SAMPLE THE SPANISH SIERRAS
Good rides in Spain aren’t hard to find – anything on a map of the Iberian Peninsula that seems to be wiggly will probably turn out to be constructed from the same stuff they use on racetracks, and it’ll look and grip like they laid it a week ago. Added to that it’ll more than likely run through some stunning landscapes, dotted with romantic hotels set in ancient castles, and come with enough sunshine to recharge your batteries for a year. Rather than just doing the obvious, try heading west along the coast from Santander, winding through the stunning Picos National Park, and then diving south from Gijon towards Zamora always hugging Spain’s border with Portugal. You’ll dive in and out of more national parks before arriving in the Sierras, where you could lose yourself for weeks. We’d suggest heading south through Alcantara and Alberquerque to Badajoz before heading north again and winding up through the Sierra de Gredos on the N-502 then picking whichever Valladolid-bound route you have most time for and combining it with as much of the stunningly pretty N-611 as you can on the run back to Santander.