What’s it like cycling in a heatwave? Bilbao, Spain (June 28 2025)

Today was absolutely brutal – 37ºC and we still thought it was a good idea to ride. We started out from Bilbao, headed to Plentzia for some pintxos (because priorities 🥵🍢), then tackled the beautiful climb up Urduliz.

Honestly, it was way too hot – we were drinking gallons of water just to stay upright. But despite melting on the bike, it was one of those rides where you’re suffering but still loving every second.

🔥 Route: Bilbao ➡️ Plentzia ➡️ Urduliz
🌡️ Temperature: 37ºC (why did we do this again?)
🚴 Highlights: Pintxos in the shade, heat delirium, and a surprisingly gorgeous climb

Strava – https://www.strava.com/activities/14941774504

00:00 – 01:19 – Introduction
01:19 – 02:53 – Getxo
02:53 – 03:54 – Sopelana
03:54 – 04:56 – Plentzia & Gorliz Beach
04:56 – 06:00 – Pintxo stop
06:00 – 07:00 Watching a race
07:00 – 09:11 – Back in Bilbao
09:11 – 12:17 – Beers & Outro

Hope you enjoy coming along on this sweaty adventure.

[Music] oh hello for those of you who don’t know me my name is Ben and I’m into gravel cycling so you’re currently in Bil Bao with me it’s uh just before 9:00 and I think it’s probably about 26° it is going to be so hot uh yeah just getting interrupted by everything around here so yeah um there it goes again no objectives today literally just survive the heat i think uh the only objective is operation tan lines i’m going to try and get the greatest tan lines one has ever seen fact 50 is already on see how we go [Music] [Music] so we’re just riding through through we’re just discussing how it’s probably like the nicest uh probably the most expensive place to live in in the area to be fair of like Bilbao get these views right next to the sea um how hot how hot is it
it’s really hot what is your things
25 already
okay it says 25 but Mikuel’s thing said 18 earlier and it definitely wasn’t 18 so riding in 25 degrees we’ve got our sun cream on and the tan lines are to be expected they’re coming in due course but I didn’t wear the right t-shirt to get those perfect lines so they probably won’t be too nice but I’m sure they’ll be fine my legs will definitely be all right nice and crispy so I made made a bit of a boo boo on the directions uh I should have listened to Mik i said I know a fast way up an elevator turns out um we’re walking up some horrible stairs you know it’s a hot day when uh when your top lip you get that top lip sweat where like before anything else starts sweating you your top lip starts sweating first it’s one of those days the top lip sweats there
is a lot of like rubber breaking when we push it there’s a lot of spikes yeah techy section that we just went through was uh not ideal now i think this is where the stairs are isn’t it but or were they back there
yeah there is a stairs back there
and and here I think we’ll see oh it’s getting hot what’s it showing now 30
what’s your uh thing showing on the the temperature 22 but I think it’s not even close to
It says 22 it’s gone down apparently and it’s closer to midday now i think it must be like
almost Yeah I think it’s 30 yeah I think it’s 30 [Music] my favorite beach probably on the planet to be honest sopana so good surfer vibes nudes Beach it’s got like this rock that separates the two beaches and the waves are huge so like the surfers love it they call it the the Savage Beach here uh it literally is called the Savage Beach [Music] first time coming over this bridge in uh Palenthia very nice oh something feels soft in my tires but I’m sure it’s fine and uh yeah nice little uh nice area plenty [Music] i don’t really know where we’re going but uh just following this little cycle path all the way around the beach it is so hot we’re on 36 km it must be about 32° [Music] got to get the old electrolytes inside because well dehydration today is inevitable [Music] very nice h oh there we go
that’s not everything that’s not all I bought
no you’re getting more i get two little bodillas he’s fueling up he’s got this and he’s going he’s going to get some more mikuel is a machine when it comes to food well we just stepped out of the bar into the sun and it feels like stepping into an oven so we’re we’re under a tree um and somehow we’ve got to make it back to Bil Bao in one piece let’s uh see how this goes then [Applause] some event going past i think it’s called La Vera uh not really too clued up i don’t really follow the the cycling events too much just like riding away here they come [Applause] they all look pretty young though maybe like 18 years old I reckon 18 19 they were rapid and I was coming down it was I was thinking they were going uphill and then down but no no they’re rapid they are rapid some more coming just wait for them it’s a good excuse to to stay in the shade to be honest and uh get some rest there they go [Music] we’ve just gone up mountain Erdulith I think the name is is it Erdulith
um I think so
yeah here is the I think temple or maybe some monastery on the map this point it’s like uh saint something of Lady Umbra
ah nice it’s so hot we’re melting on the road cars are going by pretty dangerously as always if you’re a car driver you see us at cyclist show some resc but yeah I think we come to the top of the climb in about 100 m maybe don’t know but it must be 35° the watch shows what does the watch say
23
the watch is is it’s in a world of its own
showing crowd yeah we we think we’re showing a Russian temperature not the Spanish it’s definitely closer to 33 than 23 [Music] into the bar near where Miko lives going to um going to have a little cheeky drink yeah you’re a filming star no no it’s fine
pretty good ride to be honest u we managed 61k in a time of 3 hours and 11 in this heat i think that’s pretty
pretty good going oh there we [ __ ] go let’s rock and roll you go first i can uh get some B-roll of you [Music] [Music] don’t know why did you get one as well yeah so refreshing i don’t know what happened but look at the state of my leg i think it’s from the road [Music] well I’m exhausted it’s very hot in this house i put a little thermostat outside the the window and I I just checked that and it’s like 31° in the shade so it’s probably about 31° in this house post ride meal peanut butter with a spoon i’m going to eat a bit of this now anyone who thinks I’m weird doing this it’s fine oh my god i love peanut butter so much lot of protein in this got a lot of everything in this really potassium magnesium per 100 g there’s 518 calories and this is 510 g i’ve had a shower and I’m still sweating excuse me if I’ve got like peanut butter all around my lips as well 67 kilometers 3 hours and 30 um we climbed 600 m which is pretty good oh my god so what my phone says it says maximum 37° at one point uh it said the average was 28 degrees we started when it was 22° and then obviously it just it just went higher really enjoyed this ride like I loved uh going to Palenthia and then eating in Penthia it’s a gorgeous uh place uh let me just take another little bit of peanut butter so good then Palenthia we went up to Aduliv i think the name of the mountain is probably the best climb in Bilbao so make sure you do it from that angle though not the other way so like from Penthia up do live so yeah thanks for watching if you like peanut butter like this video if you don’t like peanut butter dislike this video just either way just make sure you’re liking or disliking you can dislike my videos i I don’t mind like it’s fine i I won’t be offended captain Manny the peanut butter champion he’ll be offended if you don’t like this video [Music]