Whatisit?
The300-mile-longspineofmountains
betweenFranceandSpain,runningfrom
BiscayandBiarritzonthewesternside
toPerpignanandtheMediterraneanin
theeast.It’sa (long)day’sridefromthe
Chunnelbuta short hopfromBilbaoif
youfancya dayoffrestingyourtyres
ona BrittanyFerry.
Whatmakesthemgreat?
ThePyreneesdelivera similarruptured,
granite,glacialmajestytotheAlpsbut
witha distinctlyIberiantwist;quite
apartfromthemilderclimate(okay,
properlyroastinginsummerandfrozen
inwinter),theroadsare,byandlarge,
bettersurfacedandmoreentertaining
thanyou’llfindinmostAlpinepasses.
TheproblemwiththeAlpsisyou’rea
bitscupperedif youdon’tlikehairpins
— a compactcoilof180°turnsrunning
downthesideofa mountainmightmake
a photogenicvistaina magazine,
becausethey’reimpressiveandfitina
wide-anglelens.Butafteryou’ve
wobbledroundColdeWhatsitforthe
Must-ride
section
Therearetoomanyto
mention,butpossibly
themostoutstanding
isthesectionbetween
RibesdeFreserto—
ironically— Alp.It’s 30
milesofthebestriding
you’llhavethisyear.
umpteenthtimeinfirstgear,you’llbe
eagerlylookingforwheretheinteresting
stuffstartstohappen.
There’snoshortageofvarietyinthe
Pyrenees,especiallytheSpanishside of
thechain.Handily, there’sa roadthat
runsfor 320 milesthroughthebestofit
—theN-260isoneofthebeststripsof
blacktopinEurope.It’ssovariedand
complexit’shardtoknowhowto
describeit all,otherthanit’seasy to
spendovera weekexploringthevalleys
and passes that criss-crosstheborder,
roving north, then south,upanddown
between France andSpain.
When plotting a route,it’sworth
remembering mostofthemainroadsare
the best — unlike, say,Germany’sBlack
Forest, where the smallersideroadsare
worth exploring. InthePyreneesona
conventional sportytourer,youmight
end up with a spotofimpromptu
off-roading. Many are notwellmade,
with broken tarmac that oftenturnsinto
a dirt track — what you needisa sports
tourer with an upright ridingpositionand
some suspension travel. Something
more like a BMW S1000XRorGS,
Triumph Tiger, a KTM, DucatiMultistrada
etc. And it’s why the Pyreneesalsomake
for some of the best trail ridingin
Europe, if that’s your bag.
Distancefromferryterminal 737 miles(Calais), 178 miles(Bilbao)
TimetogetthereA day(Calais),4hr(Bilbao)
MakesureyouvisitTheGavarnieFalls:thehighestwaterfallinFrance
StopoveratPuigcerdà,Spain.Just2kmfromtheFrenchborder— amazingviews
ofsnow-cappedmountains
HOWWESCOREDIT
Scenery.......8/10
Roads................9/10
THEFACTS
3 The Pyrenees
Straddling the France/Spain
border, it’s full of
mountainous delight
Pictures Simon Hargreaves
38 | JULY 2019
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