Tag Archives: satanic route

Satanic route stage 3 Gasteiz to Burgos

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So stage 3 says good bye to Euskal Herria and hello to Castile. Wake up early in Gasteiz and after a quick breakfast I was heading to Miranda de Ebro through Treviño, which is inside Euskal Herria even when it belongs to Castile. After getting lost through Gasteiz and asking the locals how to head to Treviño I had to face Zaldiaran. No big deal, easy and short port I even had time to ask another cyclist how to head to Treviño. “Straight ahead” he said.

Short visit to Mendizorroza exiting Gasteiz

Mendizorroza stadium. Home of Deportivo Alaves

Mendizorroza stadium. Home of Deportivo Alaves

After arriving to Treviño the direction to Miranda de Ebro is clearly indicated. Nothing worth seeing in Treviñ, or at least I didn’t saw anything. After around an hour of cycling we arrive to Miranda de Ebro. Almost no traffic around the road. Easy route so far.

Miranda de Ebro arrival.

Entering Miranda de Ebro

Entering Miranda de Ebro

In Miranda I stopped to rest, inflate the bike and buy some food for the kms ahead. On the out of Miranda de Ebro we need to climb La Ventilla, another easy port which takes us to La Rioja.

Nice views from the top of La Ventilla.

Nice views from the top of La Ventilla.

Flat land ahead and we head to Tirgo in our direction towards Belorado. We stopped in Tirgo to refill the water bottles and I was able to chat a little with the locals. Looked to me like there’s not a lot to do at Tirgo asides from working the vineyards.

Locals at Tirgo protecting from the Sun.

Locals at Tirgo protecting from the Sun.

As of now there was little traffic on the road, which was something really nice. So we leave Tirgo heading to Belorado. Mostly flat terrain now, a little boring too. This is expected as Castile is famous for its flat places. On my way to Belorado I took the wrong road and was heading to Santo Domingo de La Calzada, luckily I went back about 5 kms and took the right road. I arrived at Belorado at around 1430.

Entrance to Belorado

Entrance to Belorado

Lunch time

Lunch time

So after lunch I ride again to Burgos. Burgos is around 60 kms away from Belorado and its mostly flat except for La Pedraja. Easy port, but there is a lot of traffic on the road. Many trucks use it to go from Logroño to Burgos.

La Pedraja, done too.

La Pedraja, done too.


On your way to Burgos, you pass close to Atapuerca archeological site.
Atapuerca archeological site.

Atapuerca archeological site.


And after passing through an industrial site we arrive to Burgos.
Mio Cid

Mio Cid


Hotel was pretty close so after a well deserved shower I went out for a walk and found this place called Bar El Patillas. Really authentic place, two beers and a couple of photos.
Bar El Patillas

Bar El Patillas

This ain't Mc'Donalds

This ain’t Mc’Donalds


I went out for dinner and found that the river Arlanzón flooded the city some years ago.
River grew this much

River grew this much


It was a rainy night and there was not much going on so I went back to the hotel to catch some well deserved rest.

Strava file here. Part from Gasteiz to Miranda de Ebro is missing. For some weird reason Garmin misbehaved and I had to start it again.

Satanic route stage 2 Bilbo to Gasteiz

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So after spending the night in Bilbo and having breakfast at the hostel it was time to head to Gasteiz. Difficult part was leaving the city, there were many options and I didn’t knew which one to take so I ended up asking to a couple of ertzaintzas. Once on route to Gasteiz I met a couple of cyclists on their Sunday morning ride. I asked them about the road to Gasteiz, if there was a lot of traffic, if the road was good and more things which I don’t remember. They told me to take N-240, the road was good and there wasn’t a lot of traffic. The only difficulty was Barazar, afterwards it was mostly flat to Gasteiz.

So after leaving the cyclists we pass through Lemoa, Igorre and other small towns we start to climb Barazar. There is not a lot of traffic and there are a lot of trees. Didn’t noticed any fountain through the climb. Had to make a stop to drink some water and get some rest around 2500 mts from the top. Picture below.
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Around two kms from the top there is this amazing view.
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And after two more kms you reach the summit.
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From now on mostly flat till Gasteiz. Crossing into Arava.
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Not much from here on. Different views from coastal Euskal Herria, more dry and hot. Careful when arriving to Gasteiz, don’t get inside the highway. You enter GAsteiz through and industrial park, nothing worth seeing there.

Had to ask a local cop for the hostel. After the check-in and a lovely shower, well deserved shower I went for out for lunch. Pintxos and Txakoli was once again what I had for lunch. Took a short walk through the old town, but went back to the hostel because there was too much heat. Some pictures from the old town below.
Virgen Blanca square below.
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At around 1900 I had to share the room with a pilgrim going to Compostela on a MTB. Nice guy, told him to give me a call when he arrives at Compostela. We started talking about the route and went out for beer and dinner. Bocatas at El Siete were excellent. At around 2230 we went back to the hostel. Monday ride was not gonna be short, around 130 kms. Heading to Burgos, Castille.

Strava file here.

Satanic route stage 1 Donosti to Bilbo

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So on June 20 I started what I chose to call satanic route. Something like the way to Santiago, but basically cycling with a 5Kg backpack. First stage will take us from Donosti to Bilbo, Basque Country main cities.

Having arrived to Donosti train station on June 19, forty minutes later than expected. I basically unpacked my Ridley Orion and headed to the hostel to make the reservation. After all set and done went to old town to have dinner at Bar Etxaniz in Fermin Calbeton street.

Woke up early on June 20 and had breakfast at Pasteleria Oiartzun breakfastafterwards went to Jaia Bicicletas to get my bike set up. Once done went to La Concha beach to take a picture for the start of the route.
bike

So we started going up to Igueldo, amazing day and amazing view up there.
igueldo
Many cyclist going up that route, almost no traffic. Spoke to a cyclist who told me how to go to Bilbo. Really nice.

Once Igueldo you go down to the coast and pass through Zarautz.
zarautz
Nice beach, but looks like too cold for me. After we head to Zumaia and start heading to Eibar, leaving the basque coast behind. Found this nice view after Itziar climb.
view
In Eibar we pay a short visit to Ipurua.
ipurua
And after Eibar we enter Bizkaia through Ermua. After Ermua its all going downhill to Bilbo mostly.

I had to stop in Amorebieta(around 25 kms away from Bilbo) to have a beer, heat was hitting me hard and I needed a rest. There was traffic when getting near to Bilbo, but there is a lot of respect for cyclist in Basque Country.

So we arrive to Bilbo and head to the hostel along the river. View of Guggenheim Museum.
guggenheim
New San Mames stadium. House of Athletic Club.
sanmames

After finding the hostel and having a WELL deserved shower I went to the old town to have dinner. Pintxos mostly.
pinchos
Pintxos in Basque Country are amazing. After having dinner I took the subway to head back to the hostel. It was early, but Sunday I was going to Gazteiz.

Here is my strava.