Viernes con Kandani

Today was the warmest day so far. We met kandani at 3.30 ,it was still very warm and they teased Jane for having bare legs and arms because for them it was still muy frio :) .We set out in a very steady, even slow manner. We assumed it was tranquilo because there is a race at Can Trull on Sunday. But as soon as we hit the off - road, the pace jumped way up.

Werner was leading again, and was very excited because he’d discovered a new climb - Casa Rojo. Werner has an amazing knowledge of la isla’s trails, so for him to find a new one is astounding. I rode alongside him and he turned to me very excited and said in his excellent German spanglish “Ya, ya I find nuevo climb, mucho subida, mas duro mas strong, si, si…20 percents! ….ya”

The climb of Casa Rojo turned out to be one of the many utility access roads. One of the companies like telephonica or the electricity build something on top of the hills and cut a rough access road up one side and often down the other side. The rain and baking sun soon turn these into very rough tracks with nice loose gravely hairpins. Me and Jane crest in the front group and we wait for the others. Once regrouped someone shouts “attaque, attaque!” and we disappear in a cloud of dust down the other side, sliding and giggling on the loose bends :)After a hard blast through twisty rocky caminos we get to Can Trull (pron.troy)

Can Trull is restaurant and banqueting hall set up by Art, a nice chap we met a few months ago. He does all sorts of functons and weddings here. But, also his sons are bikers and he’s a bike fanatic! So, he has built and crammed a five km mtb course into the grounds :) It’s fantastic, it twists and turns, lots of steep drop ins and the best and scariest bits are the wooden ramps. These are like decking but are built to cross ditches and some run through trees……..excellent I meet Art out on the course and he tells me that they hosted a round of the Copa Catalana ,their version of the national series, last October.