Cid 1: Bilbao -Oña

This is the first stage of a cycling holiday based on the historic 'El Camino del Cid'. The official route can be found at www.caminodelcid.org. This route differs in two points. First of all, the starting point is in Bilbao and not in or near Burgos. (So you could also call this Spain from coast to coast.) Secondly, I cut some weird turns and went off the road and chose to visit other interesting places. As a result, the route is much shorter than the official route and certainly offers as many, if not more, sights. Of all the cycling holidays, this was the most beautiful for our group: quiet and almost always good roads, a whole series of historic monasteries, medieval castles and towns and landscapes that do not know their peers in Europe. Good accommodation, friendly people and good food and drinks for a puncture. We did the route in July 2014. The temperature fluctuated from 20 to 35 degrees. Obviously not a drop of rain, but quite a bit of wind. According to the climate atlas of Spain, this route follows a strip that is significantly less hot/colder/cold than the rest of the interior.
---
The first stage begins in the green Basque Country along the Bay of Biscay and takes us to Oña, a small village with a large monastery in the Spanish interior. Through Bilbao by a bike path on the shore. Then we drive along an old main road that leaves quietly from Bilbao, passing some old steel factories. In Sodupe we reach a side valley. The road still climbs very quietly past Artziniega. Then begins the long climb to Puerto de Peña Angulo, where you have a beautiful view over the valley behind you. From this mountain pass the road descends or climbs much less. Meanwhile, the landscape changes from the green hills around Bilbao to a mountain landscape around Oña. The latter is a place that will pleasantly surprise you.