New Heights (literally)

This past weekend I finally felt a bit better and was ready to take on the well-known (or at least well-known amongst the cyclists in the area) Rocacorba climb out of Banyoles, Spain.  This seems to be the climb to race up but there was no Super(climbing)woman in me today after being sick and I settled for just riding up the climb as “easy” as it can be to ride up a 10km (6.2mi) climb with an average gradient of 7.4% and an elevation gain of 800m (2,600ft).  When you finally reach the top you get to enjoy the view of Banyoles and what seems to be the whole of Spain beyond that.

View from the top of Rocacorba

The ITU World Cup Triathlon was in Banyoles, Spain this past weekend.  I really enjoyed getting to watch the racing for once and not being the one racing.  It was a standard distance triathlon with the 1,500m swim in the crystal clear lake and then laps around the lake for both the 40km cycling and 10km running legs of the race.  Both the men’s and women’s race were won by the Americans that are staying with us here at Mas Pelegri.  No pressure for us to perform now with this company around…

Top 3 Ladies in the transition area at the ITU World Cup in Banyoles

Today I headed out for an easy ride with the US triathlon team.  Not surprisingly these triathletes made me do the pacing in the front.  We all stopped at the medieval town of Besalu for lunch.  The most significant feature of the town it the 12th-century Romanesque bridge over the Fluvia River with a gateway halfway across the bridge.  It looks like the gateway was built to keep out the enemy.  Just like in the movies.


Medieval town of Besalu with the US triathlon team