Cross Country – XC Mountain Biking in Spain
Cross Country XC Mountain Biking in Spain Today’s cross country XC mountain biking route,…We started the route in a high valley in the mountains behind my home,.. a 10 minute drive by car. The first couple of kilometres were a gentle pedal and this was followed by the first major ascent of the day, a 4km gruelling climb up to the next plateau. The past couple of month this specific climb has become a bit of a personal demon for me,… a number of factors (new bike, trail running, lack of training, early mornings) have contributed to my struggle against the mountain, but not today! For the first time in months I conquered the climb in one go, and still felt good once I got to the top. A very good omen for the remainder of the day, given that there was some 70km, still to go. The next 6km of the route was a beautiful high mountain riding, undulating tracks through pine forests and orchards, and this brought us to the first village & coffee stop for the day. Refreshed and re-hydrated, we set off to cross the Valle de Albaida, 20km of good pedalling on off-road tracks, interspersed with…