Accommodation with en-suite bathroom
Breakfast
Transport to and from arrival / departure points - normally Bilbao or Santander, airports, ferryports, railway stations, bus stations
Information Pack (Route Guide and maps)
Luggage transport between hotels
Partial rider transport wheh the itinerary includes this within a certain day's activities
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Comfortable fitted and fully-equipped bikes for your cycling pleasure.
You can either make arrangements to bring your own bicycles or hire IberoCycle's own models. Most airlines will carry bicycles for a small extra charge or even free. Cyclists who choose to hire will be provided with a comfortable quality bicycle to suit their particular measurements and preferences. We place great importance on getting the bikes right.
Too many cyclists on trips with other companies have complained about past experiences where they have had to put up with uncomfortable saddles, the wrong sized bike etc. Measurements are requested on booking so the right bike is waiting for you on arrival.
You are provided with hybrid-type tourist bicycles with conventional handlebars and with triple chain ring and easy-to-change gear ratios for comfortable and easy cycling. Road bikes are also available on request.We can provide tandems, which make for great cycling fun, and are also ideal for those with children.
And last but not least, e-bikes. An absolute revolution in the world of cycle tours, and of course available on all our rides.
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| Ladies bike (Trek FX) | Men's bike (Trek FX) |
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| Hybrid e-bike | Road e-bike |
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| Road bike (Cube carbon) | Female road bike (Cube carbon) |
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| Tandem (a fun way to ride, and also ideal for helping smaller children - Dawes Duet) | |
Hybrid bikes will carry a handlebar bag, useful for carrying money, documents, camera and lots of other useful items which may be needed close at hand. This bag is easily removed it from its click fastening and carried around with the shoulder strap. They are also equipped with a rear luggage rack and one or two panniers, or a rear rack bag to carry just what you need for each day's cycling. Road bikes carry a seat post bag if required.
In addition, all cycles are equipped with pump, spare inner tube, water bottle, bike lock and basic toolkit. Extras such as lights or toe clips are available on request. Iberocycle provides cyclists with a fine bicycle in tip-top condition to make cycling an absolute pleasure.
Childrens Bikes
Children's bikes, and child seats are available on request.
IberoCycle will pick up from arrival points in Bilbao or Santander for this tour. This includes hotels, railway stations, ferryports, bus stations and airports. The same is true at the end of the tour. Please contact us if you have an early flight or departure on the last day, so we can let you know if it is possible for us to get you to departure point on time.
Air - The closest airport is Santander Airport. This airport has the following destinations. However, it is a smaller than Bilbao Airport so has fewer connections. It is used as a hub by RyanAir, with connections to both Spanish and European cities. Further to the east is Bilbao Airport. Here we probably have more flight options, although transfer time to the start point of the cycle tours tends to be around 90 minutes. You may find this map useful for planning itineraries by air.
Train - Both Bilbao and Santander are connected to inland Spain by the Inter-City RENFE network. Trains are relatively inexpensive. On arrival, it may be more convenient to leave the train in Torrelavega, just one stop before Santander. There is a train service along the coast from Santander; east to Bilbao and the Basque Country, or west to Oviedo and Asturias. However, this is a narrow-gauge railway run by RENFE FEVE and is rather slow and infrequent.
Bus - Santander has good connections by bus to most Spanish cities run by ALSA. Buses are economical and comfortable.
Sea - Santander and Bilbao are connected to the United Kingdom by ferries run by Brittany Ferries. This may be a fun and interesting way to travel if you have the time (the crossing takes around one day), but tends to be more expensive than the many flight options.
On a self-guided tour, you are basically independent. IberoCycle transports luggage to the next hotel.
Riders are expected to complete each day's ride, unless there is an emergency, or a mechanical problem.
Cyclists do not travel as part of a group or with a guide, although they may coincide with other cyclists on the same trip.
Our "IberoCycle On Call" service means we are always available for help or advice.
Cyclists are provided with our own detailed Route Guide and maps for their chosen route.
Fitter cyclists may extend stages at will.
On this particular tour, when we reach the Picos de Europa, you have the option to stay in Potes or Cosgaya. Let IberoCycle know at the time of booking.
One option is to stay in Potes down in the valley. Potes is a lively village with bars, restaurants etc. Different hotels are available here.
The hotel in Cosgaya is the Hotel del Oso. This hotel also has a good restaurant, swimming pool, tennis court. It is well-located for access to the cable-car at Fuente Dé. From here you can do a free day walk from the upper station and back down to the hotel. To cycle here, you would have an additional 15 / 9 miles ride and 430 meter / 1400 feet ascent.
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| Hybrid e-bike | Road E-bike |
The last few years have seen a revolution in the use of e-bikes. We now offfer e bikes on absolutely all of our rides. There are of course multiple advantages to using one on a bike tour:
The difficulty level is lowered by a grade. Thus an intermediate level tour becomes an easy tour as the motor assists pedalling.
The distance you can cycle on each day is effectively "reduced". Longer distances become accessible to a greater range of riding abilities.
Ability levels between riders on the same tour are levelled out as riders can choose an e-bike to enable them to keep up with stronger riders.
No more worrying about the hills!
So if you are in any doubt about whether a particular tour might be too challenging for you, then take the e-bike option. You can still get a good workout by keeping the pedal assistance level low. E-bikes are now available on all of our tours. And many have both the standard e-bike and also the road e-bike.
