The Serralada Loop

Where the Maresme Crest first takes you up north along the coast, this one threads up Riu Besòs. The first few kilometres are tarmac before the path drops to gravel, where you start to feel the city receding behind you. It's a strange opening: this stretch is being converted into a natural park, and the conversion is mid-work. Expect parked machinery and the occasional detour around earth-moving. It has its own urban-industrial character and it's quiet, because nobody else thinks to ride here yet. If you'd rather skip it, the parallel road rejoins the route just before Montmeló.

After Montmeló, you swing east onto the Riu Mogent and the route changes completely. Tree-lined singletrack along the riverbed, shaded even in July, gentle enough to let you breathe before the work starts. Take the rest, the first climb begins just after Roca del Vallès.

From the ridgeline up, the route lives in two views at once. Inland, the plain unfolds with Montserrat on the horizon when the air is clear. South-east, the Mediterranean reappears in pieces. You hug the Serralada ridge for the next stretch, before the route drops back into the city.

The last main descent is the reason we keep coming back to this one. It's hard to overstate the sensation of rolling down a track with Barcelona in front of you and open water dead ahead.

Why ride it

If you've already done the Maresme Crest and want something a bit shorter, this is the next one. More gravel, gentler river opening, same view from the top earned a different way. If you haven't done the Maresme Crest yet, this loop is a fair introduction: soft in the first half, demanding in the second.