Night Riding

We ride at night twice a week.

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 19:00 pm we go out in the woods for a couple of hours of fun, usually a group four or five riders.


As lights have become cheaper and more powerful we dare to ride even the trickiest and most treacherous singletracks.



These look easier at night as you focus only in what is in front of you and don't get distracted as much as in daylight. Often, you're looking for a certain section you know is challenging only to find out you've already passed it.

It also always surprises me that the uphills seem shorter at night (Strava is there to tell us that they might seem shorter but they aren't).

Just another fall

It happens every now and then.

You don't look for it but it is part of why we ride. We like to ride fast, we like to ride sketchy trails and we like to ride no matter the weather.
So it was not a surprise that I found myself on the ground in a slippery trail.

Winter is at its most this week in Barcelona. It rained on monday and the temperatures are way below 10º (I know, but for us, this is winter and this is cold). So the trails are really slippery. It is steep and rocky around here, so there is not a lot of mud, it doesn't hold on.

I hope everytime I fall down is like this one, just something to remember.

Testing GoPro around home

Got a new Go Pro for Xmas!!

I could't wait to go to Castellbisbal to test it in one of my favorite trails.
Enjoy it!

Early birds

Saturday we went for a ride in the Montseny mountains, 40 minutes north of Barcelona.
It was a planned excursion with the local club (Bici Muntany El Papiol) and we got up early (at least for me, I'm not use to ride that early in the morning, even less in the winter).
We arrived at Aiguafreda before 08:00, it was pitch black and the road where we parked was covered in ice.
The plan, in typical club way, was to ride up to a restaurant in Collformic, have a brunch, and come down looking for the GR5, a very nice and tricky singletrack.
The pace of the group was not very fast and it took us two hours to get to the restaurant; 16km and over a 1000 m climb.

The views were great, the Pyrenees were not far away and we could see the snow. Funny how the higher we got the warmer it was. We started at 0º at 400m and up top at 1300m we were at 15º. It's called thermal inversion and it often happens in the winter around here.

The food and the company was great, but the main dish was yet to come. The downhill through the GR5 was worth the early wake up call. More than 800m of elevation loss and over 3km of tricky but not scary singletrack.

Flat rocks wet enough to be careful, but surprisingly grippy, drops every now and then and tight single around the trees. We had to put our foot down a couple of times, but we are sure to come back soon and clear it all!  

Winter is here

Winter has arrived, well, what we call winter in Barcelona.
Temperatures don't usually drop under 0ºC, but it is windy and humid and it doesn't get much higher than 10ºC.

Wind means that some of our favorite trails see some trees fall down, usually at the exit of a fast corner! Humid means that some already sketchy downhills get even scarier!
But it also means that when the sun shines, and it usually does, the trails grip much more that the sandy surface we are use to. Take a look at the brown color, far away from the summer white color of our local trails.

How do you wear for this kind of weather?
If you don't start very early the sun has already made things warmer. You can ride shorts, an underwear layer (short sleeve) and a winter jacket. If it is colder you can use a mid layer, better if it is short sleeved too. You will soon heat up as you start climbing, and the downhills are not fast and long enough to freeze you.

Castellbisbal Night Ride

300 riders showed up for the traditional Castellbisbal mountain bike night ride.
Nocturna Castellbisbal MTB

For those of you not familiar with Barcelona, Castellbisbal is a small town 20' away from downtown Barcelona on the way to Monserrat (East of BCN). It is surrounded by canyons not really pretty but crisscrossed with lots of beautiful singletracks.

Despite the horrible weather on Friday the trails were in really good condition.
The Night Ride is famous for the demanding singletrack many of which are given names of cookies brands (galletas) just because in spanish when you fall we said you have been given a "cookie".

We already knew the trails so we wanted to be up front for the first cookie, a very sketchy downhill singletrack. We passed it confidently thanks to powerful lights and brave riders in front of us.
Soon after we passed someone failed a the traffic jams started.

We found ourselves alone in the dark next to the river until we got to the tunnel.
What seemed to be a GPS mistake was actually an 800 mts abandoned tunnel that took us to the first climb.

Then back to the riverside for a long long time until the ups and downs started.
The trails were great, only problem was the cold and the many times times we crossed a riverbed where the water was freezing!

There were at least three places to refill with water and grab something to eat.
The track was perfectly marked, there were people in every crossroads showing the way, there were catadioptrics scattered in the narrow singletracks to reassure us, there were danger signs in the downhills and chicken ways for those not so sure.

40 kms of fun and pain, almost three hours of good riding in the dark and a good diner at the end.

You can see a some video of the first ans last downhill here. It sure looks easier with daylight!

Cookie Singletracks 1
Cookie Singletrack 2
Cookie Singletrack 3

Allmountain Barcelona

El Papiol - Sitges solo singletracks

Sábado 1 de noviembre.

Parece verano. Las bicis están listas y engrasadas, el camelback lleno. No hay riesgo de barro pero tragaremos polvo.

Salida desde El Papiol hacía Pallejá cruzando el Llobregat por el puente provisional de la obra de unión entre la AP2 y la A2. Atravesamos Pallejá buscando el camino que nos lleve hacia la cantera, desde allí vamos siempre por caminos hacia La Palma.
Cruzamos la carretera y subimos hacia Cervelló buscando la ermita de Santa María. Aquí empieza la pista que por el bosque nos lleva hacia la casa de los perros. Si os parecía que ya estabais subiendo, esperad a llegar aquí. Empieza una trialera que, de bajada se pasa volando, pero de subida se hace eterna, y eso que según el gps no son mas de 400m.
Al llegar arriba se sigue subiendo por pistas y el paisaje se empieza a abrir, las vistas son espectaculares hacia Vallirana, Begues y Torrelles. pasamos al lado de la Penya del Moro y empezamos la bajada hacia Begues. Seguro que hay senderillos chulos que descubrir por aquí, pero nos reservamos para mas adelante.
Sin embargo en lugar de atravesar Begues por la calle preferimos tomar la trialera que acaba cerca de Can Grau (PR 162), seguro que perdemos tiempo, pero el desvío vale la pena.
Pasamos Begues menos de dos horas después de la salida, aprovechamos para repostar agua en Sant Cristofor.
Cruzamos la carretera y vamos por caminos buscando la pista de la Plana Novella, hoy es día de caza y hay que andar con ojo. Vemos perros y algún cazador medio escondido en el bosque, ¡que miedo! mejor acelerar.
¡Ahora empieza lo bueno! en lugar de bajar por la pista tomamos los singles que van casi en paralelo. !Que pasada¡ estas bicis están hechas para esto, a pesar de llevar casi tres horas pedaleando hay tramos que repetiríamos. Busco el lugar donde hice un OTB la última vez que pasé por aquí y no lo encuentro, debía ser alguna piedra despistada.