Turismo de Galicia

We start the day in the bike friendly space of Hotel Balneario Lobios Caldaria, specially designed for cycling enthusiasts. This hotel also offers bicycle parking, a bike workshop and washing area and even a recharge area for electric bicycles. Today, we have 38 kilometres to go until we reach our final destination at the As Conchas Reservoir, in the Municipality of Muíños. With the help of the MTB Centre’s general map and the tracks downloaded on our GPS, we leave Riocaldo and head towards Bubaces through Route 9, where we start to climb up in the direction of Alto de Santa Eufemia. As we proceed on a forest track in perfect condition, we enjoy a great panoramic view of the Serra do Xurés and the neighbouring mountains of Portugal; even from here we get to guess the location of Portela do Home, the border crossing with the neighbouring country.

Once we get past Alto de Santa Eufemia, we start a long ride down to connect with Route 6 "Vía Nova", which leads us back to Riocaldo; we then continue towards the Vilameá mountains and then on to as far as Lobios village. It is now time to recover our strength, as we have accumulated many metres of height difference in the first part of the day and we still have a good stretch of climb to go before reaching Ganceiros. In its urban centre, there are several places to have coffee and eat something before continuing on our trip.

The Vía Nova Nature Trail, a stretch of which is shared with Route 6 "Vía Nova", leads us to the hamlet of Reparade and, from there, we continue our leg until we reach the A Clamadoira Hermitage. From this chapel, we have fun enjoying a beautiful panoramic view of the As Conchas Reservoir. The moment we have been waiting for all day has arrived: the final descent towards the Rectory of San Pedro; a very fun and narrow technical path that leads to the road, where we can ride easily the last kilometres to O Corgo. In this village we find a shuttle that takes us to As Maus de Salas hamlet to spend the night.

We were surely impressed with the Hotel Balneario facilities, and the Aviva Tourist Welcome Centre confirms that Serra do Xurés is a destination for cyclists. In this small village, we find a set of buildings renovated for hostel style or individual room accommodation, a small inn where you can eat at any time of day and common areas to store your bike, repair it and clean it, and where you can also get information about the MTB Centre.

Start Stage 1: Balneario de Lobios.
Recommended season: Spring, summer and autumn.
Recommended bicycle: Cross country, trail or e-bike.
Recommended gear: Backpack with capacity for 2-3 liters of water and 12-15 liters of total capacity. GPS, small first aid kit, jacket for wind and water, basic kit tools, food. Map of the MTB Center.
Recommendation for transfers: It is recommended to leave the car in the parking lot or outside area of Lobios Spa. It is possible to contract the luggage transport and the transfer from O Corgo to the reception point of  As Maus de Salas with Aviva Center company.

As dawn breaks on As Maus de Salas, we prepare to face the second leg of our tour. The baker of Pitôes, from a neighbouring village in Portugal, comes promptly every day and we buy our delicious breakfast bread. We say goodbye to the manager of the Welcome Centre and leave the village, heading towards the Salas Reservoir, riding on a stretch of road that includes Routes 3, 4 and 5. Several examples of megalithic heritage of the Xurés are concentrated in this area, so we take this opportunity to get a close view of the dolmen known as "A Casiña da Moura", before turning towards Route 4 "Picos de Fontefría".

After several kilometres along a forest track and overcoming a technical section in Lobeira Brook, where we dont want to avoid getting wet, we turn off in the village of Prado towards Route 2 "Travesía do Xurés". Now a long climb awaits us, so we decide to stop at a small recreational area and eat something. After a four-kilometre climb, we arrive at Albite, a small cattle village with very narrow streets, which we cross until we connect with a downhill path that leads us to the only road around here. At this point, we take a detour of just two kilometres to visit one of the few albarizas that still exist in the area. Albarizas are small stone enclosures that protect honey hives from bad weather and animal raids.

We get back on our route and climb along a road surrounded by large granite stones, also known as bolos. The ride down to A Cela is quite fast and technical. In this village, we are surprised by unique architecture, as many of the houses are built in the shelter of the huge stones found in the area, and some of them are ingeniously integrated with them.

We follow our route on the road to Lobios. On our left is the detour to the pools of the river Mao, a place we could visit, but we leave it for another time because it is getting a little late. After pedalling for a couple of kilometres, we take a detour to the left towards Route 7 "Circular de Lobios", in the direction of Puxedo. This ancient road winds between stone walls and chestnut trees of great size. Then we go through the village of Requeixo to face the last part of this stretch accompanied by the river Cabaleiro, which we cross over a small bridge in A Portaxe. Finally, we reach the Lobios village city centre, where we decide to eat something and rest a little before returning to the spa of the hotel. There we enjoy its thermal pool before saying goodbye to Serra do Xurés mountains.

Start Stage 2: Aviva Center
Recommended season: Spring, summer and autumn.
Recommended bicycle: Cross country, trail or e-bike.
Recommended gear: Backpack with capacity for 2-3 liters of water and 12-15 liters of total capacity. GPS, small first aid kit, jacket for wind and water, basic kit tools, food. Map of the MTB Center.
Recommendation for transfers: It is recommended to leave the car in the parking lot or outside area of Lobios Spa. It is possible to contract the luggage transport and the transfer from O Corgo to the reception point of As Maus de Salas with Aviva Center company.