Tuesday, September 29, 2009
BajaBikesMadrid now on YouTube
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.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
cycling through Madrid, awesome!!
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
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
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Back on the saddle again
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
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
Monday, July 27, 2009
From an MTB to a windsurf board
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
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
Sunday, July 12, 2009
30 K ride near Rascafria
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
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
Sunday, July 5, 2009
4 July, Tres Valles MTB trail from Cercedilla
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
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
Sunday, June 28, 2009
40 Km MTB trail in Cuanca Alta del Manzanares
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
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