In answer to a question on another thread, there are a lot of public rights of way in the whole community of Madrid, known as Vias Pecuarias. The web site is

http://www.madrid.org/ceconomia/agricultura/html/pagprincipal.html

Vias Pecuarias were originally tracks used to move livestock from one area to another, but as this is dying down the Madrid council is trying to create a network of paths for non-motorised leisure use.

What I tend to do is use the map to find roughly where they are, then just cycle along them until I run out of steam, which doesn't take me too long, or they are blocked by farmers who don't like people using them although they have no right to block them (this can be done by either the use of fences or sometimes by putting bulls in the field so keep your eyes open !), or they become difficult to follow or even just fade out.

There are other cycling web sites with GPS routes available for download, and if you google MTB they come up, but at the moment they seem to be for people far fitter than I am, so I haven't tried them - maybe one day.

If anyone has any favourite routes I would be interested to learn of them.

excellent, thanks! another option is to use the Vias Verdes, old train lines that have the rails removed and then turned into cycle paths. I haven't had time to do one yet, but they apparently go for miiiilllllleeeeeeeeessssss (or, go kilometres!)

http://www.viasverdes.com/ViasVerdes

I used to do most of My cycling in the Casa de campo , theres plenty of roads and off roads , and you can see wildlife Lizards , sheep , tigers and monkeys , hookers etc .
There is also a cycle track that goes right round madrid about 60 K i think , and a cycle track that goes all the way north to Soto de Real , sorry I dont know where to find the links for this.

I had a quick look at the via verde site, but the map link didn't seem to work. I guess as it is an ex-railway it will be reasonably flat at least !

The cycle track mentioned by eskimo joe starts from around fuencarral on the M607 and heads North via El Goloso, Tres Cantos and Colmenar Viejo before ending at Soto. It is uphill more or less all the way.

It is uphill but I didnt think it was too bad when i done it , I still had energy to sprint past a snake , juts past Colmenar Viejo , which I initally thought was a pice of plastic .
If you want to do proper MTBing the club from the shop Bicimania go out every sunday , I never went out with them , but the guys in the shop were great and the photos from their runs look great .

That's actually where I bought my MTB and the shop is to be recommended. When I get my fitness level up I may look into joining them, but at the moment I think your snake would pass me without any problem !

the route around Madrid that Eskimo Joe refers to is called the "Anillo Verde", but some people refer to it as the "M-30 Verde" because it doesn't stray too far from the route of the M-30. It is a lovely ride, i've only done about 25km of it starting in Sanchinarro, but as soon as the weather warms up then i'll do the rest!

the only downside, is that there aren't any country pubs on the route, which for me is a must. When I lived in South-West London I used to cycle the Thames Path a lot and always stopped for a few along the river :-)

dont kid yourself , when you see a snake when you thought it was a bit of hosepipe you'd be amazed the speed you can find .
Thats my one regret after leaving madrid , that I hadnt been out with Bicimania club as the photos from their runs look great . If you have an average fitness I would get in touch I think they cater for most abiltys on their sunday runs .

Yeah there is a definite lack of pubs along the way . You would have to go into one of the towns and go on a magical mystery tour to find one .

When I biked into Soto de Real the track just finishes . I dont know what I was expecting but I didnt expect it to come to an end like that .
I was chuffed to spot the go-kart track there that my parents used to take me to when I was a kid .

Just a qualifier, I left Madrid two years ago. In the four years I was there I never did manage to hook up with a cycling group.

The Anillo Verde was just getting finished before I left, but I rode the complete circuit about five times (tried both directions). There were a couple of places where the route got a little confused, but overall it's a nice ride, and not too physically challenging (read: hills are not too strenuous). The problem was getting out to the Anillo from in town. Also while there are no "country" pubs, you certainly go by enough neighborhood tavernas and small restaurants that you never have to bonk from lack of intake. With my ride to and from the Anillo I would put in 80 km (50 miles).

As far as the M-607 route, I would ride up from the area near Republica Argentina along the Castellana lateral through Fuencarral and joining the bike path just before the M-40 flyover. After Colmenar Viejo I would get off the path and ride the M-607 to Cerceda then take the M-608 through Manzanares el Real to Soto del Real where I got back on the bike path and headed back to Madrid. This route is 90 KM (56 miles) and is mostly up hill on the way out, but stops short of the mountains. One other challenge is that you get lots of wind since you are exposed along the highway and it almost never seems to be a tailwind. There is a definite lack of food/drink options on this route without going into a town, but then again, there is no problem with cars for most of the route when on the bike path.

On Sundays when I didn't feel like a long ride, a meandering ride through the Casa de Campo always was an option. Good paved and unpaved route through the park and you could certainly stop and get your favorite beverage and watch the world go by.

In September Tres Cantos has FestiBike with both road rides and off road rides. I did the 40 km Sunday off road route in 2006. The road ride looked very challenging with climbs up in the Guardarramas.

There were also group rides organized in different municipalidades within the Communidad de Madrid. There was a cycling school that did the overall organization, but I can't remember the name.

You are way beyond my level ChrisR lol. Maybe by the end of Summer. I've made 30ks on what felt like hilly roads, Guadalix de la Sierra, Navalafuente, Cabanillas, Bustarviejo, Miraflores and back.

The roads are quite quiet, and the scenery is my taste. I may take my camera next week and post a couple of photos.

Eskimo Joe, I've been on that track a few times. It's probably still got the same surface as when you went on it as a kid, it's incredibly bumpy but has some great corners. Quite pricey now at 15€ for 10 minutes but fun occasionally.