Girona Baby

With the cold weather lingering over the British isles and people muting of more snow at the end of April I took the opportunity to join Al from Polocini cycling in a four day venture to Girona in Northern Spain. Known as a key destination for professional cyclists since, well before Armstrong made his home there it is still the primary residence of 87 professional cyclists and with good reason when you see the mountains around this relaxing city.
So the first game was spot the professional. Al was much better at it than me but then again I didn't recognise Steve Cummings when I was talking with him at the Eureka cafe. So to backtrack a little, before we left England we watched Liege Bastogne Liege at the soon to be world famous Polocini Cycling cafe in Romiley with Ireland's Dan Martin winning the race in a dominant performance. So it was an absolute pleasure to meet the man himself the next day looking like he had done little more than walk to the  shops the day before. A real nice guy and ambassador for the sport he part owns bike breaks in Girona. http://www.gironacyclecentre.com/  We rented our bikes from the shop for just 25euros a day, while they were a little heavy you can get anything you want up to Di2. You can also arrange tours, accommodation or mountain biking through the two front of house members of the team. Dan appeared very hands on in the shop checking the tyres on hire bikes, while his dad was in the corner fixing a wheel and his Mum also wandered around. In addition you can pick up basic supplies from bars, gels, inner tubes and C02 cartridges or at the end of your ride enjoy relaxing on a sofa with  coffee or even having an end of ride shower. The walls are covered with pro rider kit in various states of repair with their surplus for sale. Most of the pros have their bikes serviced their so if you are into celebrity stalking make sure you go there and post your photos.

Dan Martin on the left (just in case)

 

 

We spotted (I think) plenty of other obvious pro riders, judging by the team kit, the right make of bike 100kg bodies and the speed so high that I had no chance of telling exactly who they were.

 

So to day one. Al knew a great climb. With the effort required and distance from Girona we took a short train ride for the first thirty miles before almost immediately starting our climb to Montseny. This mountain was infamous in the 1970's when a jumbo jet pilot missed it coming up and crashed into it. A bit of a warning there then. The day had 7570 feet of climbing with 6500 of them coming in the first 16 miles taking us to the top of the mountain. It was a lot for my large frame and the last couple of miles to the top over slightly broken pathways up to 17% were a real grind but gave a great sense of achievement. One of my abiding memories was of a mountain biker in the highest car park some two miles from the finish looking at me as though I was off to my funeral.

Job done though and it gave a tremendous sense of satisfaction despite the effort it took.

We started down there or half way up and still happy

 

 







At the top you can see the road in the distance and getting ready for a rapid tricky descent

 

Helicopter landing pad just in case.






The route down was cold, temperatures in the Mountain dropped as low as 7 but the effort was keeping me warm going over 14 strava HC climbs and one 1st category not to mention many others. The way down was different hence the rain coat to keep me warm. I managed to hit a hole at 25mph and got a pinch puncture on the front but luckily stayed on. We made a rapid descent back to the railway, with time, effort, and the next days trip we decided to jump the train back into Girona avoiding a busy road in.

We went up the highest one-over there

Day two was the famous Rocacorba. On paper it looked easier than the day before. In reality, with temperatures hitting 31 degrees and long 15-17% Gradients and the previous days efforts in the legs I found it hard...Very hard.

 

Although we took it easy at the start over rolling ground, it was only 15 miles before we slammed into the climb. A sign at the start taunts you and with every KM along the route marked by the distance to go and the average gradient in that KM. The problem was when it states average 10%, half could be at 6 and half 14 so the efforts were really hard in the 31 degree heat and likewise on the lesser slopes where it varied from 4 to 11%.

 

At the start



Fooled into hapiness at the start

The ride just kept going with plenty of switchbacks and little else. Once again the finish was slightly lower than the top so we pushed on a further 2 km up 17% gradients to some spectacular views. We met with some local riders on the way up, shared some food of theirs, they shook their heads at our heavy bikes then we raced back down the mountain to lunch by a lake....the perfect reward.

At the top

Sitting on the paragliding ramp over a cliff edge was fun. The lake we passed on the way up can be seen in the distance

Coffeee and lunch enough said

The rest of the ride home was tough, with more climbing in what appeared to be a relentless effort particularly with the head wind. Overall though a fantastic trip I can highly recommend regardless of ability there are plenty of options for climbing though be warned it is a mountain range. The trip itself for flights, hotels and bike hire was under £200 for four days. I wish I had left earlier on day one and later day 4 which would of added 40E for 2 extra days riding, but as a last minute decision Al had other things to do so...next time then