The best cycling routes around Santibáñez De Ecla

In the Plaza de España, the nerve centre of the town.

The amount of water this river carries is always surprising.

The views are spectacular, that alone makes it worth taking a look.

Stage 1. Alar del Rey/Cervera de Pisuerga 87 kilometers. 1,850 positive meters. The Canal de Castilla begins in Alar del Rey, an illustrious work of 18th century hydraulic engineering that was an important vein of communication, commerce and prosperity in much of the Castilian lands for a century. In 1860 the railway monopolized the trade in cereals, goods and minerals in the north of Castile and transport barges stopped using the canal, which continued in use until the mid-20th century, exploiting the hydraulic energy of the locks and irrigation systems. . The starting point is the dock of the old piers of the Canal de Castilla, a very pleasant place to start a gravel trip of a couple of days of bikepacking along the Palentino Romanesque Natural Path, which largely coincides with the Ruta del Coke charcoal. “Cok” or coke is a high-quality hard coal with good heat capacity that is highly appreciated in the metallurgical industry. The best coke deposits were in exclusive mines in Fuentes Carrionas and Montaña Palentina, mainly in the valleys of Mudá, Castillería and Santullán. The extracted mineral was transported by horse and cart to the piers of the Canal de Castilla bound for Valladolid and Palencia, where distribution began. The cycle tour follows the old mining road to the mountains of northern Palencia, visiting a few rural Romanesque jewels. Before leaving we passed by the milestone where the Canal de Castilla takes its water from the Pisuerga River. I discovered this beautiful river spot thirty years ago, when I cycled along the canal towpaths for the first time. Now we leave in the opposite direction following the red posts of the Nature Trail. The roads are good for gravel cycling, the relief is a bit leg-breaking and there are several hard slopes that warm up the muscles with the gravel single chainring but the surface is great. The first town is Prádanos de Ojeda, on a rural hill above extensive cereal fields that are very good for warming up the legs before the first slopes, it is the end of summer and the stubble is full of large balls of packed straw. The path crosses the Pradera de las Tortas mountain and Santibáñez de Ecla appears hidden among some hills of holm oaks and holm oaks. The church of San Juan can be seen now or in the second stage because the return track connects here. The path runs through hills populated by dense holm oak forests and passes through Villaescusa de Ecla, which has the Romanesque church of Santa Elena and in a nearby ravine the Cervigona Waterfall. The silhouette of the Palentina Mountain and the Curavacas peak draw attention on the horizon. The path jumps small hills of holm oaks and holm oaks and at the heights the view takes in the mountains of the Cantabrian Mountains of Palencia. The surface is excellent and the bikes descend at full speed to the town of Cozuelos de Ojeda. The church is monumental, Renaissance with star-crossed vaults and a Herrerian tower. Outside the church there are remains of an ancient cloud conjurer, a popular place of prayer during harvest time to keep storms and clouds or clouds away from the sky. The route leaves the urban complex of Cozuelos de Ojeda on the left and continues through some steppe hills to a plateau with good views of the mountains, from Valdecebollas to Espigüete. In the moor is the crossing of the Perazancas de Ojeda variant on the return route. The next town is Vallespinoso de Aguilar. The hermitage of Santa Cecilia, immediately standing out on a castle hill, is dated to the 12th century and was declared a historical-artistic monument in 1951. The portico has well-carved capitals and the location conveys the atmosphere of a fortress sanctuary. The path goes up a somewhat rocky slope and enters new slides in the land of Aguilar de Campoo. At the foot of Monte de la Ruya, when the hardest slope of the stage appears in front of you, the detour to Barrio de San Pedro and Barrio de Santa María, two districts of Aguilar de Campoo, comes out on the right. The descent is fantastic with views of the large lake of the Aguilar reservoir. First is Barrio de San Pedro, with a very welcoming ambushed entrance and the church of San Pedro, Romanesque from the 13th century with many later additions. And then the hermitage of Santa Eulalia, solitary next to the road, another well-preserved historical-artistic monument of the rural Romanesque of Palencia. In the town, the church of the Assumption also preserves parts of Romanesque origin.

The visit to the neighborhoods of San Pedro and Santa María is worth it for the heritage and landscapes but it has a price on the legs, you have to climb Monte de la Ruya again to connect with the main itinerary and overcome the infernal slope that We saw before the detour, which also has a trap because after a short descent there is another similar section to a hill, the prize is fantastic views of the Palentina Mountain. The road enters the meadows and mountains of La Ojeda again and there is a fun stretch, climbing the GPS average for several kilometers until Dehesa de Montejo, where the detour for the Perazancas variant comes out on the left. The route continues to the right, crosses the Cervera de Pisuerga road and climbs the slope of Peña Umoma to a hill that finally marks the entrance to the Pisuerga valley through the beautiful valley of Valdeados. The descent ends in Vado, it is noon, time for a snack but there is no bar or grocery store. Cervera is three kilometers away but it is the place where we plan to finish the stage and we decided to continue and spend the afternoon with the energy bars. The path continues along the charming bank of the Pisuerga River, favorable terrain, river landscape, good climate and change of environment. On the route there are yellow arrows of the Camino Olvidado or Camino de la Montaña, a Camino de Santiago very popular in the 12th and 13th centuries, starting from Bilbao, running along the southern slope of the Cantabrian Mountains and connecting with the Camino Francés in El Bierzo. In Barcenilla de Pisuerga, the milestones of the Natural Trail cross the Pisuerga River via a pedestrian walkway and change course, beginning the climb through the Mudá valley until the connection with the GR-1. The climb begins in Rueda de Pisuerga, the route passes by the church of San Cristóbal, which preserves the Romanesque doorway from the 12th century, and continues through Vallespinoso de Cervera to San Cebrián de Mudá, a town with a mining tradition and the last town on the Natural Trail of the Palentine Romanesque. In the square there are some wagons from the mining era, when the Cok Coal Route was the main economic channel of the valley. The church of San Cornelio and San Cipriano is on a hill, is Romanesque from the 13th century and was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 1993. The climb to the Historical Trail passes through the European Bison Interpretation Center, runs through a mountain oak grove and ends at a small hill below the imposing Valdecebollas (2,143 m), entrance to the La Pernía valley and the upper Pisuerga. The views are stunning. The end of the stage is Cervera de Pisuerga, with accommodation, camping and complete services. The final stretch to complete a great day of gravel cycling continues through the Castillería valley and at the Estalaya crossroads, where the climb to the Verdeña Fossil Forest is, a path leaves on the left that leads to Vañes off the road. In this section it is important to have the track downloaded because there are no milestones on the route. You must continue along the road for about 500 meters towards Cervera and at the fork of the road take a detour to the left towards Rabanal de los Caballeros and Valdasornín. The rest of the way follows the road that goes down to the urban complex of Cervera de Pisuerga.

Puente Mayor over the Pisuerga River is of medieval origin. We can see the small islands in the river and the castle hill.

Great viewpoint tower that allows us to enjoy panoramic views of the Aguilar Reservoir and its dam. On the horizon you can see the Palencia mountains.

At the foot of Monte de la Ruya, when the hardest slope of the stage appears in front of you, the detour to Barrio de San Pedro and Barrio de Santa María, two districts of Aguilar de Campoo, comes out on the right. The descent is fantastic with views of the large lake of the Aguilar reservoir. First is Barrio de San Pedro, with a very welcoming ambushed entrance and the church of San Pedro, Romanesque from the 13th century with many later additions. And then the hermitage of Santa Eulalia, solitary next to the road, another well-preserved historical-artistic monument of the rural Romanesque of Palencia. In the town, the church of the Assumption also preserves parts of Romanesque origin.