Loop: Potes to Caín de Valdeón

The day started early, Chez went for a run and I stayed in bed. Dreamy! Yesterdays fun and frolics with Shaun and Ben was set to continue for the day as we decided they could take on the hard duties of navigation and lunch spot picking. As the usual navigator, this was a good start and I was able to just relax and follow someone else. They are quite good at chatting though, so it was also nice to don our biking helmets and get some quiet.

Ben had been here before and so we all sensibly decided to follow him along the popular routes and some that are a little off the beaten track. Some were long, sweepy and fast, whilst others were technical, tight and fearsome. The first section was a climb out towards Riano towards the famous deer statue of the Picos, it’s a must stop spot that all bikers pay tribute too. Then onwards and upwards, literally, to the lesser known bear statue that’s a little way up a single track with eagles circling close above as well as below! After all great climbs comes a descent and so it was that we wound our way down the other side of the mountain and turned off onto the lesser known and more technical passage that would take us to lunch at Caín de Valdeón. A stunning dead end with beautiful views and little restaurants. A perfect hidden gem!

Full from lunch, we headed back out of the valley and round to meet another road that peeled away from Riano back towards the sea. As we approached the main road the clouds that had threatened descended and we tackled the remaining 50miles in some misty fog. Not that it could dampen our spirits!

Roads:N621, LE2703, LE2711, N625, AS114
Good: Caín de Valdeón lunch spot and the beautiful, if slightly scary, road to reach it
Bad: drizzle, but it was warmEn savoir plus