La Trinxacadenes X 6th Oct 2013
The background of the club and race
Trinxacadenes BTT is a Mountain bike club from a small
Catalan town called Vallromanes. The
town is 45mins north east of Barcelona.
Every year they hold the annual La Trinxa mountain bike race. This is a XC race over 36km with around
5700ft elevation gain, some brutal climbing even for the locals with category 3
and 4 climbs on a MTB. It welcomes
riders from all over Catalunya and further.
It also boasts a list of Pro and semi pro Riders due to the nature of
the course. This year would be the 10th
anniversary year and the course was going to be even more difficult than seen
in previous years.
My fiancée comes from the village and through visiting our
relatives I first started to meet members of the club. Through the years I have been on many of
their club rides and rode most of the surrounding area. I hosted the Trinxacadenes club in Ireland
earlier in the summer showing them some of our Trail Centres and coast
lines. I have been meaning to do the famous Trinxa
race since I first visited but one thing or another always seemed to get in the
way. After the club made the effort to
come to Ireland I decided to book the flights and race in La Trinxa X. It later turned out to be the same weekend as
the foxhunt but as the tickets were booked I couldn’t change my mind gutted and
all as I was to miss Irelands biggest MTB race.
My original plan was to train as hard as I could to make the
trip worthwhile but sickness meant I wasn’t on the bike for months. It was a frustrating few months when all I
wanted to do was ride. The week before
I had a few rides around my local trail centre Davagh. The legs, lungs or head were not in a good
place. I was close to not competing but
as we were going out anyway I decided to bring the bike. Saturday I went for a warm up spin and on the
first climb it really hit home how unfit I was.
The guys assured me that there will always be someone slower on the
day. Even though I am not a local I
know the area very well and have covered the full route on different
occasions. Normally descending the
single tracks in DH mode rather than climbing them in XC mode.
La Trinxa The Race
Sunday morning the town was buzzing I collected my race
number and got it fitted to the bike.
001 no pressure on me at all then!
As soon as I got mingled with the 525 riders it didn’t really matter
what number I was. I was never going to
win this race so I just had to be thankful I was riding again and enjoy the
course.
We lined up behind the start line and after a fireworks
start the race was on. We had a police escort out of the town and towards the
mountains. We started on the main road
and followed a jeep. The idea of the
road section was to stretch out the field but I think everyone’s excitement
took over and the bunch looked more like a peloton from La Volta a
Catalunya. We left the main road and got
onto the first dirt roads. These were
single lane tracks but as there were so many riders the first climb became a
bit of a bottle neck and with a chain reaction the riders at the back lost
momentum and some had to get off and walk.
I managed to pick my line through walkers and with the odd shoulder to
keep me upright I managed to get up the first climb of the day. I passed Trinxa friends along the
route. Manel waved me through the town
with his crutches and later Joan ‘Rambo’ Ramon shouting words of encouragement
to me to keep me going on the first climb.
The race had only begun and I could already feel the pain in my legs and
lungs. I knew the route I was on and
had a fair idea of what was to come.
When I am mentally and physically fit I can normally block out the pain
but this was different. Not being fit
and not being mentally ready made it much more difficult. “What would be the quickest way home if I was
to pull out?” The thought crossed my mind on a few occasions. I would then counter that with if I get up
this next climb I am that little bit closer to the finish.
We traversed tracks through the mountains all of which I
have been on before and knew I could climb.
I looked at the Garmin and despite still climbing we hadn’t gone very
far at all. As we topped a climb at a
cross roads we could see the front riders coming up the hill in front. We would turn right and drop down before
doing this climb. It was like a kick in
the teeth even at this early stage watching riders already with such a lead on
us. The sun was starting to break
through the cloud and temperatures and humidity was getting worse than our summers.
We were on a climb I have done many times. This was an open section of stoned
track cutting through the hillside. The tree tops dropped down the steep valley
to our right. Below us the costa towns filtered from the flora and the beaches
spread like an unbroken yellow line all the way to the industrial port of
Barcelona. With the sun shining bright and
a clear sky Barcelona streets and famous districts could be seen clearly. Mount Tibidabo and La Sagrada Familia stood
out in this impressive urban landscape. The
climb was made that little bit easier with such and impressive view. I started passing a few riders and I must
admit this did boost me. Topping another
climb we had a fast descent to the first food stop. I took on some water and kept moving.
The next section was an old favourite of mine and a really
fast bit of single track. I started to
pass more and more riders and it was clear most of them are only made for
climbing. I thought this is the only time I could make up ground so threw caution
to the wind and let rip down the singletrack.
As fast as I went the next bit of climb had some of them fly past me
like I was stopped. I was beginning to
enjoy it and taking it as a ride rather than a race. We dropped further down the valleys and re-joined
the first climb of the day except we would be descending it this time. At the
bottom we would join a special bit of single track again one I have ridden many
times. It started with a climb to begin
with and then a very fast technical descent.
There was a huge rain storm on the Friday night we arrived and as this
trail is sand based the most of it was washed out forming huge ruts. The fast start soon ended in a bottle neck at
a rock section. Tempo from trinxa warned
the riders of the rocks below but what he shouted to me was rock garden so I
kept er lit and rattled through the first bit.
My pedals gouged through the rut and I almost lost it but thankfully
momentum carried me through. The next
sections were much the same with rocky, ruts and roots and quite
technical. I knew the fun was about to
end as we popped out beside the golf course.
Without seeing the climb I was already shifting to the best climbing
gear. I knew what was round the next
corner and as I turned it was clear others didn’t. Riders with broken chains, punctures from the
rocks in the previous section littered the side of the trail. I got the head down and started to push hard
on the climb. Most where walking this
section but on the big wheels I seemed to get over and up it ok. As the gradient increased and the trail got
worse due to the rain I was soon off and walking for the first time. I looked around and no one was managing to
climb this section. I jumped back on the
bike and headed towards Vallromanes.
This was the closest I would get to the town and the turning point for
the short route. Keep going or call it
a day? The legs were tired but I was
enjoying being on the bike. I was slow
but I would hopefully get there onwards and upwards.
The trails I was now riding were all trails I would usually
descend. It was a strange feeling riding
up these trails rather than down them.
We started a long slow climb again in the direction of the check
point. When it was almost in sight we of
course turned left and dropped down a steep track. This only meant one thing and another big
climb back up the valley from almost sea level.
At the cross roads where I was expecting the checkpoint we then joined
another bit of single track. Locally
named as Vietnam again this was another I always rode the opposite
direction. I knew it would be a tough
climb so go the head down and kept the pedals turning. At the top thankfully we had the feed station
with some nuts, raisins, oranges, bananas and water. I loaded up as much as I could and spoke to
Niko from Nikos Bar in Vallromanes who was dishing out the food and drink. The guys told me I had three more big climbs
to go but I knew the way home if I wanted a short cut. I had come this far and I wasn’t going to cut
it short now.
The last section was tough on tired legs. Long climbs with no shade from the sun steep
descents that were too cut up to push on.
On the last big climb of the day I started to feel the cramps coming
on. I tried everything to stop them but
in the end I had to jump off and stretch.
I found an old energy gel in the bag from god knows when but got it down
me as anything was better than nothing at this stage. I stretched out and hopped back on the
bike. The last push to the top and what
I thought was all descent back to the finish line. Unfortunately there were a few more
deviations to my usual descent into Vallromanes and this was painful in the
legs short sharp climbs but enough to almost get the cramps back in the legs. We turned onto another favourite bit of single
track and with slower riders in front I took my chance to pass and pushed
hard. A few other riders done the same
and it turned into a real bit of craic as we all seemed to be around the same
pace. Hitting berms and drops the pace
really picked up and at the bottom a few high 5’s as we all appreciated the
final bit of the course. As we dropped
through the trees we could hear the music from the finish line. Again on a
cruel twist we down a complete lap of the town before getting there but at this
stage the hard work was done.
My first Trinxa in the bag and although I didn’t place too
highly I wasn’t disappointed. My only
aim was to finish it and I did. A tough
event and one I look forward to trying again with a better pair of legs and
head ready for it. Big thanks to
Trinxacadenes club, all the marshals and helpers and to my family for being at
the finish line to welcome me back.
The race is very accessible to anyone looking for a
challenge. Easyjet fly to Barcelona and with a good rail, bus and taxi service
you could be in Vallromanes in an hour.
More information can be found at www.trinxacadenes.com
