very hard
Distance: 132km Unevenness: 3730m
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 - D417 - Bastida D18 - 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.
Los favoritos coronando Inharpu / Ahuski por la vertiente que a nosotros nos toca descender. -Vuelta a España 2016-
No se sabe bien porque los organizadores eligieron el nombre de Inharpu para este puerto. Habitualmente se le conoce como Ahuski. -Vuelta a España 2016-
Altimetría APM Ahuski por Bastide. (por donde subio el pelotón)
COL de Burdinkurutzeta 1135m, una dura ascensión de 9 kilómetros con muchos tramos por encima del 10%. Al fondo el macizo de los Arbailles por el que hemos ciclado en el puerto anterior.
Irati-Cize, en el corazón de La Selva de Irati. Continuamos hacia Bagargi.
Selva de Irati en todo su esplendor. -Irati Extrem 2013-
Pueblo de Larrau, vamos buscando el exigente Issarbe por St Engrace.
Issarbe por St Engrace. Duros tramos al 13 y 14%. -Cicloturista Pax Avant 2013-
Issarbe por St Engrace. Zona media del puerto, muy exigente si hace calor. -Cicloturista Pax Avant 2013-
Issarbe por St Engrace. ¡En grupeta se va mejor! -Cicloturista Pax Avant 2013-
Issarbe por St Engrace. Nos acercamos ya al cruce de Suscousse donde abandonamos la carretera que continua hacia La Pierre de St Martín.-Cicloturista Pax Avant 2013-
COL de Issarbe, nos tiramos hacia Barlanes -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.