Los pedroches | alcudia valley | la siberia extremeña | la serena | guadiato valley | hornachuelos natural park | sierra de cardeña y montoro natural park
Inspired by the great ultracycling adventures, we have created a list of Balutia checkpoints. There is no need to stamp a brevet card when passing through them; it is enough that your GPS tracker shows your presence at each one.
The checkpoints are located in key areas of the route, useful places to divide the course into sections that will help you mentally tackle the 870 km adventure.
They will also help ensure that the participants’ live tracking map provides clear reference points showing where each rider is.
Paths are more than just routes between villages.
They are ancient threads that have stitched the land together, step by step.
Traced by those who moved at a different pace — with esparto sandals, with loaded mules, with the earth under their feet.
Many of them are fading now.
But they’re still there, half-hidden, waiting to be traveled again with attentive eyes.
Because when we ride them, we don’t just move forward.
We draw closer to who we were.
To how this land was once lived.
To the memory still held in the dust.
Balutia follows that almost-forgotten frontier —
where the present brushes against its roots,
where each pedal stroke closes, for a moment, the circle of time.
Very soon, we’ll cross those trails again.
Stay tuned. The dust is rising.
From the start in Pozoblanco, the Balutia route crosses the densest holm oak forests of the Los Pedroches region, heading east. The largest dehesa in Europe takes center stage, with an itinerary that combines fast tracks, some rocky trails, and old classic gravel roads, leading to Villanueva de Córdoba and then to Conquista.
A resupply stop in Conquista will be more than necessary. It will take several kilometers before you find another place to restock.
North of Córdoba, leaving Los Pedroches through Conquista towards the Valle de Alcudia in Ciudad Real, we enter a mountainous landscape where deer, wild boar, and other game species inhabit both sides of the route.
Old railway tracks, tunnels, and fast gravel roads lead us to Solana del Pino, where CP1 is located, a small, beautiful village at the foot of the Sierra Madrona mountains.
The curious Russian-inspired name refers to a term from the province of Badajoz. Reservoirs like La Serena and Orellana, along with castles and historic bridges, give a unique identity to a landscape rich in diversity and natural beauty.
A special mention goes to the short but terrifying climb up to the Castle of Puebla de Alcocer, where CP2 is located, a mandatory passage with ramps reaching up to 19%.
Re-entering Andalucía, the Valle del Guadiato region welcomes you as you head toward the mining area of Pueblonuevo, where CP4 is locaed, and Belmez, before continuing to the villages of Fuenteobejuna, whose municipal area is the largest in the province of Córdoba.
At the southernmost point, in the town of Hornachuelos, CP5 is located.
After leaving the village of La Cardenchosa behind, winding roads lead into the Hornachuelos Natural Park, passing through the settlement of San Calixto.
This mid-mountain terrain, with beautiful curves and smooth asphalt, will allow a bike with narrower tires to cover kilometers more easily—if accumulated fatigue allows it.
At the southernmost point, in the town of Hornachuelos, CP5 is located.
After crossing the Sierra de Obejo, we descend to the Guadalmellato Reservoir on a road with an uneven surface. Adamuz and then Montoro welcome us to the Sierra de Cardeña y Montoro Natural Park, where we will climb back up to Los Pedroches to complete the loop in Pozoblanco along some Al-Ballut project paths.
The last checkpoint, CP7, is located in the square of Cardeña.
