So I went to Girona to ride my bike with one of my best friends Craig Wales.
On travelling back to Barcelona airport on the Monday after four days of cycling and just having fun we were asking each other about the best moments and on reflection a few days later I am asking myself again. Without a shadow of a doubt, the highlight of that trip was Rocacorba.
Craig had read about Rocacorbba before we travelled to Spain but it's worth a little potted history here because it, as yet, doesn't have a Wikipedia page.
Approximately 20 years ago the Catalan authorities decided to build two mobile telephone masts at the top of a mountain called Puigsou at the highest point in Girona. This mountain is in the protected volcanic area of the mountains of Rocacorba. The road from Banyoles is 13.8km climbing to just short of 1000m - that's about 3200ft.
In its early days the road was not even tarmaced but it became a bit of an adventure for serious mountain bikers to try and get to the top. Then later on a training ride by David Miller of Team Garmin he discovered the road and explored and realised what a climb it was for road cycling apart from the area at the very top which had yet to be tarmaced. By chance and luck the Catalan authorities tarmaced the top part and with the efforts of David Miller and his very elite cycling club of professionals that he formed (Velo Club Rocacroba) a legend was born. It has become quite a iconic in cult statures in cycling, not like the alpine climbs in the Tour de France or the other grand tours which are much more famous but a hidden gem amongst professional and amateur cyclists where they test themselves against the hill.
The picture attached to the blog is the finish line which has been painted on the road by the Velo Club Rocacorba and there is nothing at the top but two antennas and a pallet to jump off if you are a paraglider.
The view is stunning (although I couldn't enjoy it so much because I am actually afraid of heights!!)
So what's so special about slogging yourself up a hill on a road bike in the middle of a hot afternoon?
For many people who cycle the climbs are the test of where you are, how fit you are, how you feel. Rarely are people able to climb together because generally they are at different levels of fitness and on the 12th June when I climbed it with Craig that was the case. I went off on my own and cycled through the trees, sometimes at 15% gradients and tested myself against the hill. It's nothing short of a spiritual experience for a cyclist to do that and to get to the top myself and wait for Craig to arrive was a memory that I will just never forget for the rest of my life and I guess I don't get the opportunity to create those memories every single day.
I fell in love that day with Rocacorba. I fell in love with Girona. I want to go back. I want to climb the hill again and time myself again and test myself and feel the way I did that day. It might never happen and circumstances might never allow it but it's just lit a little fire inside me which is definitely a good thing; definitely something that will inspire me to other things.
You can fly to Barcelona on Ryanair, hire bikes at Bike Breaks Girona and stay in a little apartment or hotel and it genuinely doesn't cost very much money. You can cycle 20km out to Banyoles and see the hill from miles and miles away because the two telephone masts are difficult to miss. You can ride up Rocacorba like I did and ride back down and stop in a cafe in Banyoles beside the lake and have a cheese and ham toastie and a bottle of coke - well earned!
I am telling you, if you ride a bike, there isn't a better day out than that.
Blog Post Number: 980
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