Transcatalan: Four tops, three valleys, and onwards to the Mediterranean
The editors of Dutch UP/DOWN magazine have seen their fair share of trails in exotic places. So when they claim to have experienced the best mountain bike trip of the year, you know it has to be something special. The Transcatalan turned out to be their highlight of 2015!
We’re in the car, eyes fixed on the endless highway in front of us. Just a moment ago, to our left, the antenna at the top of Mont Ventoux crept by, a contraption that can be seen from afar. But we won’t be climbing this legendary mountain today. This time we are headed to a location where we haven’t been yet in the five-year history of our magazine. We are headed to the Pyrenees, to the French-Catalan part to be specific. For weeks we have been telling people we were going to ride in Spain. But lo and behold, in France there is a bit of Catalonia as well. Fancy that.
After thirteen hours of driving we arrive at our first camp in Matemale, which basically consists of a voluminous Mercedes van, a Transporter with trailer for the bikes, disposable tents, E-Z UP-tents, picnic tables, bike stands, and, scattered all over the place, full suspension bikes. After introductions it is time to eat. Jokes are cracked and immediately a positive atmosphere is set. An atmosphere that will last during the remainder of the week.
We get woken early by the alarm clock. It’s half past five and time for breakfast – we have a long day ahead of us. The van brings us to where it cannot go any further, which saves us some 400 vertical meters of climbing. The first half hour we ascend in the dark, an exertion that is rewarded with a stunning sunrise. After 1.100 vertical meters we are standing at the top. It immediately strikes us how physically fit this group is. Normally it takes ages for the less well trained to arrive, but not this time. Antoine, one of the trip organizers, is an endurance athlete to the bone and has invited some of his mates for this ‘trial’ run. Birds of a feather and all that, because nobody seemed to be struggling with this bastardly climb.
We throw ourselves into the drop. At first we are having some problems picking out the trail on the ridge, but once in the valley we get into a heavenly flow in the forest. If this is what the rest of the week has in store for us, bring it on! We leave the forest to arrive on open ground. With a bit of creativity you can ride this terrain as if you’re at a bike park. I spot a smallish jump, and even a wall ride. Niels has his first puncture, but many hands make light work of it and before we know it we’re off again. Alpine trails often start out on rocky ground and end in the forest, but this trail does it the other way round and the next half hour we twist and turn between rocks in what is turning out to be a technical descent. After negotiating a climb and a couple of nice, well hidden single tracks we take a short cut to arrive right next to our base of operations at the campsite. We have descended almost two thousand vertical meters, and all that before lunch! Speaking of lunch: my, that was some tasty food! Pure luxury.
