Picos in Spain: Road bike hire and guided tour

bigburnsgeoff

Hi,
Just finalised summer holiday plans and will be in Norther Spain with family in August. As part of the holiday I'll have 1 week staying in the middle of the Picos National park. The scenery looks great and I fancy hitting the roads. Taking the bike may cause some stress at home but i reckon I can get a pass to get out for the day.

So that I can get the best out of a day on the roads I was thinking of hiring a local guide. Has anyone ever used a guide and hired a decent road bike for the day in the Picos? Struggling to find anything obvious on the web.

steoroc

Try Martin at http://bikeasturias.net
He should have plenty of info for you.

pmannion9

steoroc wrote:

Try Martin at http://bikeasturias.net
He should have plenty of info for you.

Some ideas on routes here :

http://marmot-tours.co.uk/tours/classic ... the-picos/

bigburnsgeoff

Thanks for the tips. I managed to find Jose at:

www.roadcycleasturias.com

Who has been really helpful and offers guided training camps, holidays and tours. Whilst for various reasons I'm probably not going to be able to get across to one of hid rides he has kindly offered to provide me with some routes (GPX files etc) from the hotel that I am staying in. Problem solved.

phippss

Also look at iberocycle.com for more route ideas. I used them a number of years ago and they were very good.

The picos are very beautiful and Potes made a good overnight base with an additional ride up to the cable car.

Brian B

pmannion9 wrote:

steoroc wrote:

Try Martin at http://bikeasturias.net
He should have plenty of info for you.

Some ideas on routes here :

http://marmot-tours.co.uk/tours/classic ... the-picos/

I did the Picos with Marmot Tours last year and it was awesome. Did the Angrilu and it was way harder than the Mortirolo but my new number 1 favourite climb was Gamoneltero. Rock hard, great scenery and literally end up on a mountain top.

Enjoy the area but if you can try one of the above climbs.

pmannion9

Brian B wrote:

pmannion9 wrote:

steoroc wrote:

Try Martin at http://bikeasturias.net
He should have plenty of info for you.

Some ideas on routes here :

http://marmot-tours.co.uk/tours/classic ... the-picos/

I did the Picos with Marmot Tours last year and it was awesome. Did the Angrilu and it was way harder than the Mortirolo but my new number 1 favourite climb was Gamoneltero. Rock hard, great scenery and literally end up on a mountain top.

Enjoy the area but if you can try one of the above climbs.

Sounds awesome Brian.
Hoping to do it in 2018 - Did the Dolomites one last year
What time of year did you do Picos tour ?
I was thinking September may be best month...

Brian B

pmannion9 wrote:

Brian B wrote:

pmannion9 wrote:

steoroc wrote:

Try Martin at http://bikeasturias.net
He should have plenty of info for you.

Some ideas on routes here :

http://marmot-tours.co.uk/tours/classic ... the-picos/

I did the Picos with Marmot Tours last year and it was awesome. Did the Angrilu and it was way harder than the Mortirolo but my new number 1 favourite climb was Gamoneltero. Rock hard, great scenery and literally end up on a mountain top.

Enjoy the area but if you can try one of the above climbs.

Sounds awesome Brian.
Hoping to do it in 2018 - Did the Dolomites one last year
What time of year did you do Picos tour ?
I was thinking September may be best month...

I was there around late August and timed it nicely with a heatwave that hit Spain (too hot really but it cooled down to mid twenties later in the week). Sept will probably be fine as it will be still warm and more importantly still dry.

It was probably my best cycling experience that I've done abroad and that's saying something. The whole area is littered with hard but great climbs and the scenery is truly different.

Funnily enough I am doing the Dolomites this year with MTours and looking forward to the Zoncolan (cannot be any harder than the Angrilu) and the Dolomite region. Already done the Stelvio, Gavia etc but looking forward to doing them again.

pmannion9

Brian B wrote:

pmannion9 wrote:

Brian B wrote:

pmannion9 wrote:

steoroc wrote:

Try Martin at http://bikeasturias.net
He should have plenty of info for you.

Some ideas on routes here :

http://marmot-tours.co.uk/tours/classic ... the-picos/

I did the Picos with Marmot Tours last year and it was awesome. Did the Angrilu and it was way harder than the Mortirolo but my new number 1 favourite climb was Gamoneltero. Rock hard, great scenery and literally end up on a mountain top.

Enjoy the area but if you can try one of the above climbs.

Sounds awesome Brian.
Hoping to do it in 2018 - Did the Dolomites one last year
What time of year did you do Picos tour ?
I was thinking September may be best month...

I was there around late August and timed it nicely with a heatwave that hit Spain (too hot really but it cooled down to mid twenties later in the week). Sept will probably be fine as it will be still warm and more importantly still dry.

It was probably my best cycling experience that I've done abroad and that's saying something. The whole area is littered with hard but great climbs and the scenery is truly different.

Funnily enough I am doing the Dolomites this year with MTours and looking forward to the Zoncolan (cannot be any harder than the Angrilu) and the Dolomite region. Already done the Stelvio, Gavia etc but looking forward to doing them again.

Great stuff..Thanks for the info...
Dolomites is awesome - hope you get decent weather ...enjoy...