MTBing near Madrid

After a few days in Madrid spent mainly unpacking the surprising amount of stuff we had managed to accumulate in five years in London--and trying to cope with the psychological consequences of making a choice to be unemployed and homeless for a year--we were ready for a break.

Alberto suggested we take a route that was a favourite of his as a teenager, on trails through parkland that roughly follows the tracks of the commuter train into Madrid from his parents' home in Las Matas. We grabbed the bikes that were most close to being fully assembled -- Alberto's mountain bike and my Long Haul Trucker and set off into the late afternoon sun.

Alberto looking out over Madrid - the smog is startling though!

Despite it being December, Madrid was enjoying a warm spell. After dull, cold London it was thrilling to be in long sleeves without a jacket. A couple times we dipped into shady spots which were quite a bit colder, and even had some snow leftover from the previous week. We enjoyed some great views of the Madrid skyline and the trails were in great condition -- something I'm just not used to with most of my MTB experience limited to the Surrey Hills.

Crossing the railroad tracks to head home along the other side

It was a quick ride, only about 15km or so, but it felt great to be out on the bikes again and enjoy the time we have in Spain.

The following day we took an absolutely outstanding ride up Mount Abantos, above the town of El Escorial, but as we forgot to put the memory card into the camera, we have no photographic evidence of that ride! It certainly whetted the apetite for more off-road riding in sunny Spain though. Which is good, as we need to try and keep our climbing legs for Ecuador in less than a month's time!