riding in Catalunya area of Spain

I've got a week in April where I can get off to Barcelona with my bike. I'd like to stay at a hotel
somewhere where I can do nice day trip rides, averaging 150km per day. Does anyone have any
suggestions? Mountain riding would be great.

Chuck Waterfield

 

"Chuck Waterfield" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've got a week in April where I can get off to Barcelona with my bike.
I'd
> like to stay at a hotel somewhere where I can do nice day trip rides, averaging 150km per day.
> Does anyone have any suggestions? Mountain
riding
> would be great.

Girona is where Lance and family make their summer home (well....maybe not the family this year) and
where the Posties do a good bit of training. It's as good a choice as any - 1hr. north/east of
Barcelona, 25km from the coast, a bit more to the Pyrenees. It's a biggish sort of town, lots of
roads in and out, easy to find loops. The routes over to the Costa Brava are fairly hilly, as is the
coastal route. It's a bit further to get up into the real mountains, but just about everywhere is
good riding.

Figueres is further up towards France, nicer/smaller, it's got the Salvador Dali museum and a ton of
restaraunts. Also between the coast and the big hills.

Most of the really big climbs are more NW towards Andorra, with a good many little resort hotels
en-route on Hwy. N260 and N162, so it depends on what you want most.

Note that there are a lot of small little villages to stay in - La Molina, Seo, Sort, all closer to
the bigger passes, but eating choices gets more limiting.

It's also a good bit warmer on the coast and I cannot say what the snow situation would be on the
higher passes - something to consider in April

Steve B.

 

On Mon, 03 Mar 2003 15:41:04 -0500, Steve wrote:

> Girona

Good suggestion. I think the cycling around Tarragona might be interesting as well (down the coast
some, towards Valencia).

> Most of the really big climbs are more NW towards Andorra, with a good many little resort hotels
> en-route on Hwy. N260 and N162, so it depends on what you want most.
>
> Note that there are a lot of small little villages to stay in - La Molina, Seo, Sort, all closer
> to the bigger passes, but eating choices gets more limiting.

And the climbs there seemed to me to be relentless. I climbed for hours -- in a car -- at about 6-8%
continuously.
>
> It's also a good bit warmer on the coast and I cannot say what the snow situation would be on the
> higher passes - something to consider in
April

I would worry. In driving over to France to see the Tour in July, 2001, from Andorra, where we were
staying, we encountered snow.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a _`\(,_ | conclusion. --
George Bernard Shaw (_)/ (_) |

 

Thanks to both of you. This gives me a great headstart on planning things!

Chuck Waterfield

"David L. Johnson >" <David L. Johnson <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 03 Mar 2003 15:41:04 -0500, Steve wrote:
>
>
> > Girona
>
>
> Good suggestion. I think the cycling around Tarragona might be interesting as well (down the coast
> some, towards Valencia).
>
>
> > Most of the really big climbs are more NW towards Andorra, with a good many little resort hotels
> > en-route on Hwy. N260 and N162, so it depends on what you want most.
> >
> > Note that there are a lot of small little villages to stay in - La Molina, Seo, Sort, all closer
> > to the bigger passes, but eating choices gets more limiting.
>
> And the climbs there seemed to me to be relentless. I climbed for hours -- in a car -- at about
> 6-8% continuously.
> >
> > It's also a good bit warmer on the coast and I cannot say what the snow situation would be on
> > the higher passes - something to consider in
> April
>
> I would worry. In driving over to France to see the Tour in July, 2001, from Andorra, where we
> were staying, we encountered snow.
>
> --
>
> David L. Johnson
>
> __o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a _`\(,_ | conclusion. --
> George Bernard Shaw (_)/ (_) |