{"id":16172,"date":"2020-10-23T09:46:28","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T07:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/2020\/10\/23\/pedalant-catalunya\/"},"modified":"2021-03-09T12:27:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T10:27:41","slug":"cycling-catalunya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/2020\/10\/23\/cycling-catalunya\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling Catalunya"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A couple of weeks ago, we published a post on which I made some\u00a0hiking proposals for this autumn<\/a>.\u00a0Nevertheless, since it\u2019s not good to be limited to a single activity, today I\u2019m bringing up\u00a05 BTT routes through Catalunya<\/strong>: Cavalls del Vent, the Oliba Route, the Cathars\u2019 Trail, Pedals de Ferro and the Trans-Pyrenean Trail. Most of them are inspired in hiking trails, although adapted for cycling. And the fact that they are long is not a problem because we offer infinite possibilities to adjust them to your level and availability. Come on, try to tell you\u2019re not even a little interested!<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”16174″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Cavalls del Vent MTB” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Cavalls del Vent<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013I\u2019m sure you already know\u2013 is a trail traversing the Cad\u00ed-Moixer\u00f3 Natural Park, and it was originally planned as a hiking journey. However, nowadays it\u2019s quite a renowned brand. Hence, it had to be in reach of bike lovers. The MTB route slightly surpasses the boundaries of the Park, but, anyway, it\u2019s still a lovely stroll and a unique experience. With Cavalls del Vent on\u00a0BTT<\/a>, you\u2019ll be facing 225 km and 7.300 m of positive slope in a circular route through the Pyrenees of Bergued\u00e0, Cerdanya and Alt Urgell. The proposal in\u00a04 stages<\/b><\/a>\u00a0is quite equilibrated and of mid-high level, although we\u2019re still talking about 50 to 60 km and around 2000 m of total positive slope per stage, which is not bad at all. If you truly are a machine, you may make it in\u00a03 stages<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0but \u2013unless you don\u2019t have 4 days\u2013 it\u2019s better to take it easier. Or do only a part of the route, but I\u2019ll talk about that possibility later. First, let me introduce the routes to you!<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0Oliba Route on BTT<\/strong>\u00a0is a bit longer (246 km), but it\u2019s also calmer (6.634 m of total positive slope). Furthermore, it is designed to be done in\u00a06\u00a0<\/strong>quite feasible\u00a0stages\u00a0<\/b><\/a>(around 45 km per day, on average). Thus, you have the time to entertain yourselves discovering the Romanesque heritage of the towns you will pass through, which is the ultimate goal of this journey. All that, of course, while coming upon a thousand different landscapes of Catalunya: from Montserrat to the Pyrenees of Ripoll\u00e8s, passing through the Vic plain, you will cross mountains and woods and lovely agricultural areas.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”15893″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Oliba Route on BTT” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”16175″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Pedals de Ferro” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Cathars\u2019 Trail<\/strong>\u00a0is also a classical hiking journey, but adapted for\u00a0BTT.<\/a>\u00a0This one takes us to follow the footsteps of the Cathars who escaped from persecution by the Catholic Church. The route starts at the Sanctuary of Queralt, in Berga, and takes us across the Pyrenees to Foix. The standard proposal is to split it into\u00a08 stages<\/strong>\u00a0of 35 km on average. Sounds easy, but I won\u2019t lie to you: it\u2019s a tough one. Physically, it\u2019s a very hard route, all of it. In the technical aspect, it depends on each stage, but the difficulty varies between medium and very high. Hence, you need to be well prepared. Another option is to do only a part of the journey, but we\u2019ll discuss that later.<\/p>\n

Pedals de Ferro<\/strong>, on the other hand, was already born as a BTT route. It\u2019s the great BTT tour of Bergued\u00e0, and it\u2019s quite a challenge: 260 km and 8.350 m of positive slope connecting the most amazing landscapes of Alt Bergued\u00e0 and Baix Bergued\u00e0, from the Cad\u00ed-Moixer\u00f3 \u2013already in the Pyrenees\u2013 to the Catllar\u00e0s, Peguera and the textile colonies in the South. Obviously, the physical demand of the route depends on how many stages you divide it into. Generally, the route is split in\u00a05 stages<\/b><\/a>\u00a0(mid-high level, with no risk of getting bored nor of dying in the attempt), but you may do it in\u00a04<\/strong>\u00a0or even in\u00a03 stages<\/strong>. And, if you are real pros, you can dare the\u00a0Pedals de Ferro Weekend<\/strong>, which is an adaptation than enables to take a stroll around the region in just a weekend. You better be ready, however, since you\u2019ll be facing 123,5 km and 4.406 m of positive slope in two days!<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0Trans-Pyrenean Trail<\/strong>\u00a0may be the crown jewel among the routes I\u2019m presenting you today, although it goes far beyond the Catalan border: in an almost 1.000 km route traversing Pyrenean lands, it takes us from the Mediterranean to the Cantabrian Sea, from Llan\u00e7\u00e0 to Hondarribia. It is designed in\u00a017 stages<\/strong>\u00a0(yeah, I mean it, 17 days on the bike), but that\u2019s obviously not in everyone\u2019s reach. Not only because of the difficulty \u2013which is high, remember that we are crossing the Pyrenees all along\u2013 but for a matter of time. Having 17 days off in a row a spending them on a BTT route is quite a life experience, that\u2019s for sure, but most people would rather diversify. Hence, it is usually done in stages, or in groups of stages, split in several weekends or short getaways, which is much more feasible. It\u2019s alright; you can make a\u00a0collage\u00a0<\/em>with your pictures, and that\u2019s it!<\/p>\n

Well, the thing is, you can do the same thing with any route! For the linear ones, it\u2019s obvious: the taxi trip back to the starting point is inevitable, so, in case you have no time to complete it, the transfer service can pick you up halfway and you can face the remaining stretch in some other occasion! But this applies to the circular routes as well, as Cavalls del Vent or Pedals de Ferro! It\u2019s only a matter of discussing it with the organizing firm, then you can\u00a0build any route according to your needs<\/strong>. You think the stages are too long? No problem! We can take a look at it, find a nice lodging in a town halfway and, that\u2019s it, now you\u2019ve got shorter stages. You want to do the Route of the Cathars, but you don\u2019t have the time nor the level? Never mind! We can choose the easier stages and, if you want to skip any of them, you can do it by taxi, we\u2019ll keep the secret!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one important thing, however. If you are planning to do a BTT route, make sure you\u2019ll enjoy it. If you find it too hard, you\u2019ll never do it again. Be reasonable when splitting it into stages and, if you want a piece of advice, do an organized route. It doesn\u2019t have to be guided, but it\u2019s nice to have an agency holding your back. You know, someone who finds good lodgings for you to make sure you\u2019ll be fully rested in the morning; someone who can assist you if there\u2019s any incident; who knowingly helps you adjust the stages to your needs; and, above all, someone who takes cares of the luggage transport! There\u2019s a huge difference between cycling 50 km with 1.000 m of positive slope every day with a little bag and doing it while carrying 12 kg! But I\u2019m sure you already know that\u2026<\/p>\n

So, that\u2019s my point, you don\u2019t have to worry about distance or difficulty or luggage! Your only concern should be enjoying your getaway, the route, the landscape. Everything else is our job.\u00a0All you have to do is pedal!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] A couple of weeks ago, we published a post on which I made some\u00a0hiking proposals for this autumn.\u00a0Nevertheless, since it\u2019s not good to be limited to a single activity, today I\u2019m bringing up\u00a05 BTT routes through Catalunya: Cavalls del Vent, the Oliba Route, the Cathars\u2019 Trail, Pedals de Ferro and the Trans-Pyrenean Trail. Most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":15651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[237],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rutes-btt-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedratour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}