The Pillars of Carreño

The special bicycle rental company Los Pilares de Carreño was created with the aim of offering a diverse, inclusive and integrating proposal, designed to facilitate access to active leisure and tourism for all user profiles, including people with reduced mobility or disabilities.

The starting point is at the Rural Interpretation Centre (CIR) Guimarán-Valle, a strategic location that allows you to cover, in just 15 kilometres of circular route and of low difficulty, more than 24 points of tourist interest in the council of Carreño.

In this environment you can visit a didactic classroom dedicated to the Neolithic of Monte Areo, contemplate more than 30 hórreos and paneras of the Carreño style, as well as four churches with historical relevance, several fountains and traditional washing places, a 13th century tower, and follow cultural itineraries such as the Camín de les Muyeres de la Paxa or the Clarinian Route, linked to the novelist Leopoldo Alas "Clarín". In addition, the route includes passing through rural palaces, old lime kilns, an airfield with a plaque commemorating an air battle in 1936, and several panoramic viewpoints.

The routes combine natural and cultural heritage with open-air leisure, and can be adapted as family, cultural, literary or gastronomic walks. All of them include a picnic with Asturian products, and the activities are designed to be accessible to people with disabilities.

The available fleet is made up of 22 electric velocipedes, all of them equipped with disc brakes and shock absorbers, and includes a wide variety of vehicles:

• Tandem adapted for people with severe disabilities, equipped with reverse gear, special toe clips and restraining harnesses.
• Velocipedes with trolley, suitable for transporting children, the elderly or pets.
• Tricycles and reverse tricycles, which offer greater stability for those who have balance difficulties or do not feel safe on conventional bicycles.
• Standard electric bicycles.
• Parallel double seat bicycles, designed for people with very reduced mobility, with harnesses, seat belts, footplates and three levels of pedal assistance.
• Lopifit PASBIC, an electric bicycle that allows you to walk, combining the benefits of walking with those of cycling.

Among the thematic proposals are the Clarín routes, which allow visitors to visit places linked to the life and work of the writer Leopoldo Alas "Clarín", such as the house where he spent his summer holidays, accompanied by literary quotations and a picnic consisting of sandwiches, pastries and a drink.

The general approach of the project seeks to merge sport, nature, culture, fun and gastronomy, with the aim of offering an inclusive and accessible experience for all audiences, as well as contributing to the development of rural tourism and the promotion of adapted sports.

The promoters of the service have more than three decades of experience living in the area, just a few metres from the starting point, which has allowed them to design routes perfectly adapted to the characteristics of the environment and the target public. This experience is reflected in the choice of different types of electric vehicles, specially designed to guarantee a truly inclusive offer, integrating all user profiles.