Travel Spain — Asturias: Biking & Touring through the Mountains of Asturias

May 26, 2010 was a day dedicated to outdoor adventure: on a somewhat overcast day local adventure sports experts Tito Conde and his friend Estefania picked me up for a bike tour of the mountains of Asturias. Tito’s company “Deporventura” offers all sorts of adventure sports experiences throughout Asturias and introduced me to bicycling in this outdoor lovers’ paradise. With the help of electrically assisted bicycles we went riding on the Senda de los Osos (the Bear Trail) where we indeed saw 3 Asturian bears, fortunately in an enclosure. But bears still live in the wild here in Asturias. After our ride on this old railway trail, which also encompassed several tunnels, we drove up into the mountains to visit an authentic Asturian village that is highlighted by an ancient “tejo” tree (yew tree), site of ancient pre-Christian rituals. Our next stop was the brand-new Ethnographic Museum of Quiros which provides education about the traditional rural lifestyles in Asturias. From here we went to the village of San Martin to enjoy a late lunch in a very traditional local restaurant where we got to try “fabada”, the famous hearty bean stew of Asturias, and two other types of stews. For dessert we enjoyed a lovely huge pot of rice pudding. Asturian cooking is delicious and sticks to your ribs. Back in the mountains we explored the Cueva Huerta, an extensive cave system where Tito explained to us the complex ecosystem of this underground world. Asturias, with its limestone mountains …