Cathryn said:
Well it is rather self indulgent but as you asked I’ll pick a few highlights.
The day that inspired the ‘my favourite roads’ section of the journal was the road from Coimbra to Castelo Branco, in Portugal. After 3 or 4 days of traffic infested roads coming out of Porto I was finally away from the cars and lorries, riding through pine and eucalyptus forests with stunning valley views and a real feeling of remoteness. Even being chased by three evil looking dogs didn’t put me off!
The ride from Balageur (Spain), through Andorra and down into Ax les Thermes (France) is another one that sticks out. The mountains aren’t perhaps at their most picturesque around there but the riding was great, if a little busy, and it was a pretty big deal for me at the time – my second crossing of Spain on the trip, crossing the Pyrenees and finally arriving in France again, from the Portuguese coast all made it quite special.
The D71 that runs alongside the Verdon Gorge in France is pretty superb – known as the ‘Corniche Sublime’. It’s made by the views of the gorge, naturally, but does involve quite a bit of climbing and is just one of those roads that has a photo opportunity every 50 yards.
Ioannina to Metsovo through the mountains in the north of Greece is also on the list for nice riding and because Metsovo is a great place to arrive at – a little ski resort with chalet-style houses and the town square full of Greek women in traditional costume. Quite different from the Greece you leave down in the lowlands.
North of the Bulgarian road I mentioned before is a ride through the Carpathian foothills in Romania (Orsova to Caransebes) that was pretty special. Again, maybe not the most stunning scenery (although it was pretty good in places!), but when you’re riding through fields and villages where the most common form of transport is horse and cart and all of the fields are tended by hand, it’s hard not to feel like you’re somewhere a bit special. A lot of people had warned me not to go to Romania at all (too dangerous, they said) but after that I was glad I did.
Finally (I will shut up in a minute – once you set me off..!), I’d followed the Danube for a long time, through Romania, Hungary, including Budapest, and Bratislava, but the stretch all the way through Austria, from Vienna pretty much all the way to Donauworth in Germany, was definitely the most picturesque. The cycle path often leaves you alone with the river (i.e. no roads) and in November, when I was there, the hills either side of the river are covered in Autumn trees – cold, crisp air, an empty bit of tarmac in front of you and a bratwurst and a beer in the evening – brilliant!
Ah…I’m all nostalgic now…
It hadn't rained since April, my trip was September and I think the Gods had some catching up to do.
