Pamplona in the Spanish region of Navarra, is known for the bullfighting in the Plaza de Toros and the running of the bulls there. These nine days where the bulls run through the streets to the stadium are world famous and certainly for the seven times one and a half minutes it lasts. The rest of the week is a great festival that indeed includes bullfighting. The stadium is empty for the rest of the year and cannot be visited. If bullfighting is not your thing, there is much more to do besides. There is music, there is fun in the city. You know the drill. Of course, we were already there once in 2022, then in partnership with Etxeondo.
Text and photos: Meindert Klem
At tourist pace through town
The city is wonderful to just take a leisurely tourist ride through. On the electric rental city bikes that are on every corner like so many Spanish cities do now, in the Spanish sunshine where I am lucky enough to have it over 27 degrees and that in April. Rounding the beautiful Ciudadela de Pamplona, through the parks to a bar for a Pintxos(Basque for Tapas), you don't say no to that. As beautiful as it is I am stared at by the hills surrounding the city the whole trip. They just ask to be climbed by bike.
Basque country = green land
The hills are amazingly green, and there are routes at all levels. From following a river on an old train track where there is now gravel, or an intense MTB ride through the dense forest. Our ride starts with a stretch along the river, after which we quickly head for the hills. Partly to see how hard you can still descend in the cold. The change in temperature is not bad: from 27 degrees on Sunday to a chilly 6 degrees on Monday with rain and wind. Wonderful weather to descend hard and get wet.
The route is worth it (although so chilly and the sports complex with a hot shower completes it.... For the downhill MTB-er with kids, the solution is the Irri Sarri Land (https://www.irrisarriland.com/) with bike rental, entertainment for children, cottages with horses in the garden, great food, swimming pool, and zip lines, but most importantly a downhill track with lift.
On to the Bardenas
The next day, we prepare for a flat route. Destination: the second-most windy place in the world after Groningen, perhaps: the Bardenas Reales. This desert area can be tackled from Pamplona on a gravel bike. You'll find a really beautiful piece of desert landscape there. During the trip, among other things, you will come across a sign saying 'do not cycle, the army is in exercise'. My advice: take it seriously. During our ride, we see a fighter jet flying over almost every 2 min. Turns out, they have live ammunition on board. Always be careful.
Mighty beautiful desert
So the army base in the desert is in use, but that doesn't make the trek itself any less beautiful. It is not too technical when it is dry, but probably challenging when it rains a lot. There are roads running throughout the area. This gives you beautiful views and makes it easy to connect to the next viewpoint. The wide roads allow gravel riders to take a breather. We end our route at the Castildetierra, for which the Bardenas are so famous. The road to it is also easy to do. A gravel paradise, just in the middle of the Navarre province.
Routes to follow soon!
