : 20, and we learned earlier on the Camino that preparation is of paramount importance. It's all tough enough as it is.

The B&B we just checked into is more like a country manor. It is amazing and we have not one but two queensize beds in our large room. The bar is great and Heineken flows gently into pint-sized glasses whilst we come to the realization that we have only got some 240 km's to go until we are knighted über-pilgrims as we enter Santiago de Compostela.

During our previous stop, as Frans was fixing his bike, we caught up with two fellow Dutchmen who actually started in Groningen. OMG!! They left mid May and made sure we knew that they actually sleep in a tent. When we mentioned our accommodations along the route, they frowned and we tried to break the ice by admitting that we are in fact Camino Preppies (or Camino Kakkers in Dutch..) I was quick to add that I am from Groningen originally, which seemed to help a little bit. In the same town, the pueblo known as Astorga, we stocked up on water and chocolate. Astorga is known for its chocolate, no doubt through some Belgiam pilgrim that got stuck and never left. It was lovely and a great energy boost.

The scenery from Astorha to where we are now has greatly improved from near-motorway and strip-mall suburbs of León to a countryside that more resembles the highlands of bonnie Scotland than your stereotypical Spain.

We are off for a much needed shower and a dinner that is served at an un-Spanish early hour. (Kitchen closes at 10) Just as well as we have a killer program ahead of us tomorrow.

Hasta la próxima.
Douwe

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Another flat tire...

2009-06-10T17:40:00.000+02:00

Hahaha, we have another flat tire, Frans to be exact. So he is fidgeting around with his front tire and this time inserting our miracle working anti-flat protection along with the inner tube.

Once he's done we'll find a cafe for some light refreshments. We just obtained our second stamp of the day, and the sun is shining at the Puerta del Sol. It was meant to be.

Looks as though Frans is wrapping up the fight with his front wheel, time to schlepp our sore asses to a terrace.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Just passed Hospital de Orbigo

2009-06-10T16:28:00.000+02:00

We have cycled some 35 Km's which puts us over half of the total 65 we have for today. Rabanal del Camino is our target for today, where we expect to land in the next couple of hours.

It's striking that we have seen loads more cyclists on the Camino today, we figured many of them probably chose León as their starting point.

This morning we ran into some people we had met before. Over breakfast by chance the Dutch woman, and her Swiss toy boy she picked up along the way, walked into the same bar. We are likely to run into them again I'm sure.

Couple of cyclists that just passed us, as we stopped for a picnic, are doing a Camino light. All their luggage is hauled by a mate in a van, as they lightly pedal over the trails. Such blasphemy.

The weather thus far has been very nice, we were able to take off our rain gear and go at it short sleeved.

More when we get to Rabanal.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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In León getting ready for the cold

2009-06-10T11:54:00.001+02:00

We have our feet still firmly planted on Leónese soil, and have made some preparations for the cold weather. Extra gloves, some protective clothing. In addition we passed by a bicycle store where we bought some tube protecors, shields that you put inside the tire and will help prevent flats. A fellow MTB pilgrim let us in on this public secret yesterday. Anybody need any spare tubes? We have plenty. :)

We are getting rady to leave, just a couple more stops before we head into the wilderness. We need some bread and SD cards for the camera as I am shooting quite some footage for our upcoming Camino podcast.

We have 65 Km's ahead of us today.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Just arrived in León

2009-06-09T18:04:00.000+02:00

Frans and I just checked into our hotel in the beautiful old centre of León. The last 20 km's were pretty uneventful, besides a nice off-road downhill into the city. We had to make our way through the outskirts and were able find our hotel real easily. Google maps on the BlackBerry is our friend.

We had little in the way of pilgrim traffic into León, kind of get the feeling that many may skip it and head straight for the mountains.

For tomorrow we have a fairly easy route planned, as we want to make sure we can take in some of León before we wizz off again.

No doubt we'll have another amazing dinner tonight, already spotted a few places on the way that look like very good candidates.

We are well on our way now. One thing is for sure, from a nature and outdoors perspective the Madrid Camino before Sahagun was much nicer. Let's see how it gets once we head into the mountains of León and Galicia after that.

Now for a much needed shower and quick siesta.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Lunch at Mansilla de las Mulas

2009-06-09T14:51:00.000+02:00

We cycled an aggregate 80 Km's today, and have just 20 to go until we will reach León. For the overall trip we have already completed more than half, from here we have another 320 to go until sainthood.

We thought that our Camino was quite tough, until I passed a couple on bicycles just before lunch. One of them had just cycled from The Netherlands, and the other was on his 21st day from Switzerland. OMG.... Impressive stuff, respect.

Another funny occurrence was a father and son on horse-back. The Australian couple we met yesterday had mentioned they met them on way, and indeed after chatting with them they were the same horse people. We had been following hoof tracks along the camino yesterday afternoon and this morning. Now we passed them and we are on the lookout for a supposed Jesus freak who is traveling by donkey and cart. Have not spotted him yet, but there are plenty of crusty unshaven Jesus wannabees along this stretch of the Camino.

More later from León, now for relaxation and a tiny drop of red wine to get the blood flowing again...

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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In Sahagún for a coffee break

2009-06-09T10:46:00.000+02:00

We made it to Sahagún, a cool 40 Km's already behind us today. No rain yet, and a pretty good tail wind made sure we got here relatively quickly.

More importantly, we are now on the most official part, the Camino's of all Camino's. Also known as El Camino Francés. What's striking is that we have already seen more crusties (smelly pilgrims) in the 10 minutes that we got here than the three previous days on the Madrid leg. I am sure my horn will be useful to draw attention and help dodge the odd crusty. Only another 50 or so Km's to go to León, our target for today.

Bread with tomato and olive oil just got put in front of me, so....
Hasta la próxima

Douwe

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We have arrived at Villalón de Campos

2009-06-08T19:05:00.000+02:00

We have had an extremely relaxing day today, well... compared to the past couple of days anyway. We arrived in Villalón de Campos, which meant a total trip of some 70 Km's. We got a little lucky as most of the way we were supported by a fairly strong back wind. We did get our fair share of rain, but it did not bother us as much as perhaps the first day. The sky was scattered with rain clouds and both Frans and I thought we could outsmart and bypass this one particularly dark and nasty one. We failed miserably, an consequently got drenched to the bone. We looked for some shelter in an old ruin, something that used to be a church in a small village called Moral de la Reina. As if things were not bad enough, I decided to relieve myself against the ruin. Naturally the rain started coming down even stronger. Such blasphemy. Frans had to change back to his rain gear, but luckily by this time we only had some 15 Km's to go.

The B&B we checked into is out of this world. A complete contrast to last night's "hotel". We were thinking of displaying our new found skills of burping family tunes like "She'll be coming around the mountain.." but we figured our host might not be too impressed.

For those of you that have been a little concerned with yesterday's picture of me, in which I looked exhausted: I am actually doing quite well. See above picture of my freshly shaven face basking in the sun.

On the map you may be able to see where we are. Villalón is just north west of Palencia.

Frans and I are enjoying a wonderful and rich bottle of Ribera de Duero on the terrace and I decided to re-read Catcher in the Rye, but the Spanish translation which I quite like.

Tomorrow we are heading to León, quite looking forward to that as I hear it is an amazing city.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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We are in Medina de Rioseco

2009-06-08T13:34:00.000+02:00

Medina de Rioseco is an amazing and historic old town. The river is far from dry however, must be some sort of myth. The town is known for its old smuggling routes, and the locals look as though smuggling might still be a large source of their income. Ever so friendly and approachable though.

The trail from Peñaflor to Medina went like a dream and I just devoured a slice of fresh tortilla. It is coming up to lunchtime and we decided to hang here and eat. We cycled an aggregate 45 Km already and have another 25 to go to our B&B. We double checked, it is indeed a B&B and not a truck-stop. We hope to be able to have some laundry done and get our well deserved rest.

The bicycle/electronics shop in Medina was well stocked with inner tubes, we bought six of them just so we don't taunt faith too much. Sure enough we will need a few before the much desired finish line.

Now for lunch, let's see if they can serve us something semi healthy. Spaghetti as a first course and Bacalau as a main sound fair enough to me.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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We are in Peñaflor

2009-06-08T13:02:00.000+02:00

Heavy rain and very Dutch landscapes swept us to a pueblo called Peñaflor. We are warming up in the local bar chatting with the locals, over a heart-warming carajillo. The bartender just stamped our credentials and gave us his blessing. We are feeling great, have already done 20 Km's and will do another 24 to Medina.

At Medina we will break for lunch and will be on the lookout for the bicycle shop that's supposed to be there. We need to stock up on spare inner tubes as we have only got 1 left. Knowing our luck we need not taunt the almighty too much, you never know what he has in stock for us.

In the village of Wamba we chatted with a couple of Australian pilgrims, more or less our parents age, who are also doing the Madrid camino. It's their third Camino, respect!

At the moment we are chatting with the local farmers, who are hiding out in the local until the rain stops. They need the fields to dry out, such that the immense quantities of barley we just cycled through can be harvested.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Victory, we landed in Simancas

2009-06-07T21:01:00.000+02:00

We made it, albeit on our last legs. So arriving in Simancas was a feast, except for discovering that our hotel for the night is actually a truck-stop. The hotel all in all is not that horrid, but it is right on the main freeway to Valladolid and its clientele looks as though they all know how to burp the entire alphabet.

But hell, we have a shower that works, twin beds, a lovely view of the countryside (see picture) and we'll be able to mingle with some real interesting characters.

Tomorrow we have our sights set on Cuenca de Campos, some 65 kilometers from our truck-stop from hell. I think we will have breakfast somewhere on the way.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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We have 24 km's to go to Simancas

2009-06-07T18:09:00.000+02:00

We are stretching and resting our legs before we get going on our last chunk of Camino for today. This will total our complete journey of today to about 115 Km's.

Loads of beach-like loose sand on the trails, two flat tires and overall under-estimation, made today into a much tougher day than what we bargained for.
Today's scenery and weather however are brilliant and spirits are up.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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We are in Coca

2009-06-07T15:08:00.000+02:00

Just a very quick update, we are in Coca. Unfortunately I had two flat tires, at one. What are the chances. Hence we had to skip lunch. More later.

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We are in Santa Maria La Real de Nieva

2009-06-07T12:08:00.000+02:00

This morning was considerably more relaxed than yesterday. We took a civilized breakfast on the Plaza Mayor, and took off in direction Valladolid. On exiting Segovia we looked back and were rewarded with simply stunning views of the city.

The camino today has thus far taken us through vast fields of waving barley and thick pine forrests. Quite some variety and awesome views.

On the way we passed through a number of small villages, among them a sleepy little town called Añe. We decided to go on the lookout for a stamp for our credentials and woke up the mayor who happily obliged. His wife, although friendly enough, was not impressed with us ringing the door bell at 11 am on a Sunday. Her nightgown and hairdo kind of scared us.

In Santa Maria we decided to stop for a much needed break. Coffee and bread rolls the size of a rugby balls. We have cycled some 30 KM's and want to do another 25 or so before breaking for lunch.

Hasta la próxima.
Douwe

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Segovia, por fin...

2009-06-06T22:07:00.000+02:00

After our close encounters with the local village idiot in Valsaín, and warming up we thought we were ready to embark on our final stretch to Segovia. Only 14 Km... However, even though our clothing had warmed up, it was certainly not dry. This we noticed as we mounted our trusted steeds, and we double backed to the warmth of the bar to change into something dry.

On our way to Segovia we decided to take a local an quiet highway. This with the intention to get there asap. Luckily we crossed the Camino on the way, which with renewed enthusiasm we tore to shreds on our way to the dreaming spires of Segovia.

We were able to find our hotel without too many complications, a lovely place right in the centre of town. (See above pictures)

After a hot shower, a change into civilian clothing we were welcomed with Segovian warm hospitality, tapas and beer. As this is my first beer in 4 weeks without as much as a drop of alcahol, I find myself writing this post on the floor looking up to the bar stool I just fell of off.

Tomorrow we plan to do about 105 Km's to a pueblo near Valladolid. We hope, and kind of expect, this to be much less demanding than the 140 K we did today criss-crossing the mountains between Madrid and Segovia. I am sure that we shall be sleeping like babies, in spite of having checked into a room with a queensize bed. What's more, we even share a matrimonial pillow. We'll see how it goes. Frans (as I) is a notorious snorer, so we are sure to entertain our neighbours with a duet that will go into Segovian history.

Before all that we will embark on our copious dinner, at a place where suckling pig is a specialty. This is not just any place, but the place to eat this Segovian dish. The pig is sure to enhance our snoring skills.

Hasta la próxima.
Douwe

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We are in Valsaín, Segovia Province

2009-06-06T19:10:00.000+02:00

We decided to take a pit-stop in a village about 14 Km before Segovia called Valsaín. Currently on our second glas of hot chocolate. The route we took to circumvent the Roman road ended up being much much longer then anticipated. Hence we have already cycled about 120 Km today. We are nackered and there was a lot of rain on the Madrid side of the mountain. So, pretty cold and we are warming ourselves in a local bar, whilst Frans is chatting with a local toothless villager. (See photo).

Am barely able to type this posting as my fingers are thawing. We are off again, on our last 14 Km of the day and hope to find the hotel easily. We need a shower badly.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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Camino, lunch

2009-06-06T14:07:00.000+02:00

So, we just cycled 65 Km with a climb of some 700 meters. The aggregate climb surely is loads more, as we have gone up and down, an than some.

We have another 35 Km to go, mind you with a reasonably nasty climb over the Guaderama mountain range. The last 20 or so Km's will be downhill to Segovia, where we will stay for the night.

It has started raining, surely a test from the almighty as he spotted a couple of infidels on his Camino.

Just another 612 Km's to go to Santiago.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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We are in Colmenar Viejo

2009-06-06T10:51:00.000+02:00

Ok, we are on the Camino de Santiago. We set off from Plaza de Santiago and cycled to Plaza Castilla by way of Paseo de la Castellana. There we were on the lookout for the yellow Camino markers, which were a little difficult to find.

Once on track we cycled through Fuencarral into the wonderful rolling hills just north of the city. Past Tres Cantos we cycled on to Colmenar, where we are now taking in some coffee and toast with tomato. It's one of those typical loud spanish bars the Spanish know how to make noise ;-)

After our coffee we'll continue on to Navacerrada, where we will likely find a Terrace and break for lunch. Frans and I are doing great so far, no major cat-fights yet and we both seem to be controlling our egos quite well.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

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First stamp down, several to go

2009-06-05T19:54:00.004+02:00

We have our first stamp, and have officially started on our quest for Santiago de Compostela. As the Santiago church will not be open tomorrow at dawn, we decided to get our first stamp early and make sure we can make our way to Segovia without having to worry about our credentials in Madrid.

So tomorrow 6 June we will push off on our 8 day journey by bicycle to Santiago. We are packed and ready to go. Let's hope we have brought all that we will need. Our check-list was pretty comprehensive, but I am sure we will find out what the nice-to-have-had's will be as we will be needing them.

We will post regularly throughout the camino, so stay tuned if you want to know where we are and what we are up to. Well, cycling mostly I suspect.

I have heard some concerns (via via) that mountain biking is ecologically unsound... Well, I can guarantee all of you that besides the inevitable flatulence and the one-way flight back to Madrid, that this trip is as carbon neutral as it gets.

Hasta la próxima
Douwe

Big climb at Navacerrada and Cercedilla

2009-05-30T23:33:00.013+02:00

Today Frans and I did a sizeable chunk of the Camino between Navacerrada and Segovia. We did not exactly cycle very far, but the climb was pretty steep and it made us realise that our first day from Madrid to Segovia is doable, yet fairly tough. We ended up climbing an aggregate 1.4 Km. today, enough to break a sweat anyway.

The mountains around Navacerrada are stunning and the trail easy to navigate. One thing we learned the hard way was not to take the Roman path just past Cercedilla, which is part of the Camino. We now know to circumvent that nasty little stretch and stick to the tar road going round it. Especially as we will be towing our luggage with us next week.

So all in all we had a great day with brilliant weather, as the photo's will show you. We noticed there were already a fair amount of pilgrims hiking their way towards Santiago. Let's see what traffic will look like next week as we set off on our journey. We made sure to buy some horns to fix on our bikes, the ones you typically find on a 3-year old's tricycle. We could have bought simple bells, but that would have been too sensible surely. The important thing is that we will be equipped to ensure that any pain-in-the-ass "I do not move for cyclists" hikers will at least hear us coming.

Today I will leave you with this video of Frans explaining why he feels that a helmet is a passion killer, something that makes him sweat and cramps his style. This segment is in Dutch, for those of you that master this romantic language.

Apologies, had to pull the video, Frans was threatening to sue so I had to delete it, as MikMTB does not have sufficient funds to be tied up in the inevitable legal battles... ... sorry people... ;-)

Navacerrada planned for 30 May

2009-05-28T07:08:00.004+02:00

As we have little time left before we set out on our Camino adventure 6 June, Frans and I figured it would be a good idea to do a serious training run this Saturday. In order to get used to the Camino, the trail as well as being on the look-out for the yellow markers.

So Saturday 30 June we will start at 8 AM and will climb the Camino just above Navacerrada, which at the top will take you into Segovia province.

This evening we will need to get some stuff at the bike store in order to further prepare, things such as extra inner tubes as well as a carrier and bags such that we can at least take the small amount of stuff we do intend to bring with us. We have decided to take at least one can of deodorant spray. Spartans we are not.

More on our Saturday run and preparations in postings to come.

Hasta la próxima

We are officially pilgrims

2009-05-26T22:18:00.000+02:00

We have just been given our pilgrim credentials, essentially our booklet (see above pic) in which we will collect the stamps on our way to Santiago. We will depart from the Plaza de Santiago in the centre of Madrid. At the Santiago church we hope to get our first stamp. Let's see if the priest is willing to bless a couple of atheists on this holy journey.

We have decided on the route and have made all the b&b bookings for us to crash at. The stops will be in Segovia, a village near Valladolid, Sahagun, León, Triacastela, a village in between Triacastela and Santiago, and of course the finish in Santiago where we will collect our certificate.

We are keen to get going, t minus 11 and counting....

Tomorrow I will pick up my new bike, and we have a few more training routes planned before we push off on 6 June.

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Today is a great day!!

2009-05-22T20:53:00.002+02:00

Got a new bike today, am real excited... only drawback is that I will have to wait until Tuesday to pick it up as they are getting it ready. It is a Trek 6700 and am real keen to give it a whirl next week. For now, here´s a photo of my new steed ;-)

Cycling through Barcelona

2009-05-17T14:14:00.000+02:00

Today, this magnificent Sunday, is an off day with very little in the way if real cycling. We are in Barcelona today with the kids, and just did a relaxed 3 hour bicycle tour through the centre of the city. Pretty awesome.

The tour took us past several of Gaudi's masterpieces, including the Sagrada Familia.

Now that we are done, we decided that it's time for lunch so we are in a cab right now heading to Barceloneta and the beach. The girls can play on the beach and I am sure we will find some half descent place to hang out the rest of the afternoon.

So, greetings from Barcelona (who sadly just clinched the championship) and hasta la próxima.

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A slow day today

2009-05-16T12:09:00.002+02:00

We are on our trail today, completely and utterly unprepared we set out on a route starting with the nude beach. Very little activity and mainly geriatrics displaying their bits to the world at 9 am on a saturday. Following some nice tracks right along the beach we ended up climbing a fair bit in direction nuclear plant.

Crossing the high-speed railway track which is in development, the AP7 motorway as well as the A7 Motorway uder construction we ended up in some rough terrain. A tad difficult to navigate through tracks with very rough gravel, and after one slight incident we decided to get the hell out of there. We schlepped our bikes onto the new A7 which is not yet opened and headed back in direction Hospitalet with the intent to go to Cambrils for a coffee break. After a while we saw the highspeed railway track which is currently being built connecting Barcelona with Valencia. We found a large enough hole in the fence, drove through it and were headed to Cambrils at a high speeds.

It got a little boring after a while, so crossing a dried up river bed we decided to pierce through the nearest hole in the fence, and made our way to the coast.

That is where we are now, enjoying a cofee and sandwich right at the beach front in the sun.

Later more on this slacker route that we are on today, which includes but is not limited to many half hearted attempts at getting fit for the Camino. (Frans made me use that phrase, sorry...)

For GPS details on this ride goto my mapmyride.com pages

Hasta la próxima

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Getting ready for our next route on this lovely day

2009-05-16T08:17:00.000+02:00

The weather is amazing, blue skies and not as much wind as yesterday. We are contemplating where to bike to today. We might take a stretch of beach and head into the mountains a little south of Hospitalet.

First things first, some coffee, breakfast and chit chat to kick off this fantastic Saturday morning.

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38.9 Km with 1.3 Km total climb at Vandellos

2009-05-15T13:58:00.000+02:00

After an awesome trail we are resting our legs in the mediterranean sun overlooking the bay, and making plans for lunch. I think the local fish restaurant will win, perhaps a nice paella or plate full of Merluza.

The trail back from Vandellos turned into a bit of an impromptu selection of routes, keeping an eye on the GPS that we were at least sort of heading in the right direction. The views of the mountain range and the sea were stunning.

The road back to Hospitalet was interesting, as we were challenged by some very strong sidewind with gusts up to force 7. That combined with the speed at which we were descending required us to navigate carefully.

Over lunch we'll think about what trail to do tomorrow, but with Vandellos done I am sure we will be looking for a bit of a challenge.

One thing is for sure, we are getting fit and will be well prepared for the Camino to Santiago starting 6 June.

Hasta la próxima!

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On the Vandellos trail

2009-05-15T10:52:00.000+02:00

So we set out this morning on the Vandellos trail. Pretty steep climbs and I am sure I saw Frans weep and suppress some tears from the corner of my eye from time to time ;)

We are on our cafe con leche break right now, and are sort of half way on todays trail. We just passed a small pueblo in ruins, simply deserted, will post some photo's of the ruins in the middle of the mountains. We were kind of speculating that this may be one of those places that got wiped out in the civil war. We just asked about it in the café and the answers were a tad sketchy.

We will head out now, have to find the camino that will take us around the mountain and back to the mediterranean side of the trail. Will post some pics and Gps data in coming posts.

Hasta la proxima

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We are getting ready for the Vandellos trail

2009-05-15T00:36:00.000+02:00

One of the advantages of living in a catholic country like Spain is the many public holidays they give you, even to an atheist like myself. Tomorrow, 16 may, is a public holiday in Madrid. Not sure what it's about, but a long weekend is always welcome and we decided to head out to the beach house in Tarragona province. Frans joined us and we have two serious MTB trails planned.

The first one will be a pretty steep and tricky one around Vandellos, one I have been on before. There has been quite a bit of rain here lately so should be a muddy ride. The cumulative climb is around 1200 meters, so am sure we'll get a bit of a work-out out of it.

Attached picture is Frans who is claims to be looking forward to tomorrows trail, but I'm not convinced ;)

More on our ventures with some pics tomorrow.

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10 May Trail from Colmenar to Navacerrada and back

2009-05-11T00:13:00.006+02:00

We ended up doing a stretch of the Camino today, albeit a different part we initially set out to do. It was a good workout nonetheless and took us through some beautiful terrain. Plus we got to get a first touch of the Camino, a mix of narrow dirt tracks, gravel to some tar roads. By far most of what we did was off road however.

For a map of the route click on below button. It's data taken from my GPS.

We ended up doing 38 KM. One of our objectives of today was to see if we will set our target on Segovia for the first day of our Camino trip. I believe we will, eventhough from Madrid this will be slightly more than 100 Km and with some steep climbs.

Next weekend will be a bank holiday weekend in Madrid, so we will be doing some trails in Catalonia near Tarragona. There are two trails in particular that we will do there, more on that later in the week.

5 June, our departure date for the Camino, is approaching quickly. A bit more training to do....

Getting ready to eat a chunck out of the Camino

2009-05-10T11:04:00.000+02:00

Today we will do a 40 km training run near Navacerrada and am mentally preparing myself for what I know will be a very interesting climb. We'll see.

The excuse of this posting however is to test the email to blog interface. Blogger allows you to post by way of simple emails (with or without attachments). So am using my blackberry to see if this will work out.

That way we can do regular posts on the blog, without having to either schlepp a laptop along or find an internet cafe.

Will post more this evening on how the Navacerrada run went. We're mainly doing it to help us decide if Madrid - Segovia will be the first leg of the trip.

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Training run this Sunday

2009-05-07T23:14:00.001+02:00

OK, so we decided that we will ride the Camino from Madrid to Santiago. We will leave on 5 June and take about six days to get to Santiago.

As we are not sure what really to expect on the first leg, Madrid to Segovia..well, we know there are some mountains in between..., we will give part of that track a go this coming Sunday to make a more educated guess. It is not that the 100 Km distance from Madrid to Segovia scares us, but it is rather hilly.. just after Navacerrada

We have already started going over the route and Frans was kind enough to pass by the Madrid Friends of the Camino station to buy some guides and maps. Below photo shows one of the guides that we are studying and we noticed that the Madrid (semi official portion) of the Camino will start at the Santiago church in the centre of Madrid. We have decided to start there, would be kind of nice to do the whole tour. From there we leave Madrid via Plaza de Castilla and El Pardo. Past Fuencaral we will start to hit the dirt tracks we suspect. The first leg to Segovia goes past Tres Cantos, Colmenar Viejo, Manzanares el Rey, Navacerrada and Cercedilla. We'll see if the first leg to Segovia is reasonable, more on that this Sunday.

El Atazar

2009-05-03T08:38:00.005+02:00

OK, so on 2 May we hit the beautiful countryside around El Atazar. Spectacular views that took us through the nort-eastern tip of Madrid (Comunidad) and into parts of Castilla la Mancha. We took a bit of a short cut on account of not interpreting the GPS entirely correctly. This trail is not for those who would like to stay away from long and steep climbs, it was quite challenging at times and both Frans and I were a tad out of breath after 28 kilometers of this terrain.

Click on below button for a detailed overview of the route and to download the GPS data if you wish to head out on this trail.

What has become clear is that we (at least I) will need to get a little bit more in shape still for our camino to Santiago. The 6 day 750 KM ride will be pretty tough I am sure.

For more photo´s of our route at El Atazar goto my facebook album

Next weekend we want to do another run (30 to 40 Km´s) near Madrid. If you have any suggestions please just post them to this blog.

Planning a great ride for Saturday

2009-04-27T23:24:00.003+02:00

OK, back from a business trip, bike back from some service in the shop... It is time to head out for another great ride in the mountains. This Saturday we will head out to El Atazar, just north of Madrid.

If any of you want to join let me know.

Preparing for the Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago)

2009-04-19T19:21:00.008+02:00

OK, the decision has been made, we will do the Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) from Madrid to Santiago. We will depart on Sunday 7 June and will hopefully arrive in Santiago on Friday 12 or Saturday 13 June. click on below map to get an idea of the route. We will do this by MTB of course.

Most likely the route will take us along Navacerada, Segovia, up to Valladolid and at Sahagun we will catch the traditional camino in direction Leon. The entire route from Madrid to Santiago is approximately 700 kilometers and we are expecting some spectacular terrain.

Anybody that would like to join us on this trip simply let us know. The plan is to stay in b&b's along the route.
Click for more information on the Camino, with origins as a pilgrimmage. Don' t worry, also atheists are more than welcome to join in on the fun ;-)

More details on planning of this journey will follow in blog entries leading up to 7 June.

Casa de Campo - Madrid

2009-04-18T08:14:00.009+02:00

OK, so on a Friday evening we did not have a lot of time to hit the mountains for a good MTB route before dark. So we decided to go on a usual trail around Casa de Campo, a huge park, well more of a forrest actually. It is within the city limits and because of it Madrid is listed as one of the greenest cities in the world. The park is used for all sorts of sports and it was interesting to see hookering to be one of them. Prostitutes all over the place. Nevertheless the actual trails around Casa de Camo are pretty good, not quite like the sierra but good enough for a quick ride around.

After a good workout of dodging trees, traps, hookers and finding the way back we decided to have a "quick" beer. Lago (lake) is a place in the Casa de Campo with a few restaurants right at the lake. We stopped at what now seems to have become our regular watering hole, judging by the amount of free tapas we got :-)

A trail just outside of Rascafría, northern tip of Madrid

2009-04-11T19:11:00.008+02:00

Today we intended to do a cycling tour with the kids near Rascafría. This is an area in the mountains north of Madrid bordering Castilla y León (province of Segovia). Beautiful terrain and the track we ended up walking is just off KM 32 on the M604 (see below for map indication)

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The trail is stunning, along a number of waterfalls cutting through a thick forrest. Although we had 20 degree weather in the city, we found ourselfs in Rascafría at 3 degrees. Quite fría indeed... So we decided against taking our kids out on the bikes, and walked. We are sure to head back to this lovely spot though. There are two restaurants right at the beginning of the trail for either coffee or lunch.

After hanging aroud this track for a while and having our exoctic combination of coffee and croquetas, we headed out and took the M604 further into the mountains. A winterwonderland spectacle awaited us. It quite obviously had been snowing here the past couple of days. We should have left the bikes at home and taken our skis instead.

Valdemaqueda near El Escorial, easy trail with the kids

2009-04-09T20:45:00.010+02:00

OK, so not all entries on here will be about trails for die-hards. Today we took the kids out to a mountainous area near Madrid. We took the bicycles and did an easy trail just outside of Valdemaqueda. See below map for location details.
The area indicated as A on the map is where you should park your car, in Avda. del Puente Romano. Drive towards the end (lowest part) of the street, where you will find the start of the dirt track. We cycled along a little stream until we hit a medieval bridge with a brilliantly located picninc ground where we took our picnic.

The way we discovered this new route was through a guide-book I bought recently, which is dedicated to outdoor trips in the mountains surrounding Madrid. Many of them can be done by bicycle, others are best done on foot.

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The book is called: Excursiones para niños por la sierra de Madrid and can be found at Casa del Libro (Spanish)

http://www.casadellibro.com/libro-excursiones-para-ninos-por-la-sierra-de-madrid/2900000909360

Next stop for a tour with the kids will be a trail somewhere more north over the Easter holidays.

5 April, first try at the Vandellos trail

2009-04-05T10:10:00.006+02:00

Set out on Sunday morning at 8 AM for the Vandellos trail. The entry to the trail can be found along the C44 (the road from L´Hospitalet de L´Infant to Vandellos. A steady climb up the C44 from Hospitalet will take you across the AP7 and you will pass an exit to the T318. Right after passing this exit you will see a curve up ahead. At that curve on your left you will find the entry to the MTB trail. See above map where the red dot marks the entry.

I did not do the entire trail, and I can tell you that the first bit is very tough, a bit of a climb let´s say. Amazing views, fairly easy terrain to cover and difficulty is more in the tough climbs than anything else.

Above photo I shot at the highest point I reached today. (catching my breath...;)

I will set out for another few runs on this trail this week and will look to write a more comprehensive report on it.

Tarragona

2009-04-04T23:38:00.007+02:00

Am currently in Tarragona and am looking forward to doing a number of interesting runs whilst here. The first trail I am looking to give a go is around Vandellos:

View Larger Map

The trail should lead me through a some stunning sceanery, will bring the camera to take some pictures that I´ll post on this blog. To give you and idea of the trail see the blue marks on attached map.

22 March, Chinchón (Madrid)

2009-04-03T18:30:00.009+02:00

Chinchón is a lovely little town south of Madrid, known mostly for its famous plaza Mayor that doubles as a bullfighting arena. The strucures surrounding the plaza are wooden and most date back to the 15th century. Chinchón is well worth a visit, but do not expect to spend more than a few hours walking around as the plaza is the main attraction. A long weekend lunch on the plaza is a perfect way to esperience Chinchón.

View Larger Map

The plaza is also the place to get together as the starting point for the MTB trail. We got together at 9 AM, a time when almost all bars are still closed. All but one, a smoky bar packed with middle-aged Spanish men working hard on their sigarette and coffee intake at the start of a beautiful sunny day. We ordered our coffees and reviewed the route we´re about embark on. Frans has the entire route mapped in his GPS and we are looking forward to an approx. 40 KM route that will partly run over an old decommissioned rail-track. After coffee and copious amounts of second-hand smoke we set off, and ride through the streets of Chinchon.

We initially need to head north to find the trail. To get to it we cycled north on the M311 passed the petrol station and found what we figured was the trail. It took us through a smallish gorge on a downhill track. Beyond this was a wonderful open space where we soon embarked on a climb. The climb eventually brought us through private hunting grounds. And eventhough we did stick to the public track, at one point we were nearly eaten by a couple of supersized foaming-at-the-mouth dogs... We escaped, and in fact these monsters helped us surmount the climb in record time.

Soon we again again found the M 311 and rode it up to the town of Morata de Tajuña. By chance we rode passed the restaurant El Cid,
http://www.mesonelcidmorata.com/

I remember having had lunch there and was tempted to chuck the bike and sit down for a big meal... it is actually a good Spanish restaurant, pretty authentic.

From Morota it is the trick to find the old railway track that has been turned into a cycle track back to Chinchón. We later found out that you effectively need to just stay on the main road through the town, and pick up the train on the right.

The trail back was beatiful, although a long (not steep, but long) climb back.

We were glad to be back in Chinchón and enjoyed a couple of pints in the sun. If you want more details on the actual trail, send me an email.

March 14 2009 Pedriza, mountains around Manzanares el Rey

2009-04-03T18:10:00.004+02:00

It was a beatiful day as we headed out to the spectacular park of Pedriza, a nature reserve about 40 km north of Madrid. The terrain when you stay on the paths is light gravel and fairly smooth. The real fun is of course to be found off the beaten track dodging trees and many many stupendously big rocks.

The overall tail when you stay on the generic track is about 30 KM. Starting altitude at around 1000 M and highest point at 1700M. We failed to check the GPS logs to see how much we ended up clinmbing, but I can assure you this one is not for wimps ;-)

Would strongly recommend doing this route, next time I will do this one I´ll include more details on where to park the car and GPS details.

Welcome

2009-04-02T13:04:00.000+02:00

This blog will be dedicated to the various mountain bike trails that I will do or have done across Spain, and perhaps beyond. Spain has very many beautiful mountain bike routes throughout the country that are well worth it. I intend to ride most of them and report in detail on each one in this blog. Photos and route descriptions will be included as well as GPS information.

In June of 2006 I have plans to cycle a part of the Camino with some firnds, the route to Santiago de Compostela. We are likely to set off on the trip from Burgos, which will give us some 500 Km´s to pedal to Santiago. We have yet to decide how many days we will want to take to complete this trip ;)

So look out for upcoming postings on my Spain MTB adventures. First up a trail near Tarragona in the southern tip of Catalonia next week. I just bought my Garmin all terrain GPS to help me not getting lost.. wish me luck!