Via Verde del Rio Guadarrama

hdow

Hi

Anyone cycled this particular Via Verde from Mostoles to Navalcarnero and beyond?

Looking for a new route out of Madrid and hopefully this may fit the bill

How rideable and easy to follow is it on a tourer? The V.V. website has it as being "without conditioning"

Thanks

Harry

andymiller

Hopefully someone with direct experience can help, but in the meantime here are the results of the Google Images search.

megilleland

The via verde Rio Guadarrama is in the course of being developed with the route following the old railway bed from Mostoles to Almorox - total length 55kms. The surface in parts is compacted earth, ballast and nearer the towns of Navalcarnero and Mostoles roads/cycle tracks. The building of the RENFE station at Navalcarnero affects a small part of the route entering the town. Up to May last year the route was only open for 5kms from Mostoles to the iron bridge over the river. I do not know how much further they have got. You can get from the iron bridge to Navalcarnero on various country tracks.

If I were to cycle out of Madrid heading west I would get a Cercanias to Pozuela and cycle from the station through Pozuelo de Alarcon to link up with the M513 to Boadilla del Monte and Brunete and then go either north or south of the autovia using the M600. All of these roads are single carriageway and from leaving Pozuelo de Alarcon you are in the countryside within 5kms. You can also catch the Metro Ligero Line 3, a tram, from Colonia Jardin to Puerta de Boadilla in the middle of the town. Bikes can be carried.

Cycling into and out of Madrid is getting more difficult. Two routes that I used to get into and out of the city have become impossible now. The western approach form San Martin de Valdeiglesias (M501) to get into Madrid has become an autovia, cycling prohibited along most of this stretch. Some autovias in Spain will allow cycling where local geography offers no local alternative, but his tends not be the case in Madrid. Besides, traffic speeds on these roads make one feel very nervous and you have to keep your wits about you. Most countdowns to exits are short compared to the UK and you can have two or three exits, one after the other, with traffic cutting across you.

Another useful route (M111/M113) was out east past the airport at Barajas towards Algete, but with the building of Terminal 4 this road was put into a tunnel under the runways and cyclists cannot use it.

The past 10 years of road improvement and road building has been a boon for the motorist, but unfortunately not for the cyclist. A large number of cyclists in the city are trying to bring to the attention of the authorites the restriction on road cycling and access to the country roads outside the city.

I like to be able to take my bike with me at all times, just like a trusty steed! I also like the challenge to get where I want to go under my own steam. If you get a pocket street map, Madrid is quite cyclable, there are usually several alternative routes available. The one I use and covers the area within the M40 is Michelin's Madrid Plano and Callejero, an A5 booklet spiral bound which fits into my map case nicely.

Madrid is rung by two orbital motorways the M30 and M40/M45 and the future could bring a further orbital road the M50 - nearly complete. The big problem lies between the orbital M40/M45 and the route of the M50. The area between these two rings is where all the new development has taken place with the feeder routes into the city being upgraded into new dual carriageways usually autovias, leaving no safe routes suitable for cycle tourists. The locals use tracks outside their towns for recreation usually called caminos on a map, and it these routes which are popular with the mountain bikers. However, no road atlases show these, so cyclists are under the impression that no alternative routes exist.

If you want to get a good idea of the terrain you would have to cross in Spain use the VISOR/SIGPAC maps. Excellent for confirming routes which are not apparent on road atlases. You can use the maps and see the aerials separartely or superimpose them together. The detail is fantastic and all the information regarding contours, spot heights makes it clear how much you will have to climb in the mountains. It also helps in towns and cities where you can plan a route to get in or out easier without using the fast main roads or dual carriageways which are so typical in Spain.

Just click on page to open and load up and then drag map to center cusor and zoom in. You get only the maps to start with and then the aerials come in at the larger scales. Click on imagenes in the capas box, tick the triangle. The maps go down to 1:25 000 and I use the cursors opposite the scale/ortofotos to improve or fade the detail on the maps and photographs. A real benefit when zooming in or out of the maps and photos, is the cursor is always in the same spot. The site also gives co-ordinates which you may be able to use with GPS, but I don't understand or use one, so I just use maps.

In between the M30 and M40 is the circular cycleway the Anillo Verde. The nearest link from Barajas Airport is off the metro at Campo de las Naciones and the station has a lift. The 64kms circular route around the city is now complete. This route keeps you out of the city centre and connects with other minor cycle routes. Information and gallery of photographs of the route broken down into stages (Tramos) here, although only in Spanish: Example of photo gallery.

The time to complete the circular route is approx 3 hours at 22km/hr, 4.5 hours at 15km/hr and 11hours at 6km/hr. The site also covers the park at Juan Carlos I and Casa de Campo where you can have lunch by the lake.

Another view on cycling across Madrid is part of Feral Boy's blog.

hdow

Thanks Andy for the pictures - this was what I sort of expected.

Megilleland - yet again your contributions are excellent and will be followed up.

I've been looking for options to update Cycle Touring in Spain now that the M501 is out.

First thoughts are to keep the route crossing through the centre of Madrid with an option to use the Anillo Verde to go off road between Av Logrono and Casa del Campo. From Casa del Campo head for Prado del Rey and either pick up the M513 to Brunete and then take the M600 either north or south to avoid the M501. Or, from Prado head West then south to Alcorcon (on a road shown on the latest Michelin Zoom map but not on VisorSigPac nor Google) and Mostoles to pick up the Via Verde. Also looking at using the south eatern extension on the Via Verde El Alberche. Looks like we share a lot of similar thoughts.

The end of that tour would entail either using the Anillo Verde again or a detour through El sotto to pick up the cyclable part of the M110.

The closure of the M111for cyclists to Paracuellos will involve a rewrite of the whole stage involving Alcobendas, Fuente el Saz de Jarama etc to Cogolludo.

Will be checking these option out in early April. Many thanks both of you for your helpful advice

HarryD