THE WAY OF EL CID BY PEDAL STROKE

El The Way of El Cid It is a cultural tourist itinerary that crosses Spain from northwest to southeast, following the literary and historical footsteps of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the Cid Campeador, the famous medieval knight of the 11th century. Due to its length (around 1,400 kilometres of trails and 2,000 of roads), it is divided into themed routes of between 50 and 300 km linked together, so you can arrange the trip to fit your holiday days.

As we were advancing in a previous entry, the Camino del Cid offers the possibility to travel it in various ways: by car, motorbike or motorhome, on foot or by bicycle. We are focusing on the latter to tell you which routes you can take to follow in the footsteps of El Cid on two wheels.

Camino del Cid Routes for Mountain Biking BTT-MTB
Currently, the Camino del Cid for mountain biking (BTT – MTB) has a total length of 1,485 km. It is divided into 7 interconnected routes ranging from 49 km to 313 km. The MTB route runs for 88 percent along the hiking route. The remaining 12 percent consists of signposted MTB alternatives, specifically created to allow cyclists to avoid some difficult or technical hiking sections. These alternatives run along rural tracks or secondary roads, and once the difficulty is overcome, they rejoin the hiking route.

The Camino del Cid does not require any specific technical skills and its routes are suitable for any cyclist familiar with long-distance itineraries. Even so, there are some stretches that, due to the type of surface and gradients, may require cyclists to make an extra effort and dismount. These are usually short sections set amidst very attractive scenery; they are signposted and clearly identified in our free downloadable MTB guides. In the description of each route (which you will see linked below), you will find specific information and access to the free download of the guides, maps, tracks, stamping points, accommodation, etc.. Here you can download information on how to transport your bicycle and a list of bike workshops on the Camino del Cid. You can also view the complete BTT route on the Google Earth cartographic base by downloading the KMZ track.

The routes
These are the BTT-MTB routes you can cycle along the Camino del Cid:

1 day: Gallocanta Ring (Zaragoza – Teruel). Difficulty: medium-low.
1 day: Ramal of Álvar Fáñez (Guadalajara). Difficulty: low-medium.
▪ 4 days: The Defence of the South (Valencia – Alicante). Difficulty: medium-low.
▪ 4 days: The Conquest of Valencia (Teruel – Castellón – Valencia). Difficulty: medium-low.
▪ 5 days: Borderlands (Soria – Guadalajara – Zaragoza). Difficulty: low-medium.
6 days: Exile (Burgos – Soria – Guadalajara). Difficulty: medium-low.
6 days: The Three Taifas (Zaragoza – Guadalajara – Teruel). Difficulty: medium.

Road cycling routes on the Camino del Cid trail
The Route of El Cid is also a cycle touring route that runs along secondary roads that are very attractive to touring cyclists with panniers and generally have little, or very little, traffic. However, there are also some sections along regional and national roads: generally, these roads have good safety hard shoulders. In the free downloadable cycle touring guides from www.caminodelcid.org We will inform you about the roads you will travel: their designation, surface quality, traffic density, and the type of hard shoulder.

The Camino del Cid cycle routes are pedalled by all kinds of bikes: from racing bikes to mountain bikes. The bike that best suits these routes, due to its versatility, is the hybrid or trekking bike. Compared to mountain bikes, hybrids generally ride more cheerfully on the road, especially on flat sections and descents. They are more comfortable than racing bikes when the road surface is poor, or has gravel or is wet, but they also allow you to «jump» onto the mountain bike route at any time: many sections are very easy and comfortable for a hybrid bike, allowing you to pass through incredible landscapes and avoid roads you don't fancy.

Some roads, due to their appeal for cycling or their heritage value - landscape, historical or artistic - have earned our classification of «Unique Roads, for which the opinions of technicians and travellers have been taken into account. Look for them on each of the routes we link to below. You will also find, in the downloads section, the route tracks and cycle touring guidebooks, which include maps, route plans, practical data, and all the information a cyclist needs to get started.

The routes
Cycle touring routes of the Camino del Cid along generally secondary roads with low traffic:

1 day: Ramal of Álvar Fáñez (Guadalajara). 65 km. Difficulty: low.
1 day: Gallocanta Ring (Zaragoza, Teruel). 78 km. Difficulty: medium.
2 days Ring of Morella (Castellón, Teruel). 105 km. Difficulty: medium.
2 days Montalbán Ring (Teruel). 145 km. Difficulty: medium-low.
3 days: Maestrazgo Ring (Teruel, Castellón). 244 km. Difficulty: medium-high.
▪ 4 days: The Conquest of Valencia (Teruel, Castellón, Valencia). 222 km. Difficulty: low-medium.
▪ 4 days: The Defence of the South (Valencia, Alicante). 249 km. Difficulty: low-medium.
▪ 4 days: Borderlands (Guadalajara, Soria, Zaragoza). 258 km. Difficulty: low.
5 days The Three Taifas (Zaragoza, Guadalajara, Teruel). 309 km. Difficulty: medium-low.
7 days Exile (Burgos, Soria, Guadalajara). 362 km. Difficulty: low.