Picos & Costa Verde - 2018

Sunday 1st July Breaking camp at Playa de Treonzo was a quiet affair as usual. A decent morning by the sea, weather wise, as we rolled out of the rather impersonal campsite into the nearby village of Celorio for a bakery breakfast.  I’d left my old Oakleys & a favourite (but knackered) T Shirt behind. Time to let go!  We then continued east to Llanes for a bank visit for Alex, who was looking to extract a few more € from the Old Scottish Clench & be Thankful.  Continuing east on N-634 we soon turned onto the AS-343 & followed a brilliant route through wooded valleys to La Borbolla to Noriega, where we stopped for another coffee & a bun.  Then it was the fast, downhill run (mainly) into San Vincente de la Barquera, where we took lunch & contemplated campsites.  A tough climb out & then a re trace of our steps through the Olyambre Park to Comillas.  Familiar territory, but a very good campsite nonetheless.  Great views from the si...

Saturday 30th June Quite a lot of rain in the night with intermittent peals of thunder. We woke to more rain & very damp, humid conditions. It was the first really wet morning we’d had, so it wasn’t surprising that mustering enthusiasm was difficult. It wasn’t helped by a rather miserable, surly woman serving desayuno in the cafeteria. Repeatedly burning & scraping the toast it seemed, only added to her woes. Some people really do need to be in a different job! So, we left Camping Deva Gijón in drying conditions and made our way east along a quite beautiful section of the N-632. Rolling hills & valleys. Stunning views  The road into Villaviciosa was particularly memorable; almost sub tropical. A must do again route.  We stopped in the town for coffee & snacks at a wonderful bakery. Then continued on the N-632, through the hills & valleys to Ribadesella     Not far on the map, but slow going due to the terrain. Enjoyable though. K...

Friday 28th June This was always going to be the hardest day of the tour. The original plan was to leave all the gear at a hotel, ride out of Oviedo & ascend the Angliru, the peak of which is around 25 miles to the southwest of the city. Return to the hotel & rest. Slight modification to that now though: Return to the hotel, pick up the gear & cycle another 20 miles to a campsite near Gijón. Two reasons for this: camping is preferred & there isn’t a sight near Oviedo; it gives us (them 🤭) less to do in the remaining days as we pick along the coast back to Santander.  Anyway, the intrepid three set off to face their demons at around 9am, whilst I took another nap before gathering myself together & bolting my legs on for the ride northeast to the Gijón campsite. I was going to take it VERY easy 😁 Getting into Oviedo had been one thing. Getting out on the right road, quite another. I think I went round in circles in the city centre a few times before picking my w...

Thursday 28th June After a makeshift breakfast on the site at Lluarca, we were packed and on our way by 9.30, heading east & picking our way along the old coast road. It proved to be bloody hard going IMO, dropping into coastal inlets & then up and out of them again.  First stop for coffee: There was very little respite from the repetitive nature of the terrain all the way to Aviles, though there were some great views along the way: I’m not ashamed to say that by lunchtime, at around 45 miles, my legs were shot. I actually felt hungry! Not a good sign. So, we did what the Spanish do and went to McDonald’s in Aviles for lunch.  The Chicken burger, etc, hit the spot, but didn’t completely fix the legs. The ride south, after lunch was laboured in my part, though the other guys seemed well enough. A long & steady climb about 15 miles before Oviedo just about did for the legs for the day, so by the time we threaded our way into the city centre and got to the Hotel Blue ...

I didn’t think much to Vilalba. A really dull town with not much to recommend it. The hotel there was comfortable enough & decent value, though the breakfast was woeful, even at €2.50!  We set off at 9am in cool, overcast conditions & headed NE towards the coast on the N-634. On a predominately straight & easy gradient, we made good time initially. We rode into rain  after about an hour & this coincided with a significant downhill run which I bizarrely found quite invigorating as we got a cold soaking. We pushed on past Mondonedo & Lourenza, as the rain began to abate, but we were getting increasingly in need of refreshments as the miles ticked by. After about 35 miles, we were nearly at the coast &  Barreiros provided a great roadside cafe for coffee & tortilla.  Afterwards, Alex set off and immediately went the wrong way around a roundabout & had to be shouted back. Still, we made it safely onto the old coastal main road and continue...

Tuesday 26th June Woke to grey skies & a certain dampness in the air. We set about breaking camp in quiet contemplation, mixed with a little wind 😬 Today we were heading northeast on the first leg of our return journey & anticipated some tough climbing, with the profile for the day looking quite punchy.  A quick breakfast in the campsite bar, then we were on our way & soon into the first climb of the day out of Santiago, past it’s airport. Initially sticking to the main N-634 & N-547 on a rolling route, we had a stop for second breakfast (A necessity for Alex in particular): We headed off into the countryside & navigated across predominantly single lane, very rural roads to Corredoiras, then Presaras & Guitiriz. We stopped in a fantastic little village restaurant near here & had the fixed menu del dia. What a experience: cured ham & salad starter, chicken & fried potatoes, desert, digestive, coffee & as much drink as we wanted - €9 each. Mem...