La Divisoria: a hundred passes on the Atlantic-Mediterranean watershed in Spain
Presentation
This permanent tour by the Club des Cent Cols takes you over 100 (tarmac) road passes on and near the watershed between the Atlantic and Mediterranean in Spain.
Ascent: at least 25,000 m; distance: around 2,800 km.
Traced by Bernard "Biki" Pommel (Cent Cols no. 3094).
Course
Geolocation files (GPX or KMZ) are available for registrants.
Theme
The Club des Cent Cols, founded in 1972 and affiliated to the Fédération Française de Cyclotourisme under No. 6384, offers you this permanent tour based on a simple theme: "One hundred passes".
One hundred passes, either to allow you to join the Confrérie du Club des Cent Cols with great pomp and ceremony, or to allow you to progress to the Confrérie's "Tableau d'Honneur", or in any case to help you discover or rediscover a large part of the Spanish mountain ranges.
It goes without saying that this tour involves a difference in altitude commensurate with the passes it climbs: more than 25,000 metres. Nor is the distance involved negligible. It's only after more than 2,800 km that you'll reach the finish line, an average of 28 km of pedalling per pass.
There are 100 passes on the route: 60 on the LPE, 23 on the Atlantic side and 17 on the Mediterranean side. We strongly recommend 2 main out-and-back variants, allowing you to add 7 passes (including 3 >2000 m and 1 >3000 m) in 135 km. There are also 53 additional round-trip options, adding 65 passes (including 1 >2000 m) over a distance of 505 km.
The route and its variants allow you to cross :
- 172 passes (including 4 >2000 m and 1 >3000 m) in 3358 km, and
- all the Spanish road passes on the LPE (87, with the exception of one which appears to be inaccessible to bikes).
Accommodation
Due to the size of the area covered by this walk, we are unable to provide an exhaustive list of accommodation. We therefore limit ourselves to providing the internet addresses of organisations offering accommodation or providing information on this subject, such as tourist offices, tourist information offices, accommodation associations, etc.
You will find a list of these links, by country and by region, here. Please report any malfunctioning web links to the person responsible.
Seasonal preferences
As with all the Club des Cent Cols' permanent hikes, "La Divisoria" can be completed without time limit and in as many trips as the participant wishes. However, winter can make some passes impassable, even if they are not very high. The heat of August can also be very uncomfortable. The best seasons are of course spring and autumn.
Controls
The route, which is proposed from north to south (but can be done in the opposite direction), starts in Saint Jean Pied de Port and ends in Tarifa, the extreme tip of continental Spain (and Europe). It is divided into 7 sections (see table below), each starting and finishing at a point with relatively easy motorway access (for those wishing to do the route in several stages).
For each section, you will need to have your route map stamped in two pointsYou must also have your card stamped in Saint Jean Pied de Port and Tarifa, for a total of 16 stamps obtained at 16 different locations.
Presentation of the different sections
- Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port - Legutiano (321 km, 12 passes, minimum altitude 120 m, maximum altitude 1056 m [Puerto de Ibañeta], climb 4350 m). Departing from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port for a very short section in France, we take the Camino de Santiago over the first pass of the route, the Puerto de Ibañeta (Roncesvalles Pass), before crossing the Montes Vascos, which link the Cantabrian mountain range to the Pyrenees. We pass the Sierra de Aralar, then skirt the Sierra de Urkilla as far as Legutiano (motorway: Vitoria Gasteiz).
- Legutiano - Reinosa (316 km, 18 passes, minimum altitude 130 m, maximum altitude 1200 m [Puerto de la Sía], 3900 m ascent) We skirt the Sierra de Gorbea to the north. The difficult Puerto de Orduña, followed by some very pretty Cantabrian passes and a string of Magdalena passes lead us to the Ebro reservoir and Reinosa (motorway).
- Reinosa - Almarzas (near Soria) (379 km, 12 passes, minimum altitude 880 m, maximum altitude 1755 m [Puerto de Santa Inés], 3300 m ascent) It would be a real shame not to do the Collado de la Fuente del Chivo variant, 1992 m, at the foot of the Pico de los Tres Mares (Atlantic, Mediterranean and Cantabrian Sea) and admire the source of the Ebro, before heading back south-east towards the mountains of the "sistema iberico". An initial long stretch without any passes takes us to the very flat Puerto del Paramo de Masa, which nevertheless divides the waters. We skirt Burgos to the north, turn back a few kilometres of the Camino de Santiago, and attack the Sierra de la Demanda and then the Sierra de Urbión, which we cross via the rugged Puerto de Santa Inés before returning to the outskirts of Soria.
- Almarzas (near Soria) - Cuenca (454 km, 20 passes, minimum altitude 910 m, maximum altitude 1790 m [El Portillo], 3000 m ascent) The route heads east towards the Sierra de Moncayo, then bends south-west through what are often desert areas. There is little relief, but one pass follows another before Medinaceli. The Puerto de Maranchón is then a final trophy before a second long stretch with no passes (Molina de Aragón). Business picks up again as we approach the Sierra de Albarracín via the pretty village of Bronchales. After crossing this sierra, the return trip to the source of the Tagus, although optional, is a must! (Collado de Casa Carnero). Then it's on to the Serranía de Cuenca in total isolation, and on to Cuenca (don't miss the hanging houses...).
- Cuenca - Vélez-Rubio (500 km, 9 passes, minimum altitude 722 m, maximum altitude 1600 m [Puerto del Pinar], 3100 m ascent) Like the Chevalier à la Triste Figure, the pass hunter will cross La Mancha for a very long sector devoid of relief and passes, despite sharing the waters. Relief and passes are found again at Robledo with the Sierra de Alcaraz, then the Sierra de Segura. Finally, the Puerto del Pinar takes us into Andalusia.
- Vélez-Rubio - Estación de Salinas (409 km, 10 passes, minimum altitude 670 m, maximum altitude 2034 m [Los Chispones], 3700 m ascent) The Andalusian crossing begins with the Sierra de Baza, full of passes except, alas, at the summit, followed by the bypass of the Sierra Nevada. The route is bypassed, but two return variants are highly recommended: the Puerto de la Ragua (2039 m) and above all the Pico Veleta, which takes a full day but offers an extraordinary array of passes culminating in the Collado O Carihuela del Veleta (3229 m). After this magnificent ascent, Granada will be one more reward, and we leave it with a sigh like the Moor. We then follow the Sierra de Alhama to Estación de Salinas.
- Estación de Salinas - Tarifa (339 km, 19 passes, minimum altitude 0 m, maximum altitude 906 m [Puerto de Pedro Ruiz], 2,300 m ascent) This second Andalusian section is not the least rich in passes and remarkable sites, first and foremost Ronda; Ubrique then reveals its beauties, and a final small massif is crossed before reaching Algeciras via the Alcornocales nature park. Two short passes then take you to Tarifa and its Punta Marroquí, the end of the journey, where you will dream of Africa...
Main passes
- Puerto de Ibañeta
- Puerto de Belate
- Urdunako mendatea or Puerto de Orduña
- Puerto de la Sía
- Collado de la Fuente del Chivo (variant)
- Puerto de la Pedraja
- Puerto de Santa Inés
- Puerto Orihuela
- Puerto del Pinar
- Puerto de la Ragua (variant)
- Collado de las Sabinas (variant)
- Collado O Carihuela del Veleta (variant)
- Puerto del Suspiro del Moro
- Puerto de Gáliz
BCN and BPF sites on the route
As most of the route is outside France, this tour does not include any BCN / BPF sites.
Cards
The 1:400,000 Michelin maps in the 571-578 series are sufficient for this route.
Rules of the game for permanent walks
All participants in this permanent trail agree to respect the game rules governing it.
For further information
Contact the Head of Permanent Rides
Jean-Marc CLEMENT
10 rue de Normandie
31120 Portet sur Garonne
FRANCE
Tel: +33 (0)5 61 76 30 12
E-mail: [email]randos@centcols.org [/email]