Day1: Pure Sweat

Two-hundred-and-twenty-four kilometers, 3,300 meters in altitude, nine hours and 20 minutes riding time and 224 euros for Wings for Life: these are the numbers for the first stage of Sigi Grabner’s ‘Once to the end of the world – and back’ tour.

”Due to bad weather and floods on Monday, I put off the beginning of my tour in La Massana by one day. Because of that I was on the road for a very long time today and hardly stopped at all in order to catch up for lost time yesterday. My route went from the south side of the Pyrenees from Andorra down to Spain and then west via various passes of the Pyrenees. The Pyrenees are so beautiful but incredibly hard to ride … And I can say one thing: my tour of the Alps last year was just a warm-up for this year.

The Pyrenees are much more strenuous to ride. Unbelievably steep, short inclines that you don’t expect beforehand. Compared to the Alps there aren’t any meandering curves (which I love so much), but merciless eight-to-nine per cent, kilometer-long, straight inclines … Pure sweat! Because, on top of that, it’s very, very hot. Dry heat that really kills you. Today was extreme. At the start at 7:30 a.m. in Andorra it was hardly eight degrees Celsius (46 F), then in Aragon and Huesca it was about 38 (100 F). That almost knocks you over!

West-ward, towards La Seu d’Urgell – where the kayaking Olympic course is and where a kayak World Cup race is held every year – is where I headed next. I rode through a village called Bonansa, and I thought: the wild, wild west. But it’s still a beautiful region, with the highest peaks in the Pyrenees, the Montes Malditos – 3,400 meters (11,150 ft). I came across rock climbers, rafters and kayakers – it’s a sporting paradise for climbers and white water fans. And there are a lot of side streets to ride on …

At some point I was overtaken by a whole bunch of motorcyclists, at least 15 men – with Imst licence plates. Of course they had to stop just as I was riding past; I shouted ‘griaß eich Tiroler – Hello, you Tyroleans!’ and they looked at me pretty surprised. Carrying my bike I then arrived at the hotel in Ainsa, with a layer of salt covering my entire body – of course, my face as well. But the elegant man at reception didn’t bat an eyelid. It seems that people like me walk in off the street every day.”

Sigi Grabner – 03/06/09

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