Ride 441 – Please make it stop. Day 2 of our epic cycling journey from Girona north to France & back

I joined a group of riders heading north from Girona to the Pyrenees. We planned to cross into France and then turn east towards the Mediterranean and then work our way along the Spanish (the Costa Brava) all the way back to Girona. I normally do not ride on consecutive days, and this challenge was spread across six consecutive days. I was really quite unsure whether I’d actually be able to complete it. Of course, that wasn’t the story I told everyone else.

If you are interested in a cycling trip through the Pyrenees, check out Pyrenees cycling adventures: https://pyrenees.cc/

Welcome to Cycling Vancouver. Hi, my name is Steve. I’m a 60-year-old guy, 6’5, around 250 lbs, who loves getting out on the bike and going cycling. Well, that and eating lots of baked goods. As you may have realized, I am not in Vancouver. Rather, I’m in the northeast area of Spain on an epic cycling adventure heading north through the Pyrenees. If you’re interested in seeing what the Spanish countryside looks like from the back of a road bike ridden by some spandex wearing old dude, sit back and relax. This is Ride 441. Today is Friday, September 19th, 2025, and we’re starting the second day of our epic journey with an immediate climb. It’s not a hard climb, but it is a climb. And I think this is the first time I’ve ever started a ride with a climb. The closest I can remember to doing that before was the Okonogan Grand Fondo back in July 2019. Though on that occasion, riders had five or six blocks before hitting the climb. And knowing that we were going to start on a climb, I’d already spent about a half an hour warming up before the event even started. Not today. It’s like one moment we’re touring through the bed and breakfast church and the next moment we’re off riding. Oh well, we have another beautiful sunny day for this ride. The temperature is around 23 C and I am very happy we are at least starting in the shade. Of course, that is probably not going to last. According to our itinerary on this ride, we’re going to start the climb through the Alta Goxa to the beautiful town of Campedan, famous for its medieval bridge and delicious wafer biscuits. I checked online for information about the Alta Guroxa. The area is described as being the land of volcanoes and the most important area in the eastern pre- Pyrenees because of its diversity and exceptional surroundings. The relief of the Alta Gara marked by deep valleys enclosed by long cliffs and walls of rock is what gives the area its name. Lear days are rough lands of bad tracks. This sounds fantastic, but the itinerary also says that the route will be about 51 kilometers and include at least 865 m of climbing. This is going to be a tough day. Easily my hardest ride of the year. And on top of all that, as we decided at dinner last night, we would take a diversion in the city of Olot and go check out the Montascopa volcano. We were warned that that would add a couple of hundred more meters to our day’s climbing. Whatever. I bet the view is incredible. Here is my Straa root map for this ride. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] We were hoping to continue along another bike path, but after scouting ahead, Chris figured the gravel was too soft for our road bikes. So, we’re back on the hard pavement. [Music] [Music] We made the left turn and started towards the perfectly named town of St. Steve. My town, I guess. So, we’re heading into my town. St. Steve again. [Music] No, I don’t like it. Unfortunately, it seems that there’s a little unrest in the region from protesting farmers. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] That’s fine. This is a beautiful area to ride. I’d never thought of Cataloonia having such vast corn fields before. And this area really reminds me of riding through the Sumass area out in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver. [Music] Heat. Heat. If you crash your car through, you’ll be able to find your way back. Yeah. [Music] Sorry. [Music] [Music] I Love cycling through these old train corridors. They’re absolutely spectacular places to ride. This path used to house a rail line from Olot to Jirona. [Music] Nice and easy. Yeah, it’s beautiful. It won’t keep up though. No. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] The city of Olot is the capital city of the Goxa region. There are four volcanoes scattered around the city center. Thankfully, none are active. [Music] [Applause] Oh, wow. They’re kind of a big names. [Music] I’m all right. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I looked ahead and saw the path up to the caldera and I cringed. It was very steep. If we didn’t have a lot of climbing ahead of us today, perhaps I would have tried climbing the path. But we do. So when I saw Leonard get off his bike with the intent to walk up, I quickly joined him. What a great view. There is a nice gravel path around the caldera and it didn’t take much to convince us to ride it. Beautiful. [Music] [Music] The path down is quite steep and there are these water channels that periodically cross it. Chris warned us to be careful and to cross them at right angles. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. Come on. Heat. Heat. Heat. Olot was beautiful, but we cannot put off the inevitable. It’s time to climb. Leonard told me that the climb is around 13 km with an average gradient of 4 1/2%. And that doesn’t sound too bad. If I were in Vancouver doing a ride like this, I would probably be climbing Cypress Mountain, a 13 km route with an average gradient around 7 and a half%. Of course, the last time I climbed Cypress Mountain was just over 4 years ago in August 2021. You can check out ride 120 if you want to see that. [Music] As usual, I again ended up at the back of the group and I could see Chris and Leonard not too far ahead of me. I figured I was slowly catching them. [Music] [Music] I saw Leonard stop and get off his bike. And as I slowly rode past, Chris offered me a drink. Can I get you a drink, Steve? Oh, I’d love one. Although I wasn’t finding the gradient too bad, I was getting pretty hot and I jumped at the opportunity to take a break and cool down. [Music] We got back on our bikes and continued the climb. I soon started pulling away from Chris and Leonard. Hey, [Music] hey, hey. Come on. Heat. [Music] I got really hot again and found a nice shady area to take a break and cool down. I stayed long enough that Chris and Leonard caught up and we soon set off together again. Oh god. Okay. Let’s go. Though the gradient may average 4 1/2%, the gradient ranges from about 2% to somewhere above 7. I looked ahead and I saw the steeper gradient. [Music] Thankfully, that steep bit wasn’t too long, and the gradient really dropped off once I got past it. [Music] I knew I wasn’t terribly far from the end of the climb. But I was hot again and wanted to cool down, so I stopped for another break. Chris had come past and told me that Leonard was going to take the van up to the top. He also mentioned that he had invited a bike packer to join us for lunch. As I got ready to continue the climb, I looked down the hill and saw the bike packer, so I just waited for him. Hey, you joining us for lunch? Are you joining us for lunch? I wish I could. That could be amazing. Oh, it’s about a kilometer and a half up the road. [Music] I was so happy to finally crest the hill and I could see the van in the distance. Man, that was tough. I need a cold drink. Hopefully there’s a Coke or two left. [Music] You guys just get here or something? Oh, that’s a smile on that. The best smile I’ve seen on you all the time ever. I think I’m thinking how nice the stay in the hospital was last year. After some food and a good long break, we were all finally back together and we set off towards St. Joan. I’m told that we should get some downhill now and I am so looking forward to that. My legs haven’t really recovered yet, and I could use a break from climbing. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Thanks. Hey Help. [Music] Come back. I got a little downhill relief, but not nearly as much as I’d been hoping for. I saw Chris round the corner in front and was very happy to hear him tell me that this section was nearly complete. After we had again all reassembled, it was time for a long descent into town. Chris warned us to be careful, but I just wanted to get going. Hello. Hello. Hallelujah. [Music] [Music] go. [Music] Hello. Hello. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. That was a lot of fun. Regardless how tired I may have been at the top, I doubt that I’ll forget that descent anytime soon. When we got to San Joan and reassembled, Chris wanted to show us a Roman-esque bridge in the city. Being that it was completed in 1138, blown up in the Spanish Civil War, and then rebuilt in 1976, it is not a Roman bridge. Rather, it’s Roman light. It’s also very steep and with a narrow path amongst the cobbles, it’s actually tricky to ride. I stopped at the top to take a picture before I slowly, carefully rode down it. [Music] [Music] [Music] Now we’re going to continue to head up the valley towards Compredon. Heat. Heat. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a bike path for us to ride and instead we were back on a somewhat busy road. Heat. Heat. [Music] Soon enough, we got to St. Pow and reassembled again before heading off. This time on a bike path. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] We had to get back on a short stretch of roadway before we could get back on the bike path. [Music] We got to the turnoff onto the bike path and it figures right onto a steep climb. The path was much nicer than the roadway, but my legs sure could have done without some of those steep climbs. I just kept telling myself it was only a few more kilometers to Compon. [Music] Should have told you I was coming up there. Sorry. Holds well. It ends well. Good cook. [Music] No. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I don’t know what died here, but this area smells really foul. Oh yeah, I know. It’s agriculture. Stop acting like a city boy. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] That bike path was really fun, but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. And now it’s time to get back on the road for a short ride into Camperdon. All right. I could see that incline up front and started to cringe. Thankfully, we turned off before the climb. It turned out I’d have to wait till the next morning for that climb, but tomorrow is better than now. We soon got into the medieval city and it was beautiful. Like many small European towns, it had a narrow main street and that was very enjoyable. Just slowly cycle along. Ah, another Romanesque bridge. I wonder if it had the same architect as the last one. If you look across the river to the left, that tall building houses tonight’s restaurant. Unfortunately for us old, early diners, it doesn’t open until 8:00 p.m. Though, I was really tired and hungry when we arrived after 8. My brazed lamb was really good. Dinner was definitely worth the wait, and the long walk back to the hotel afterwards was actually quite nice. This is a walk. So, while today’s itinerary had us cycling 51 km with at least 865 m of climbing, according to Straa, we completed 59 km and 1,095 m of climbing. And Straa told me that that climb was my biggest climb ever since I started on Straa about 1 and 1/2 years ago. Unfortunately, I also had a brief bit of cramping, something I hadn’t had in quite a long time. Probably because I hadn’t brought sufficient salt to mix in my bottles. I’ll definitely find some more salt for tomorrow since we are going to climb out of Spain and into France. I bet my legs will love that. Hello. Cheers. [Music]