Bélesta to Cére

The ride begins in Bélesta, a small village set among the clay-and-sand terrain that defines the early miles. Gentle rolling hills carry you away from the valley and into increasingly open country, where low scrubland and dry vegetation give way to the bizarre, sculpted rock formations of the Orgues d’Ille. These eroded basalt columns rise like natural towers from the hillside and stand as one of the most striking geological features in the Pyrenees-Orientales. They mark your arrival into the town of Ille-sur-Tête.

After passing through town, with time to stop at the boulangerie or the remarkable Caminade café and bike workshop, the route climbs back into the mountains. The ascent follows forest roads maintained by the Fire Defense Organization: wide, well-surfaced tracks that wind through stands of cork oak and pine with virtually no traffic. As the trees thin toward the upper reaches of the climb, the views open dramatically. The Spanish Pyrenees stretch across the horizon and the great mass of the Canigou peak dominates the skyline to the southwest.

The descent from the high forest drops through the quiet village of Oms on a narrow paved road before delivering you into Céret, a sun-filled Catalan market town with excellent cafés, a celebrated modern art museum, and the kind of end-of-ride atmosphere that makes you want to linger.