80% of Rocacorba and Els Angels
Some mountaineers say that "the mountain being there" is a good enough reason to climb it. Same applies to cyclists. Wherever there is a mountain with a road up to the top (or a high pass), cyclists just have to ride all the way up and down.
Near Girona, one of the toughest climbs is the climb to Rocacorba. I had read about it (e.g. here), many local people had already told me about it, some even had boasted having climbed it. I had to try climbing Rocacorba myself. It had become a matter of honour.
So, I set out in the morning. The weather was nice, quite cool at 9 am, but getting rather warm when I got closer to the mountain. The guidebook has the following information.
It seems that the road to the bottom of Rocacorba would be rather flat, or at most very modest uphill. It is not. Rather, there are rolling hills (bigger than anything close to Helsinki!), which made me wonder what I was really doing. My legs felt tired, I was not feeling fresh at all.
I pressed on and reached to bottom, the unofficial timing points (either of these bridges) somewhat easily.
The road starts to climb. First, about 5-7%, which is nice. It was cool in the forest, birds were singing, pedals were turning as if by themselves. I was warming up nicely. After some 5 km, there is a flattish straight. After the flattish, there is nothing flat anymore. The road climbs rather relentlessly towards the summit. 10-15%. Hard for me. Really hard, had to change to the smallest chainwheel. It helped, I was doing fine, riding up the mountain 7-9km/h. Not bad. But it was not pleasant at all, it was terrible. Really really hard.
I was getting closer and closer to the summit. Suddenly, a loud noise. A spoke snapped. The read wheel was suddenly not true anymore. Oh no! Had to stop, had to loosen the rear break, which made it useless. I decided that I could not continue up anymore. The rear wheel would not stand the torque. At least it was turning still, so I could ride back to Girona or Banyoles.
Down I went. First riding, but descending 12% with only one break and rear wheel seriously of true is way too scary. I walked the bike down the steepest part of the climb, then coasted to Banyoles, took a bus to Girona. At the Bike Shop, Dave replaced the rear wheel with true one.
I was so close. Maybe 3 km from the summit. Bummer. I have to try again later. It will be as hard as it was today. The route today.
Somehow, I felt that climbing to 700m at Rocacorba was not enough. Just to round off my day, I decided to ride up to Els Angles again. The climb there is very pleasant, just hard enough, climbing maybe 500 meters in 11k. I made it to the Sanctuary, took photos of teddies, had a cup of coffee and rode back to my pension.
An eventful day. 73 km in about 4h12 minutes, climbing more than 1km.
(this is a draft, or a set of notes)
Near Girona, one of the toughest climbs is the climb to Rocacorba. I had read about it (e.g. here), many local people had already told me about it, some even had boasted having climbed it. I had to try climbing Rocacorba myself. It had become a matter of honour.
So, I set out in the morning. The weather was nice, quite cool at 9 am, but getting rather warm when I got closer to the mountain. The guidebook has the following information.
It seems that the road to the bottom of Rocacorba would be rather flat, or at most very modest uphill. It is not. Rather, there are rolling hills (bigger than anything close to Helsinki!), which made me wonder what I was really doing. My legs felt tired, I was not feeling fresh at all.
I pressed on and reached to bottom, the unofficial timing points (either of these bridges) somewhat easily.
The road starts to climb. First, about 5-7%, which is nice. It was cool in the forest, birds were singing, pedals were turning as if by themselves. I was warming up nicely. After some 5 km, there is a flattish straight. After the flattish, there is nothing flat anymore. The road climbs rather relentlessly towards the summit. 10-15%. Hard for me. Really hard, had to change to the smallest chainwheel. It helped, I was doing fine, riding up the mountain 7-9km/h. Not bad. But it was not pleasant at all, it was terrible. Really really hard.
I was getting closer and closer to the summit. Suddenly, a loud noise. A spoke snapped. The read wheel was suddenly not true anymore. Oh no! Had to stop, had to loosen the rear break, which made it useless. I decided that I could not continue up anymore. The rear wheel would not stand the torque. At least it was turning still, so I could ride back to Girona or Banyoles.
 |
| On the way back. I was much closer already! |
Down I went. First riding, but descending 12% with only one break and rear wheel seriously of true is way too scary. I walked the bike down the steepest part of the climb, then coasted to Banyoles, took a bus to Girona. At the Bike Shop, Dave replaced the rear wheel with true one.
I was so close. Maybe 3 km from the summit. Bummer. I have to try again later. It will be as hard as it was today. The route today.
Somehow, I felt that climbing to 700m at Rocacorba was not enough. Just to round off my day, I decided to ride up to Els Angles again. The climb there is very pleasant, just hard enough, climbing maybe 500 meters in 11k. I made it to the Sanctuary, took photos of teddies, had a cup of coffee and rode back to my pension.
 |
| View from Els Angels |
An eventful day. 73 km in about 4h12 minutes, climbing more than 1km.
(this is a draft, or a set of notes)
Kommentit