I bought my first mountain bike in March 1990. It was a nice Bottechia. It got stolen in two weeks. I bought another one. It was also a nice one, a bit more hybrid type of bike. I rode it all the way from Gdansk to Istanbul with Kössi. We survived and the bike did well. It then took it to Berlin for a traffic politics conference and it got stolen.
 |
| Brave man ride, not run |
So, I bought yet another mountain bike. Now it was already spring 1991. I rode the bike for a while, but mountain (off-road) cycling never felt like my cup of tea, so I sold it. And bought a road bike.
I have not been riding a proper mountain bike in about 21 years. It was maybe time to try riding one. I rented a Cannondale mountain bike with front suspension and decided to ride it up to Castell De Sant Miquel, which is the nearest 300+ meter hill here in Girona.
It had been told that it takes some 40 minutes to climb up to the castell. So, I took a look at the map and decided that the shortest route must be the quickest. Not so. The shortest route was a hiking path with 15%-20% slopes, large rocks and all kinds of unridable obstacles. I walked the bike up. It was good exercise.
At the top, the castell is in ruins. The views are incredible from the Mediterranean to the Pyrenees. Over Girona, with Rocacorba easily visible. The views were worth the trouble of walking the bike.
 |
| Path I took up the hill |
 |
| Views |
 |
| Views to the north east |
 |
| Half-way down |
 |
| The easy road down |
I found a jeep-drivable road down from the mountain. Riding down with the Cannondale was both terrific and terrifying. My skills are very rudimentary. I got back in one piece with my skin intact.
Another nice ride in Girona.
 |
| Turn at the green marker, do not ride up the hill by the bubble |
Kommentit