Riaza Los Gayumbos desde 1990

The past weekend, I finally had the opportunity to visit and ride in the known

La Pinilla

bike park with the company of some riders from the SpainDH team from Malaga.

La Pinilla

is a sky station, as many bike parks, not far from Madrid, in the

Segovia

province. Getting here is easy as there is the main highway just 10km away; the A1 that goes all the way from Madrid to Burgos in the North. Following the same path as many other ski stations,

La Pinilla

opened for the first time in the summer of 2011 for mountain bikers and since then, it has been a known destination for riders of all ages from all over Spain, especially for Madrid riders, due to the short 100km drive to get here.

Once you get to

La Pinilla

, you may think; this is small, very small, just one chairlift? But you will be surprised by how well they have managed to take advantage of that one chairlift and all the surroundings. With 18 tracks to choose from the 4-minute chair, you will certainly do at least each track twice, depending on your fitness level and skills. We have three green level tracks: Iniciacion (Initiation), Hadas (Fairies) and SX. These tracks are flowy and really fun, for anyone starting the bike park, these are perfect. La Pinilla has five blue level tracks: The River, Exit, Holybike, Flow, and Retorno. As blue runs, you will encounter a few more features, natural obstacles, plenty of roots and some rocks. From all them, I recommend The River, the start is awesome with beautiful views over the valley, not that you will be looking into it. Holybike is well known, you could say it´s the local equivalent to the mythical and known A-Line in Whistler, but of course, not so long and with fewer jumps and perfectly made berms, but is really fun. Opposite to the known standards in Whistler, here, the red ones are not the most technical tracks, black ones are those. You´ll find five red lines: Mirador (Viewpoint), Campeonato de España (Spanish Championship), Secret, DH1, Ardillas (Squirrels) and La Cresta (The Crest). All of them with plenty of steps, roots and fast rocky sections, a mistake here can be dangerous. Finally, the two black descents, Vertical and Bike Patrol. Vertical pays tribute to its name, oh man, it´s certainly vertical, so hold on tight, squeeze those handlebars and enjoy the ride down. Bike Patrol is something like Dirt Merchant in Whistler, a line full of jumps - big jumps, doubles and some scary features, so be sure that you got the speed and skills to clear all them, if not, a crash here can be messy.

There is a short north shore section called "Wood Park" that links Secret (red level) and SX (green line). The bike park is open all year long, as long as there is no snow, you can go and ride your bike. The past year, it was open until the 31st of December, imagine that. It opens just on weekends. Pricing starts at 17/20€ per day on low/high seasons and full season passes for 350€. There are bike and protection gear rentals, you can rent Specialized bikes and all the extra apparel to enjoy a full day of riding. Full face helmets are mandatory to ride in the bike park.

There are two options for sleeping right next to the chairlift; two hostels, one with single and double rooms and one with bunk beds where up to 14 people can sleep in the same room. Depending on your budget, you can choose between them. Breakfast is usually included and you can leave your bike in a secure place. Not far from the bike park, there are a couple of small villages,

Riaza

and Cerezo Arriba with some more lodging options, but you will need a car to get to the park. Lunch time! The bike park closes for one-hour mid-day, a perfect moment to refill your energy and have a beer or two. You can also just enjoy the beauty of the van life if you have one or a friend that has one. I myself, sleep in my own V4 van. There is a big parking lot just 200m from the chairlift where it´s allowed to sleep in a van or motor/mobile home without questions asked. Just keep the noise to the minimum and don´t leave your trash behind.

After a long day on the saddle, we chose to go to the nearby village of

Riaza

to have a good dinner. We were recommended to try "Blue" and we nailed it. The meat was tasty, not very pricey and beers were decent. Sunday was ahead of us, so we needed to refill for another long day in the bike park and go back to Malaga. Dinner time! We found a great place in

Riaza

just a five-minute drive from the bike park.