To Céret

March 28, 2022

Today’s ride has been in our minds all week - because it’s a significant climb that we’re not particularly in condition for, but especially because of anxiety about the weather. With the unstable and variable conditions we’ve had it’s easy to imagine that today could bring unpleasant or even miserable conditions for what looks like it might be the hardest climb on a traveling day for our entire tour.

That didn’t happen though. Instead we’ve been dealt an ideal day - dry, fairly warm, and on the Spanish side of the border the winds are mild and even favorable. Spirits are high as we check out of our hotel and bike north out of town.

Biking north out of town we enjoy an impressive view of Canigou again - the best view we’ll have all day as it will soon disappear behind the hills.

A common buzzard, I think. I take this shot and then tell Rachael I want to inch a little further down the road for a closer one, but he flies off the instant I start spinning the crank.

North toward the eastern Pyrenees. We have an easy and quiet ride for the first fifteen miles before we leave the plain.

We have Leo Woodland to thank for today’s crossing, which he mentioned in a forum entry about a month ago. Before reading his suggestion we had planned to ride into France along the coast through Port Bou, reversing a beautiful but challenging ride we took 25 years ago on our first visit to the region. This route over a minor pass promises to be much quieter though, and in spite of its 2,000’ climb is probably physically easier than the constant rises and falls along the coast as the road crosses one headland after another.

For the first fifteen miles we bike straight north gradually gaining a bit of elevation. When we come to the beginning of the foothills at Cantallops we turn west along a beautiful, quiet road that traces the outline of the hills for a few miles before dropping to the Llobregat River where we cross the busy N-11 and busier autoroute, the primary rites north into France. A short ways later we come to Agullana where the fun begins.

No idea what or where this is, but it has a striking appearance.

Looking back at Cantallops, tucked into the foothills surrounded by olive groves.

At Agullana we turn off onto the GL-501 and begin climbing toward the border. A smooth, striped two-laner, it’s a surprisingly fine road for the minimal amount of traffic it carries today. We scarcely see a car for the next 45 minutes as we grind out the five mile climb to the summit. The first three miles are a steady 7-8% - not bad really, though I’m happy enough when we stop there for a brief respite before continuing on to the top. It’s surprisingly warm - it must be in the mid-60’s, and all the outer layers were shed miles ago - and views are limited as we’re mostly hemmed in by trees so there’s no real temptation to stop until we reach the summit at Col de Mandrell, elev. 2,330’.

A little over half-way to the summit we start up again after our brief break.

Nearing the summit, which is at the monument. Note the signage, which describes the route to Céret as (per pista). The meaning of this will be clarified shortly.

A view north toward the border, but that’s not our course. The road makes a sharp bend to the right soon and crosses through a lower gap.

A look back at our road, from one of the few clearings on the climb.

Our fine paved road abruptly ends at the summit. We cross a gravel parking lot and sit on the steps of a monument to Lluis Companys to enjoy our lunch and lie back on the warm stone before crossing over into France. Lluis Companys is a pivotal figure in modern Catalonian history. Its first president, he was its leader during the Spanish Civil War until he was exiled to France. A few years later he was captured by the Nazis and extradited back to Spain, where Franco’s forces executed him by firing squad. A Catalonian hero and martyr, there are monuments, streets and plazas honoring Companys throughout the region.

There’s no summit sign at the top, so this Boulder will have to do.

Lunch at the summit, on the steps of the monument to Lluis Companys.

At what appears to be the French border although it’s unmarked, we see what ‘per pista’ means. The road really does end here, and on the French side there’s only a rough trail. The crossing is blocked for cars, which explains why there is so little traffic. Crossing by bike or foot is fine though, making this pretty much an ideal way to get across the mountains.

First though we have to work our way back to the pavement again, which picks up after about 2/3 of a mile of coarse, broken asphalt, gravel and sand that drops steeply enough in spots that we get off and walk.

Not bad really, except for a few spots that are too sandy or steep to bike comfortably.

It’s nice that we mapped this out on our Garmins, or I wouldn’t have been sure this path would actual lead us anywhere.

Gradually the quality of the path improved and became an easier ride.

Soon enough we’re back on rough pavement, which gradually improves as we drop from the pass and finally merge onto D13, now a typical French mountain road - narrow, single lane, threading down the side of a narrow gorge with cliffs rising up one side and dropping steeply down the other. France seems to have no end of these incredible roads, and they’re much of the reason we so love the cycling here.

Conditions are totally different on this side though. Our modest tailwind is gone, replaced by a stiff, chilling headwind that forces us both to fully layer up again. Rachael puts on her warm gloves, but it’s not enough; by the time we are through the steepest part of the descent her fingers have gone numb and she can’t shift down when we come to a slight rise.

A few miles more though and we’re entering Céret and pulling up to Poppy’s, the B&B we stayed at four years ago and our home for the next three nights. We’re both tired and cold, so we’ll stop here for the day and look around Céret tomorrow.

Video sound track: On ne Change Pas, by Celine Dion

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Ride stats today: 37 miles, 3,200’; for the tour: 296 miles, 17,100’

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 295 miles (475 km)

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