challenge
Distance: 160km Unevenness: 4150m
Artzaiak... Shepherds... it is a simple recognition, homage would be saying much, to this social group which during thousands of years has been interacting with the environment, creating the landscape we now see. Past and present, be taken into account, as for bikers (who is those to whom these routes are directed), this present can materialize in form of a white Citroen C15 followed by a dog (sheepdog, of course) suddenly emerging in any travel curve. For all that, Artzaiak (which means shepherds in basque).
We have included under the name of Artzaiak a series of routes that are developed in the same geographic space and that in a nutshell are modifications of the same idea so in this way it is possible to choose the difficulty of each different route.
For a better understanding of the possibilities, we have used the diagram of clothing sizes that more or less everyone understands; S, M, L and XL.
In general, the aim is to go over the Arbailles massif, which we will ascend by Ahüski, and the northern slopes of the Irati forest where we will place ourselves either ascending by Burdinkurutzeta or Artaburu. The closing will be through the ramps that touring the Valley of Sainte Engrace will end up leading us to Arette by Issarbe.
Itinerarie: Arette D918 - Tardets-Sorholus D247 - Altzai D117 - Otsolatze - Behorlegi - D18 - D2933 - D933 - SJ Pied de Port D301 - Esterenzubi - Artaburu - Irati Cize D19 - Bagargi - Larrau (village) D26 - D113 - Sainte Engrace - Suscousse D632 - Issarbe - Barlanes - D918 Arette
If you want to see the route on wikiloc website click on the green icon on the map.
Alrededores de Arette. El campo base perfecto para practicar cicloturismo en el Pirineo Atlántico.
El pelotón desciende el puerto de Inharpu/Ahuski hacia Altzai -Vuelta a España 2016-
Zonas pastoriles con largos tramos tendidos en lo alto del macizo de los Arbailles, Ahuski.
Cabeza de carrera en el COL de Inharpu, habitualmente conocido como Ahuski.
Altimetría APM Ahuski por Bastide. (por donde subio el pelotón) -Vuelta a España 2016-
Gran ambiente de ciclismo en Ahuski, el primer puerto de la etapa reina de La Vuelta a España 2016.
Buscando el Artaburu, estamos en la Baja Navarra, en el punto más occidental del "Universo Artzaiak".
Superado el Artaburu, en el ecuador de la ruta. -Irati Extrem 2013-
Ambiente pastoril en la zona occidental del complejo de montañas de Irati. -Irati Extrem 2013-
Bosque incontestable en las cortas rampas al COL de Surzai. -Irati Extrem 2013-
Irati-Cize -Irati Extrem 2013-
Rampas entre el puente de Laugibar y el pueblo de Larrau. En nuestra ruta nos tocará bajarlas. -Cicloturista Larra-Larrau 2016-
Dejamos atrás Sainte Engrace con sus espectaculares Gorges de Kakueta. -Cicloturista Pax Avant 2013-
Mucho calor, mucha agua. -Cicloturista Pax Avant 2013-
COL de Issarbe, ya hemos superado los 4000 metros, se acabaron las cuestas por hoy. -Cicloturista Pax Avant 2013-
We are where we are, in the Atlantic Pyrenees, with a plain to the North with localities at very low altitude and ports that are close to the 2000m range.
The southern slope is more "human", towns are in a higher altitude and the slopes are not so important.
The vast majority of the routes cover the ports of the "greats": Issarbe, La Piedra de St Martin, Laberouat, Bagargi, Artaburu, Arnostegi, Ahuski, Larrau...with slopes ranging between 1000 and 1700 meters. Some routes ascent one of these ports, others 2 or 3 and even more.
We anticipated this so the criteria are clear for each 6 levels that we have chosen for the ranking of the routes.