The best gravel rides around Boedo-Ojeda

Beautiful wooden suspension bridge of Cervera de Pisuerga.

It is a small bridge that crosses the waters of the Rubagón river. On one side there is a clearing with information panels. A perfect spot for a short stop on your route.

easy route

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

The amount of water this river carries is always surprising.

How hard would life be in those 8th, 9th and 10th centuries? Hope... a small hermitage dug into a rock and the tomb? as close as possible to the altar, as close as possible to Christ, when the end of the world and the resurrection of the dead arrived. It... overwhelms me.

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.

Stage 2. Cervera de Pisuerga/Alar del Rey 72 kilometers. 920 positive meters. The second day has common sections with the previous stage and a small road connection. The first kilometers are known and it is a mental help to overcome the Peña Umoma slope from Vado in the opposite direction. The exit from Cervera through the old town is comfortable and pleasant. And almost without pedaling we enter Vado, connect with the red milestones and begin the cycling adventure through the fields of the Valdeados plain. In reality, only the last kilometer is hard, we overcome the panoramic hill and stop at the La Estación viewpoint, always contemplating the magnificent rocky backdrop of the Curavacas peak in the background. In Dehesa de Montejo, the Perazancas de Ojeda alternative detour leaves and a new route begins through the towns and rural landscapes of La Ojeda. The rural road has a good surface and without stopping we reach Colmenares de Ojeda. The entrance to the church of San Fructuoso is fantastic, it has three arches with a cross vault and a Romanesque portico. The jewel is a baptismal font from the 12th century kept inside, one of the best of the Palencia Romanesque, it is a sandstone rock font carved with high reliefs of religious scenes and ceremonies. The towns are small, people barely appear on the streets, and it is surprising to find so much artistic wealth in each rural center. The path does not have slopes as hard as the previous day, it is still a constant ups and downs through holm oak mountains, fallow lands and agricultural meadows but without slopes of five per hour. The valley of the Fuente de los Moros stream is delicious, the bicycles glide over the crops to Pisón de Ojeda. The church of San Pelayo dominates the town's plain from a hill, preserving the Romanesque apse from the 13th century. And then comes the hardest slope of the day, although it has a lot of uncomfortable gravel, it is short and immediately a new plateau appears with views and the descent to Montoto de Ojeda. The church is also on the hill of the town and we went straight up, shortcutting the milestones of the Natural Trail. The best part of the temple is the apse, from the 12th century, inside it has capitals and wall paintings. The portico is Cistercian from the 13th century, it is a temple that has more content than meets the eye. The route continues along the gravel road, jumps over the mountain through a plain of crops and descends to Perazancas de Ojeda. The parish church has a beautiful Romanesque doorway with three archivolts on carved capitals, from the 12th century. And at the exit of the town is the hermitage of San Pelayo, with interesting mural paintings from the 12th century and a portico with a semicircular arch on Mozarabic capitals, a valuable artistic complex declared a National Monument in 1931. The red milestone posts continue towards the connection with the Coal Route of Cok and Cozuelos de Ojeda, returning directly towards Alar del Rey. The route leaves the Nature Trail for now and continues along the road towards Olmos de Ojeda. Before arriving, pass by the Monastery of Santa Eufemia, former residence of kings, princes and nobles, it is one of the most valuable monumental complexes of the Palencia Romanesque, it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931 and can be visited on weekends. The price of the visit is four euros per person. In Olmos de Ojeda the red indications appear again and shortly after the Payo de Ojeda variant appears. The town is on a hill along a lonely rural road of bowling alleys and boulders. The church is outside the hamlet, it has a walk of acacias and a beautiful doorway composed of a pointed arch and an archivolt, inside it houses a Romanesque baptismal font with carved ornaments. The route returns along the same path to the Olmos de Ojeda intersection and turns to the right to visit the last enclaves of the gravel journey through the Romanesque of Palencia. The first town is Moarves de Ojeda, which has one of the most precious jewels of the Palencia rural Romanesque in the façade of the church of San Juan Bautista, declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931. The entrance has an elegant portico with five semicircular archivolts on capitals decorated with great detail and artistic level. The cake goes to the upper frieze, presided over by a Pantocrator surrounded by the tetramorphs and the twelve apostles, a marvel of Romanesque sculpture that especially attracts attention being in a small town in the Palencia wasteland. The attraction may also be due to the reddish color of the stone or the careful details of the sculptures. Inside it has a Romanesque baptismal font.