Cycling outside Madrid

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Martin.b

Member
Location
Sweden, Tranås
Hello.

I am thinking of doing a cycling trip.
Thé plan is to go on my Own. Recently i spoke to a friend that is from spain and he told me that the mountains outside Madrid is beautiful and really good for cycling. Also good price on plane tickets. My friend is no cyclist but when I looked at Google maps it looks good.

Anyone who has any experience from this area that could give me some tips?
 

jay clock

Massive member
Location
Hampshire UK
That is a bit general. All of Spain is outside Madrid.... Salamanca is a stunning city if that helps
 
OP
OP
M

Martin.b

Member
Location
Sweden, Tranås
Well you are correct,
But I was thinking more close proximity of madrid. For example manzanares or el escorials.
In cycling range from madrid, or if I take the commuter train out of town and ride from there.
On the map I can see peaks around 1800 meters, even if it's not like the Pyrenees or alps I'm sure it will beat most climbs found in Sweden.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I went for a work trip last year and did 2 days riding at the end, so I'm by no means familiar with the area and others might be able to give better advice.

In short: Yes, it's a great area for cycling!

I hired a bike from these guys: http://www.rutaspangea.com/alquiler-bicis-carretera/
I went for the carbon bike which was quite old, but did the job ok, except the brakes could have been better on the long downhills, but as I was taking it easy I didn't mind stopping occasionally to give my hands a rest and let the rims cool off. They were very friendly in the shop and spoke ok English and also answered all my questions and gave route advice by email.

I stayed in the Holiday Inn near the bike hire place and I picked up the bike in the afternoon and did a short ride along the river to the palace and back. A very nice traffic free route, although shared with pedestrians it wasn't a problem as it was very wide. No problem to keep the bike in the storage room in the Holiday Inn.

The next day I followed the cycle route out of Madrid, again along the river which was fine and then through some suburbs where the route wasn't always great (a bit like the NCN - not always the best sign-posting or the most direct route), but it was easy enough to follow and quite safe. There is then a cycle route next to the motorway all the way to the mountains. It wasn't great always cycling next to the motorway, but easy to follow and it was only around 60-90 mins next to the motorway. It was a very busy cycle path and felt a bit like a sportive with many other groups of cyclists. There was also a nice cycle cafe - perfect for a first stop half way along the motorway. Once you hit the mountains, it's pretty much like the Alps or Pyrenees. Long uphills and long downhills, small villages with shops and cafes.
I'd pre-booked this B+B here: http://www.villa-concha.com/
Probably the nicest B+B I've ever stayed at :-) Lovely food, lovely rooms. Shame it was too cold for the pool.

The second day was drizzly/ rainy and didn't want to risk the mountains with the crappy brakes so I took a more direct route back, again following the motorway cycle path and the same route back into Madrid. The sun came out when I got back to Madrid so I did a few loops around the local park/ nature reserve which is near the palace.

It was a shame I didn't have time to explore more - it's a very nice area.

My Strava tracks with pics are here:
Day 1: https://www.strava.com/activities/412163031
Day 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/412162940

I hope that gives you some ideas and let me know if you need any more info!
 
OP
OP
M

Martin.b

Member
Location
Sweden, Tranås
Thanks,
It's this area I was thinking about. I'm planning to stay longer, getting 4-5 days on the bike.
How was the traffic on the mountain roads?
Do you think it will be to cold to go end of mars or beginning of April?
 
Traffic in the mountains was fine. Again, pretty much like in the Alps so it wasn't completely quiet but not overly busy and I always find Spanish drivers very good around cyclists anyway so even the busier roads weren't a problem. It was very quiet on the second rainy day, so mostly tourists I guess out for a day trip.

I don't really know the local climate, but I would imagine it would be pretty much perfect for cycling at that time of year. I went mid October and was fine in jersey and shorts on the sunny day. Rain jacket and leg warmers on the rainy day was a bit too hot. They are fairly high mountains though, so I guess it could still snow in the worst case, but there were villages in all valleys so I assume they have to keep the roads fairly clear. I think in March/April snow would be very unlikely and if it happens you could just avoid the highest roads. If I had to guess I'd say expect low to mid 20s (Celcius) and bit less at the top.

Another thing for route planning: In the bike shop they said all the roads going west out of Madrid are quite busy (I was going to loop back that way) so if you have 4-5 days it's probably better to head further north.

Hmmm... this all sounds pretty good fun. I'm tempted to book a flight now :-)
 

jay clock

Massive member
Location
Hampshire UK
I don't really know the local climate, but I would imagine it would be pretty much perfect for cycling at that time of year. I went mid October and was fine in jersey and shorts on the sunny day. Rain jacket and leg warmers on the rainy day was a bit too hot. They are fairly high mountains though, so I guess it could still snow in the worst case, but there were villages in all valleys so I assume they have to keep the roads fairly clear. I think in March/April snow would be very unlikely and if it happens you could just avoid the highest roads. If I had to guess I'd say expect low to mid 20s (Celcius) and bit less at the top.
There are ski resorts 65km NW of madrid.... so snow possible in winter!!
 
Top Bottom