Barcelona - Cadaqués 2021
The 4th edition of our signature event. 240km-3500m.
5:00 am. You wake up and have breakfast. Now you are wondering what to wear. Now you need to get dressed.
The day is going to be long, very long. Two hundred forty kilometers and three thousand five hundred meters of elevation are awaiting ahead.
Now you are starting to feel a little nervous.
At 6:45 am the first group led by Javier meets at Velodrom to start what is going to be a long and beautiful cycling day. It is a day to enjoy, suffer and have fun, to meet good friends after the pandemic, and who knows, meet new ones.
COLL DE LA VENTOSA
With the sun still hidden, we left the city of Barcelona heading north through the Coll de la Ventosa. A Coll de la Ventosa that always serves as a warm-up. We took off some clothes and checked that the legs were in place, or maybe not.
Meanwhile, the second group that is being led by Aleix, begins to meet at the starting point to start at 7:30 am.
Two groups on the move, some facing the cold road to La Roca, others starting to accumulate the first meters of unevenness and the third group finalizing details to leave at 8:00 am. A third group led by David, who just left home punctures. Make repairs at the store and, while everyone helps load backpacks into Aurum's support van, at 8:10 am the group begins the adventure. Start and stop. Two minutes later, around the corner, David from Tactic punctures his front wheel.
The day promises.
All on the go. Steady pace. Fair exhibitions. Good stretch of plain and think about the port throughout the day.
Santa Fe del Montseny, twenty-three kilometers from the port and more than a thousand meters ascended from the town of Sant Celoni. An important port, but without large ramps in which to suffer excessively.
SANTA FÉ DEL MONTSENY
Now with two groups on the move, we were facing the cold road of "La Roca", while others started to accumulate the first meters of elevation in the Montseny. At the same time, the third group is starting to get on the move. It's now 8:00 am. In the first 2 kilómeters, the group led by David got a couple of punctures.
The odds are starting to turn against us.
Everyone is one move now. Steady pace.
Santa Fe del Montseny is a twenty-three kilometers climb from the bottom and accumulates more than 1000 meters of elevation from the town of Sant Celoni. An important climb but without steep ramps, so no unnecessary suffering.
GIRONA BREAK STOP
Eat-Drink. Repeat. Try to regain the lost energy. Fill your bottles with water and mineral salts. Fill your pockets with bananas, gels, and bars. The road to Girona is favorable terrain, but not eating steadily your food on such a long day can be a problem in the next kilómeters.
All thinking about Girona and La Comuna. Irene and the workers of Jan Frodeno's premises await us with everything ready: Vegan, chicken, and beef burgers. Good coffee and some tremendous chocolate "bolondrios", a chocolate pastry designed for this event by Cereal Bakery. A good part of the participants gathered at the refueling stop. There we began to comment on what has happened and what will happen in Sant Pere de Rodes.
LA COMUNA
A few hours before everyone arrived at La Comuna, another group of riders had left to ride a reduced version of the Barcelona - Cadaqués. Probably the wisest option. Girona-Cadaqués. Basically is the same destination, right?
Now without joking, we tried that everyone had an option to ride with us this day, that is our priority.
From Girona, Maria and Carla were the ride leaders. The rest of the riders just enjoy the pace. They mimic now the route that the Barcelona -Cadaqués riders will do. Little roads through the eEmpordá, visualizing the Serra de Rodes and the Parc Natural de cap de Creus. It is time to hit Vilajuiga, the town where the climb of Sant Pere de Rodes Start.
It was the moment to look for the last bit of energy left. Many or a little, whatever, the needed to make it to the top of the hill. Eight kilometers and a half to ascent almost five hundred meters high. In any case, the problem wasn't the hill, the problem was the kilometers that were already done.
SANT PERE DE RODES
In Santa Fe all in peloton. In Sant Pere only reduced groups or going solo was the option. The views helped, but Laura and the Tactic guys cheering in the middle of the uphill helped a lot more. It only takes one last effort to make it to the top and drop towards Port de la Selva. All without ceasing to visualize the immensity of the landscape.
Perafita is not considered. Although the legs when starting the climb start to feel heavy. Luckily the wind helps and the desire to get to Cadaqués allows us to get our strength and enjoy this last climb while the sun begins to fall.
That light. That port. That company. How lucky we are.
Ones in the top of Perafita. Cadaqués in sight!
Two hundred and forty kilometers and all with a smile in their faces. You have done it. And seeing you finish this happy is the biggest prize we can get.
It is time to recover. Take the photo on the beach in Cadaqués, eat a good pizza, drink a good beer from Enve's friends and start loading bicycles, with the help of Jordan Workshop, to finally go home.
One more experience, one of the good ones, the ones that remain in our brains for ages.
Thank you for wanting to be part of this great adventure. Thank you for being part of Velodrom.
