EDT Casas Bajas to Aliaga

Here you enter the area known as Spanish Lapland, firstly for its similar population density as Lapland in Scandinavia, but also for its temperature extremes. It can get down to -20°c in the winter and up as high as +40°c in the summer.

Teruel is the only city in this area and it's an out-and-back journey to get there, but if you need supplies and want to spend sometime around there then it's where you can start the Montanas Vacias (Empty Mountains, montanasvacias.com) bikepacking route.

This area is also home to the two highest points on the route both at around 2,000 metres (6,562 ft), so if you're here at the beginning or end of the season then they could well be below freezing point and/or covered in snow.

EDT Balazote to Casas Bajas

Here you'll ride out of the really big mountains and across some plains, but as with most places in Spain they plains are not so flat.

Then it's through the city of Albecete, along a via verde, the green routes (disused railway lines) of Spain, and into yet another range of mountains, the Sierra de Segura y Carzola.

EDT Cazorla to Bazalote

Into another wild and beautiful area of Eastern Spain, but with its own route finding issues: there's not that many good, legal dirt roads to ride so there's a fair bit of paved riding in-between the good bits. Having said that, it's still a very peaceful and beautiful place to ride.

You climb through what is known as Spanish Mongolia for its wild dirt roads and big mountain passes, cut through rocks with steep gorges and ravines. There's a fair few refugios that you can stay in for free, so keep an eye out for those along the way.

EV6 eastern France

France has many riverside cycle routes, but scenically this is in the premier league. The rocky valley sides and steep wooded slopes, particularly upstream of Besançon, are nothing short of breathtaking. Besançon is a destination in itself for its 17th century citadel and the preserved buildings of its city centre. Remarkably, neither Besançon nor the greater Doubs valley seem to have ever registered on the tourist trail.

After Montbéliard, the route heads for Mulhouse along a paved canal towpath which speeds you to the Rhine and the border with Germany.