We’re back from a dynamite week in northern Spain. The rain in Spain may fall mainly on the plain, but it sure didn’t rain on us. Not at all. Not even a little bit. We had eleven consecutive days of perfect blue sky with fluffy white cumulus clouds.
“Green Spain” is the northern-most part of the country, wedged between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. It’s called ‘green’ because the frequent rain keeps the landscape lush and, well, green. The Moorish influence was not as great here, as it was in Southern Spain, so the area has it’s own distinctive architecture, cuisine and customs. Our tour touches the Basque Region, Cantabria and Asturias. The major airport in Bilbao, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is only 30 minutes from our starting point of the small fishing village, Castro Urdiales.
The first day’s loop ride took us into the Basque Country where we rode right into a local celebration. We were given the festive scarves that everyone in town were wearing and offered much alcohol (which we politely declined) and we took many, many photos promising to email copies to the bar where I’m certain we’ll find them displayed next time we ride through.
Our journey took us next into Catabria, the green heart of Spain where we stayed in Santillana del Mar, the most historic, beautiful town you’ve never heard of. On the way to Sanillana we ran into an unexpected delight. You’ve heard of the running of the bulls in Pamplona? Well they run the bulls in Ampuero too and we rode our bikes right down the main street with the marching bands and thousands of spectators cheering us on. When we got to the end of the street they rolled a big steel door closed right behind us, and out came the bulls! We got to see it all and no one’s bike got trampled. What a hoot.
We then took off for two point to point days over the Colladas de Carmona and Hoz, over the Puerto San Glorio and through the gorge that surrounds the Picos de Europa on our way to Potes and Cangas de Onis. Drinking cider under the Roman bridge in Cangas is the type of experience the Asturian locals have every day, but for most Americans is once-in-a-lifetime.
Even though our customers were outstanding cyclists, even they chose to take a rest day in Cangas to enjoy the beautiful town, sample local foods and sightsee.
We then rode back through the gorge to the shore at San Vicente de la Barquera and rode with the crashing waves to our left along the coast back to Santillana. A spectacular surf and turf dinner in Suances with sweet meaty langostines and hearty chuletton was our closing meal.
We love Green Spain, and based upon your responses to our survey last month, so do you. As such, we’ll be running the Green Spain Tour again in 2008. Check out our website for our ever-evolving 2008 schedule of tours. We hope to finalize it this month.
And don’t forget our annual Early Bird Special where, if you sign up for any 2008 tour before New Year’s Eve you will save 10% off our listed tour price. Our prices for ‘08 will not increase despite the increase in the Euro.
Thanks for your time and we look forward to our 17th year of great riding – challenging bike tours designed especially for avid cyclists like you!
