I left beautiful Kärnten on Thursday arriving in Barcelona in the evening. We drove into the night to Guardiola de Bergueda in North Catalonia. Friday was a work day from our Air BnB and Saturday was the first stage of the Orbea Cadi Challenge. Cadi being a brand of butter and also the mountain range here.
Stage 1
The butter challenge didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped on day one. I lined up at the start line with approximately 200 other cyclists, most of them wearing the nice golden cycling jersey that we’d got in our race packs. The jersey proclaimed finisher on the back, which seemed all very positive but perhaps slightly pre-emptive. The challenge is a “RTF”. It’s not timed or ranked as it seems Spanish laws don’t allow that without strict traffic management, including closing roads. Clearly the Austrians are a little more laid back. I started near the front, all the same, and we rolled out over the start line. I clicked through the gears and went to change into my big chain ring. Oh, oh, nothing happened. Something was blocking it. I pulled over to take a quick look and to my dismay found that the cable had been almost entirely severed. It must have got damaged during the flight to Barcelona. I’d not been for a ride since landing and had only given it a quick check to see whether everything look to be ok.
I messaged Ari saying I couldn’t ride the race. As I was doing that, what looked like a team car pulled up in front of me loaded with bikes on the roof. A guy jumped out and started talking with me in Spanish. I say with but at is a more accurate word, as I didn’t understand a thing. I said “English only” and pointed at my shifter. A picture was worth enough words to convey what was happening. He kept talking in Spanish (in the hope that I was a fast learner), measured the bike quickly then he grabbed one of the bikes from the roof of the vehicle and lifted it down for me. I was surprised. He seemed to be offering me a bike! I spotted Ari in the distance walking back slowly to the apartment and waved at her frantically. She came running over and I asked her if she could translate. With Ari, the babelfish in my ear, it became clear that he was indeed offering me a bike and was going to take mine and fix it. I swapped over bike bottles and grabbed my Edge 530. Time was ticking by and all the riders were well gone but the first 5km was supposed to be neutralised with the first of many climbs following. The mechanic reasoned that I’d be able to catch them up on the climb so I set off on my new bike, thanking him profusely in as many languages as I knew how.
I headed down the main road, taking the first left up into the hills. It was very scenic, a small road with no traffic but also no riders in front of me. At some point the mechanic drove past. I kept going and was happy to see flashing light in the distance, the ambulance and a police car following the back of the race. The cars let me pass and I saw the mechanic’s car. He wound down his window as I passed and we both communicated in the universal language of the thumbs. The direction being up.
The course took us up and down windy little roads. I passed many people as I had started at the back of the field. At some point two guys who’d been fixing a puncture road past me and I jumped on their wheels. I rode with them for a large portion of the race managing to keep up on the up-hills with not much room to spare. We came to a long 1000 m climb. One of the guys dropped back and I rode on ahead also leaving the other guy behind. At the drinks station, I had some success communicating in English before I continued. The road climbed up to the highest point of the course where it was starting to feel slightly cool. The road then dived back down into the valley over many km and it was back to the stifling heat. Just 20 km left.
I crossed the finish line and sat in the shade. Ari and Anaïs had got lost during their hike and I went and found them recovering at a restaurant nearby. We drove back to the start to our Air BnB in the evening and went for a bit of a hobble.
https://www.strava.com/activities/7253177429
Orbea Cadi Challenge Stage 1
Elapsed Time: 5:44:59, Moving: 5:21:51 Dst: 120 km/3000m
Stage 2
The following stage started at the end of Stage 1. I picked up my bike and lined up at the start. We began with perhaps 15km of decent before taking a left and climbing. I didn’t feel fresh at all and ascended slowly. It wasn’t until later in the stage that my legs came right. We rode through another park, which was very pretty but in general the roads were wider than in the first stage. We descended to a refreshments station and I spotted the two guys I’d ridden with the day before. I continued and at some point their group caught me up again and I rode with them again until they dropped back to wait for another rider. It was hot. I continued riding. Eventually I arrived at another drinks station. It was centred around a fountain in a town square and there was a bit of shade. Off again and I was soon climbing up another pass in the heat. I eventually go to the top, passing through pine forest and emerging onto a very steep downhill. The road was lumpy and the descent was not enjoyable until later where the gradient flattened off a little and I was rolling around sweeping bends. I overtook a group and pedalled hard. A bunch of motorbikes passed me but then couldn’t get away and I stuck with them until near the bottom of the descent. I pushed hard along the flat as I knew I wasn’t far from the finish line. Suddenly it was there and I crossed, right, under the finish gate. Ari was at the finish line with the couple who own the Air BnB we were in.
https://www.strava.com/activities/7258243841
Orbea Cadi Challenge Stage 2
Elapsed Time: 4:46:16, Moving: 4:35:12 Dst: 118km/2200m
Monday was a holiday and we stayed in the area and did a couple of via ferrata routes. They were quite nice and we met Anaïs again at a restaurant for lunch. We drove back to Barcelona in the evening.
