Pyrenees 2015 Cycling Trip

TRANS PYRENEES EXPLORERS TRIP

SEA TO SEA Barcelona to San Sebastian 900+km / 75,000+ ft of climbing / tourmalet / aubisque / aspin / hautacam / col de jou / col de canto / col de portillion / col de bagargui

T RA N S PY R E N EES E X P LOR E R S T R IP In our quest to explore amazing new places on our bikes, we sometimes come up with an idea for a trip that pushes the boundary of what a “vacation� is. Luckily for us, there are a few like-minded folks out there that love a challenge.

story: Scott Murison

CANADA GOOSE

This trip will remain crystal clear in my mind for some

The route would re-trace some epic battlegrounds of past

time. Some who know me might not describe me as

Vueltas and Tour de Frances including Stage 15 of this

emotional right away but this trip was packed with emo-

year’s TDF..

tions for myself and the others in our merry little clan of cyclists.

With a route laid out before me on a Michelin map that encompassed almost 900km of riding with 75,000 ft. of

I hatched the idea last summer in response to a question

climbing I just needed to organize where we might sleep,

I often am asked at work “What cool trips are you guys

who would feed and water us, how our luggage might

doing next year?” A fair question posed to a guy who

move and a few other minor details.

dreams up and organizes cycling trips. My gears grinding, I thought why not offer something a little epic and see

After another few months of tracking down hotels etc.

if anybody signs up. 50% of me thought we would offer

the plan was set. Now we just needed a few fit and brave

it and nobody would sign up. I looked for a location with

souls to join us. We launched the trip at Brio Gusto eve-

direct flights and quickly zoned in on Barcelona.

ning where we present our trips to the public. (Coming November 22nd this year!).

Although I had ridden in the area, I certainly did not know it intimately. I spent 2-3 months researching, scour-

Cutting to the point it seems Peterborough has an ample

ing maps, pouring over descriptions of climbs, mapping

supply of bold, fit, cyclists willing to embark on a bit of an

things on Map My Ride, going cross eyed on Google

audacious journey. The trip quickly sold out.

Street view when a route gelled that would take us from sea to sea.

Fast forward to this August where Kieran, Zac Wheeler (Electrician, ex-Wild Rock employee, driver and mechanic extraordinaire), Brayden Macgregor (Wild Rock employee, driver, bike mechanic extraordinaire) and I strapped our-

ourselves into plane seats and set off to actually do the trip. I was actually a little gripped. The logistics were daunting, the riding was daunting and the heatwave we were entering was daunting.

With our jet lagged clan of 17 assembled just outside of Barcelona we thought we would begin with a “warm up” ride. A smidge over 50km long; how hard could it be?

Well our route took us up the Rat Penat climb. This has been used in several Vueltas and most recently it is where Chris Horner stamped his authority on the Vuelta and won it. In hindsight, as a leader, I am not sure I should have put a climb this hard on a warm up day as it had at least 3 folks, who shall remain nameless, walking. This was not the confidence booster we needed.

But our group is made of tough stuff so the next morning we all woke up and headed inland towards the real mountains and eventually San Sebastian on the far coast. No escape plans, no easy ways out, nothing to do but ride to the next town because that was the only place we were going to get food and shelter. We were working pretty low down on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. At this point I could sense real fear in some of the group. This included Zac and Brayden who needed to navigate giant vans on

on tiny alpine roads, in a strange land with little to no

the main square and all wounds emotional and physical

Spanish.

were healed.

Day 1 the riding was far less severe and moral was rising

Our third day on the road I knew was a wolf in sheep’s

all the way until lunch. At lunch I got a call from Zac that

clothing and it did not disappoint. On paper it had the Col

our hotel had “no space for us”. Hmmmm. After a fran-

de Jou (16km) and the Col de Canto (25km. Both climbs

tic hour I had us fixed up and a modified afternoon ride

few people have heard of so hard could they possible

sussed out. I was hoping this was not a sign of things to

be? The Col de Jou proved to be scenic, modest in pitch

come. The afternoon’s new and un-researched route took

and generally a really nice way to spend time on a bike. It

us to a beautiful dead end before we found our way to the

lulled us into complacency.

quaint Hotel Robert in La Pobla de Claramount. In the end I was not made out be an ass and it all worked out.

After lunch we travelled next to a river as we approached the Col de Canto. The heat was scorching, the troops

Day 2 went off without a hitch if you don’t mind secret

were parched but heck we only had one climb left to

climbs with 12% for 2-3km thrown at you. A couple of

do. Well it had almost all of us on the ropes within the

hours before we were to descend into Solsona we came

first 5km. It rears its ugly head right from the riverbed at

around the corner and bam, in the face, the road kicked

10+% for 5km. This had many of us groveling and we still

up. The climb to Pinos appeared nowhere on Map My

had 20km to go. You could see the road the whole way

Ride or any reading I had done. Ouch. At the top there

up the valley as it basically only did one giant switchback

was a luckily a lovely church and a great view that dis-

as it traversed up the slope. The heat was infernal and

tracted folks from punching me in the nose over not

progress was achingly slow. I think maybe Scott P. and Bill

warming them about this doozy.

were thinking of killing me and heading home on this one.

Calmer heads prevailed after a dip in the pool at the hotel

In Solsona we stayed in the fabulous Hotel Sant Roc right

in Sort, Spain. My life was spared. Sort was an action

at the doorstep of the old city. A glass of wine in the

packed sports town. There were kayakers downtown on

the lit whitewater park, there were mountain bikers, para-

dramatic fashion. The descent of the Portillion was tech-

penters and hikers everywhere. Very cool place. Like

nical, twisty and kept you on your toes. It seemed like we

Peterborough except different.

just got off the brakes when we zoomed into a rocking downtown Bagneres-de-Luchon. This was another great

After a lovely nights rest in Sort we were riding into France

mountain town. Sitting having a drink in a café guys with

today. We were seriously getting into the mountains.

backpacks full of parachutes strolled past and downhill

Today we merely had to hop up the Port de Bonaigua and

mountain bikers rolled in for a beer. I could spend some

the Col de Portillion. These climbs had vastly different

time in a place like this. A gondola rose up out of town

feels. We left the arid Spanish country side on one side

50m from the bar and café district. I might have to get

of the Bonaigua and climbed into deciduous forest on the

back in winter or summer!

Portillon. Rob B, Dean, Rudy, Dave G., Dan, Jeff M., Doug S. and Greg had been climbing like champs all week. Bill,

Ok now we are down to the business end of things. On

Scott P, Bob and I had been climbing more tentatively.

the menu for today is the Col de Peyresourde, Col d’Aspin and the Tourmalet. That is over 45km of climbing in a day.

I was hoping nobody was going to come unglued today.

I don’t think anybody was laughing in the morning as we

On a trip like this people’s energy ebbs and flows. Some

packed the support van with snacks, warm clothing and

are strong and brash on one day and retreat into quite

good wishes.

suffering the next. I was lucky to have Bill’s company on

day gave everyone a boost but our group proceeded to

the Bonaigua. We were just making sure everybody felt

crush the Tourmalet, the epic 70+km/h descent and 30km

strong by letting them ride ahead. Bill is like a Phoenix.

headwind flat ride into Argeles Gazost. I was no longer

He was digging deep into his suitcase of courage on the

worried about surviving.

Maybe the promise of a rest day the next

lower slopes just to keep some forward progress happening. As we hit the switchbacks further up Bill stood up

After 6 days of riding in the mountains we were all climb-

emotionally and physically and took flight. It was an awe-

ers now.

some sight to see someone get their second wind in such

We could not have picked a quainter little Inn to stay at

On went every speck of clothing had for the long descent.

for our rest day. We had Mom and Dad looking after their

In the wet conditions, sharp switchbacks took their toll on

little Canadian kids. Mom was Italian and met her Chinese

nerves especially as they were dotted with cow patties,

husband of Malaysian descent in England where they fell

sand and rocks. People noticed upon making to the hotel

in love and moved to France to purchase Hotel Beau Site

in Montory that they had blasted through 50% of their

in 1962. They have been in love ever since and running

brake pads. All stayed upright and were greeted by the

this little gem of an inn. We did cause them a little grief

first of our all night Basque celebrations. Sadly we were

as we drank all their wine on night 1 so they had to go

too tired to take part in this one. We knew it would be a

shopping next day. While most slept in a bit, did some

doozy when the hotel owner walked around and handed

shopping, napping and relaxing a few keeners headed off

out free earplugs.

to romp up the Hautacam. Not my idea of a rest day but they were all smiles on their return.

The next day rose sunny which was a relief as we needed a little cheer after enduring a Basque party right outside

How a day changes everything in cycling and life. After

our hotel room windows. Today looked easy on paper.

our rest day we were headed up the Aubisque. For sev-

It was only 67km long! How wrong Mapmyride can be!

eral days we had been bathing in our own sweat as the

From my research I knew we had a hard climb in for us.

heatwave tried it’s best to parboil our skulls and sear our

It looks like a climb that is 25km long and rises at a very

flesh. Today we headed up into the alpine region under

modest 3.8%. The true savagery comes in the first 7km

dark skies. The colours were intense in the meadows and

there are 6km of 12+%. Ouch!!!!!!!

provided a dramatic backdrop to some great climbing. As we summited after several hours of climbing thank good-

It was stunningly scenic which took your mind off the

ness Zac was there. He had his toque on, down vest and

searing pain in your quads. We also had out heads up as

shell. Our Garmin’s were telling us it was 6-7 degrees and

we were sharing the road with 400 people from the Haut

it was beginning to rain.

Route Fondo.

I was incredibly impressed with everyone’s performance on this brute. All the Canadians brought their A-Game.

As we cruised into Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port we noticed things looked a little festive. Little did we know we were in store for a fantastic celebration that included live music, wine and beer in the street and thousands of our closest Basque friends and Camino trail fans. Tonight our Canadians did participate. I think everybody knew we only had one day left to ride so why not have a drink or 2.

The son gods shone on us again in the morning as we made the final push to the sea. We had 127km of riding between us and San Sebastian. The mood was super positive all day. As we descended into San Sebastian and we caught out first glimpse of the sea I have to admit I got a bit choked up. We had actual done it. We had ridden sea to sea and were finishing in style and with smiles.

After tearing down the bikes and packing those up we were treated to an incredible night of celebrations as we hit San Sebastian night at peak party time. We fed on Pintxos and drank in the streets. What a way to cap off the trip.