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eurovelot in spain

Posted: 5 Mar 2014, 3:48pm
by banjaxed
I want to be able to pick up the eurovelot 1 from st malo to southern spain. I've cycled in france previously and know I wont have any problems with traffic (I don't do busy roads) and I expect eurovelot to make things even easier. According to the Eurovelot website however, it is 'not realised' in Spain. Does anyone have any updates on this ? Also how does Spain compare with France in terms of traffic volumes and driver behaviour towards cyclists? Recommended routes in spain also welcome! Thanks.

Re: eurovelot in spain

Posted: 6 Mar 2014, 9:26am
by HarryD
The Spanish part uses the Camino Frances in the north then heads south along the Via de la Plata to Sevilla.

The Camino Frances is a well walked and cycled route on trails and quiet roads (very few exceptions). It is well signed and easy to follow. Not sure how the Eurovelo joins up from the French border though as most would cross at St Jean de Port. However, that part of Spain has a good road network

The Via de la Plata is also a camino/pilgrim route from Astorga to Sevilla. You will be going against the pilgrims which is not a problem as there aren't too many but will have to keep looking behind for the route markers. It is largely on perfectly cyclable trails and quiet roads. Only very short sections on anything relatively busy. From Sevilla to the coast there are minor roads.

I suspect you may have busy roads close to the coast and on the Portugal section as many rivers are only crossed by them and smaller roads tend to be loops to coastal towns

HarryD

Re: eurovelot in spain

Posted: 6 Mar 2014, 2:42pm
by FarOeuf
hi, my experience of traffic in Spain is that it's a bit worse than France but still a lot better than the UK. Outside of cities, and on minor roads, volume tends to be similar to France.

also, be aware of Via Verdes, which might give you some additional options.

the St Jean de Port to Roncinvilles route (as walked) is off-road and quite steep. there's a road (from memory) that you can use to get to the highest point of the pass, and then I think there's a fence/stile to cross and you have some reasonably flat/good off-road track, and then a road again after maybe 1 mile (guessing, it was years ago I was there).

cheers

Re: eurovelot in spain

Posted: 7 Mar 2014, 5:46pm
by dodger
Apparently, a fair part of the Via Frances is not very suitable for cyclists, particularly road and touring bikes, but there are alternatives close to the walkers' route. See Mike Higginson's book on the Pilgrim Route for cyclists.

Re: eurovelot in spain

Posted: 17 Apr 2014, 1:18pm
by kramdoo
I attempted st malo to cadiz last year, though i skipped quite a lot of the middle of Spain when i ran out of time.

France was awesome, at times could be fooled that the motocar even existed.
to avoid traffic in Spain it was often preferable to take the 'via servicos' (the lorry roads) much less traffic volume.
be careful choosing routes, you can quite easily find yourself without a quite road option.

Re: eurovelot in spain

Posted: 23 May 2014, 9:23am
by spicerack
I rode the ruta de la plata section from Valladolid to Seville a couple of years ago. It was fantastic but tough. Definitely a walking / mountain bike trail if you do it properly so I alternated between following the route properly and using the road when the path was rough. I didn't have a GPS at the time so following the camino in reverse was difficult as there are just small yellow arrows pointing in the opposite direction. There is a great road, the N-630 I think, that runs more or less parallel to the new freeway in the direction you want to go but it very quiet and smooth.

Road alternated between loose gravel tracks with wire fences
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to silky smooth downhill dreams
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