Picos de Europa - Posada de Valdeon

Continued around the Picos, for me by bike, Della chauffeured Louise on the 60 km long uphill and winding road to Posada de Valdeon.

After seeing some racing cyclists on the route, I quickly wondered if I had taken on too much with my plan. There were only men on racing bikes, all of whom had thinner arms and much more muscular calves than me. The landscape was once again fantastic, and I was well distracted by the constant ascent towards Puerto de San Glorio. The motivating shouts of the downhill cyclists also helped immensely.

The descent was magnificent, first through the open landscape, later through the narrow gorge. Soon it was time for me to turn, and in the next valley, it was uphill again. The asphalt on the road was not as good as before, and the heat of the midday sun was starting to make itself felt. With a lot of determination, you can achieve (almost) anything, and so I also reached the summit here with a magnificent panorama and was able to enjoy the descent down to Posada de Valdeon.

By this time, Della had already checked in at the parking lot. After a cold shower, we explored the village by bike. The parking lot filled up quite well during dinner, and at some point we were approached by a Spanish woman who had reserved parking space number 10. We were on number 10, and Della had selected this as a free parking space at the check-in machine. They then moved to another spot, but shortly after that, guests arrived who had paid for this space. This led to a big discussion between the two Spanish parties, and in the meantime, there was another camper van that also did not receive their reserved spot.

The Spanish parties could not agree, and a groundskeeper appeared to try and mediate. Obviously, the system is not properly synchronized, and he apologized for that but had to find a solution. Meanwhile, another camper van without a spot had already parked on a space near the picnic tables. Such an evening is truly like a movie!

Overnight, the weather had turned cloudy, so my early-bird walk up to the viewpoint did not happen. The mountains were completely shrouded in clouds. Around nine o'clock, the sun timidly appeared, and during breakfast, we decided to stay another day here.

It was supposed to be a bike ride to the village of Cain. 8.8 km away and 480 meters of elevation, the e-bike's battery should be able to handle that. We set off pedaling, and after about 3 km, we reached the next town and pushed our bikes through the narrow streets.

We continued on the road, passing a warning sign indicating a 19% incline. That could be challenging, I thought, and I already saw Della in front of me struggling up the incline, constantly slowing down. It actually didn't make it, and he had to push the heavy e-bike up the remaining ascent. We continued the ride, and soon we reached the viewpoint 'Mirador del Tombo', where the road had a 13% descent.

This would have continued for another 5.5 km into the village of Cain. But it was too much for a city e-bike, so we turned around at that point.

After a short but intense ride back, we parked the bikes at the site. We continued on foot onto a small circular hiking trail in the village. Here too, the first 20 (according to the plan, 30 for us) minutes were a steep uphill climb until we reached the great viewpoint with a magnificent view. The rest of the circular hiking trail was downhill or flat until we returned to the village square of Posada de Valdeon. While enjoying a glass of wine in the village bar, we observed the lively activity. Cyclists, hikers, pilgrims... a colorful mix of active people.