Spotcheck | Cedric Gracia at Vallnord Bike Park, Andorra
In less than two months the Mountain biking World Champs are going to be held at Vallnord Bike Park in Andorra, so what better time to check it out and what better riders to hit the trails than Cedric Gracia and Jordi Bago? Much like most bike parks, it’s open during the summer months from 25th June until 12th October and is available for all riding abilities and costs €15 per day.
The middle station is where the ride starts and to get to the lift, we have to take the old fourcross track. Luckily, the lift is open everyday from 11:00 – 17:30 and takes us to 2358m…thank God for chairlifts!
Red line
The Red Line is a track from maximavalanche with nice corners, berms and table tops and throughout there is an open view allowing us to be mesmerized in the jaw-droppingly beautiful landscape of Vallnord. From the middle of the track there are two options to continue the route down; one through the center of the woods with tones of small terms and nice little jumps, and the other with easier features such as smaller turns and a lot of table tops. If you take the first, you’ll end up in Els Fontanals, 1970m from the chairlift.
Blue line
Skippy – Corpalanca | La Serra 2 is a trail used for the avalanche as well as a nice single trail through the center of the woods. It’s compiled of all terrain, from rock gardens to huge roots with the option to pick a number of different lines. This trail has a mixture of names, but normally go by ‘Skippy’ or ‘Carbonera’. If you want to head in another direction, ‘Corapalanca’ will take you down to the ‘Cubil’ trail and features some huge berms, wood jumps and tones of flowing turns. Great fun!
Green line
La Serra | This is a trail to warm up, or a green trail. It’s probably the most flowing trail in all of the bike park with less descent and more open turns. It only takes a few minutes to get to the bottom again and is definitely aimed at the beginner rider who aim at riding in Vallnord only. Riders can learn how to keep their speed through turns and jumps on this trail.
(Old School + Route 66 )
To finish the day, try the new track ‘Old School’ or ‘La Caubella 1950’ – as it’s originally named the old school trails, it’s all natural turns and really nice wood features. It’ll take you down to meet ‘Route 66’, a much faster trail with huge berms and tabletops all the way don until the end.
After a long, hard day of riding, there’s nothing better than a nice cold drink the new bar in front of the cup downhill finish line, with some cool music and nice sofa to relax on.
Thanks to Vallnord to let us ride and have fun on nice day of riding!
For more info, visit: vallnord.com
Words: Jordi Bago Photos: Sebas Romero
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