The Michelin Stars Tour of Girona

This tour was short and very sweet. The original plan was for a week-long tour, sampling the michelin star restaurants on offer in the area. Though other obligations shortened the trip to three riding days, we tried to make them as spectacular as possible and at night, a different michelin star restaurant.

The first stage was to the peaceful Santa Pellaia or ¨Hincapie Climb¨. George Hincapie really liked this climb during his time in Girona. You can still see his name written on the road as you go up. At night, the delicious La Massana restaurant (1 Michelin *) was just a short walk away.

The second day, we went down to the village of Tossa and up the ¨roller coaster¨ along the coast - Costa Brava.

 

To end this perfect day, Bo.TiC Restaurant came to us (1 Michelin *) and prepared an absolutely amazing dinner at the house.

Our last riding day had to involve a little bit of suffering, but in a good way, and up Mare de Deu del Mont they went. This has to be the hardest climb relatively close to Girona and at the top, a possibly moonlike landscape greets you with 360 degree views of the area way down below.
How else could we end the tour but with an evening at El Celler de Can Roca (3 Michelin *) currently the number 2 ranked restaurant in the world.

We hope the group can come back soon and experience all we had planned, but we really had a fabulous time with them! Moltes Gracies!

Girona Cycling Tour

Spring has gone by so fast. We have been having a great year so far meeting new friends and sharing the rides we like best.

This month we got to host a group from Toronto with four couples. They decided to make two groups for everyone to have the vacation they were looking for. The men, riding and getting to meet some pros that live here in Girona. It was a special treat to be able to ride with Christian Meier and Ryder Hesjedal a couple days, thank you so much for your time!

The ladies got to do a variety of riding, culture and wandering. Getting to know Catalonia.

They had a special visit at the Salvador Dalí museum and his house in Port Lligat, rode through little medieval villages and lingered over lunches.

We all met at the end of the day to enjoy good food and company.

Cap de Creus

Just before everyone is off for Easter break, we got a chance to do the route to Cadaques and Cap de Creus we have planned for the Breakaway group. It was a beautiful almost summerlike day and there was none of the famous tramuntana wind.

The white-washed village of Cadaques is one of the most beautiful on the Costa Brava and holds a special place in the heart of all who visit. Walking in the little streets up to the church, tucking in little shops and seeing all of the local cats is a wonderful respite from the sun and tourists along the waterfront.

Now, just a little more on the bike and we come to the tip of Cap de Creus, the easternmost point on the Iberian Peninsula. Here, where the Pyrenees meet the sea is a rugged, worn land with the contrasting deep blue of the sea. The perfect place to stop and contemplate this raw beauty before returning to Girona.

Made it!

Casa Masó de Girona

Casa Masó - the white house on the Onyar River

Thanks to the Ajuntament de Girona, local tour companies got a chance to visit the Casa Masó. The house where Rafael Masó (1880-1935) was born on the Onyar river which he renovated in Noucentista style. He was from a prominent family and is probably the most important architect from Girona. His family founded the local newspaper, ¨El Diari de Girona¨, and Rafael´s works can be seen around the city and neighboring towns.

Rafael designed the furniture for his older brother´s office

The house has been preserved with original Noucentista tile floors, furnishings, lamps, stained glass and decorations, many designed by Rafael and his peers. While he studied in Barcelona as a young man he admired the works of Antoni Gaudi and was part of a group of artisits and writers who created an alternative to Modernism, Noucentisme (the high period for this movement was 1914-1923).

For me, it was a nice chance to see something new in town and can imagine bringing clients here for an important piece of Gironine history - especially for their Summer evening visits when they include locally brewed beer.

Back to Priorat

2014! Bikecat has now been in business for nine years! With our business theories intact, incredible rides with local guides, good food and fun times. We are really enjoying every moment and looking forward to 2014 which looks like a great year! We can´t wait to welcome back old friends and meet new ones, discover new rides and share our love of riding with all of you.

This weekend, we were happy to be back in Priorat preparing the tour for the A2 Roadies in April. The contrast from Priorat to Sitges we hope will amaze them from the little tiny villages of Priorat with impossibly steep vineyards to the vast vineyards of the Penedes to the fiesta feeling on the coast.

We will go through four Denominacions d´Origin of wine, visit medieval monasteries of the Cisternian Order and even pass through Montblanc on St. Jordi day - the little city where the legend of St. Jordi (Saint George) says is where the knight killed the dragon in order to save the princess. 

We reconnected with our friends and aquaintances in the area and we both found a feeling of coming back home to Priorat since we have been there so many times and love it so much! Checked out some tricky areas that we knew were under construction from the last time we were in the area and had to know if our routes will be influenced. Or the bakery in a tiny village which had changed locations but are still the same people making these amazingly yummy huge chocolate croissants - very important things to know before we bring cyclists!

We look forward to sharing this tour with more of you and lead you to discover the fantastic riding, wines, olive oils, cuisine and culture in these very different areas of Catalonia.

Transpirinaica 2013

 

In September, we brought a wonderful group from Calgary on a journey across northern Spain, along the Pyrenees through Aragon, Navarra and ending in Basque Country in San Sebastian. We took our time staying two or three nights in each place and getting a feel for the local cuisine, culture and sights.

We passed through amazing scenery, came upon village festivals, weaved around sheep and cows, and felt the wonder of the high mountain passes on a queen stage making a loop through France.

 

At our first hotel in Boltaña, we were lucky enough to coincide with three pro teams staying there for La Vuelta Espana. At dinner that night we anxiously awaited the Astana, Saxo Bank and Sky teams and got to see how high the riders pile their plates with food!
The next day, we saw a stage of la Vuelta finish in Formigal after hopping on the ski lifts up to the top of the mountain.

 

I believe the heart of our visit came at our three night stay in the beautiful rural hotel, El Caserio de Fatas, near Jaca with our hosts Raul and Ruth. They made us feel at home, let us do our laundry, and provided us with quiet respite after some tough days on the bike. They even had a masseuse come to quell some pains at the end of the day. Raul accompanied us on a few stages here as it is his home and he knows it best, he also led the group out for a night of tapas in Jaca. Thank you so much Raul and Ruth!

We then had a night in misty Roncesvalles, the popular starting village for the Camino de Santiago in Spain. We dined on a simple Pilgrims menu, and it was just the right thing before a good night´s sleep.

Now worn and weathered cyclists gathered for our last hotel change of 133km from the region of Navarra to the Basque Country and the fabulous coastal city of San Sebastian. Time for some celebration!

 

After the trip, during our drive back to Girona, I thought about how vast an area we covered and how it would be so nice to just keep on going...that maybe this could be life...well, it was nice to think about for a while. 

Saveurs de France

Getting away for a couple days just over an hour away in France, hearing a different language and feeling the culture of the little towns near the Pyrenees is the perfect escape. Céret is a beautiful village famous for cherries and they are good! The French do such a wonderful job preserving the antique and keeping everything so picturesque.

We also researched a new cycling loop that goes over the border from Spain that feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. Roads that were built over mountain paths that brought safety to those fleeing the Civil War in Spain and helped fill the pockets of smugglers.

Getting Ready for the new Bikecat Trans-Pyrenees tour

Last year, we organized the Spanish Trans-Pyrenees trip for a group from the US going from the Eastern Pyrenees all the way to the Atlantic in the Basque Country. As we were preparing the trip, we discovered so many nice roads and beautiful villages along the way that we started to imagine a similar trip, but with time in each place to get to know it a little better. The new tour will cover part of the Pyrenees region but with more nights in each place, no need to pack every night, leaving us more time to enjoy and relax. Here are some pictures from our trip last week to finish the preparation for this year´s Trans-Pyrenees tour with Rob's group from Calgary.

Here is Jaume getting ready for work in the morning:

Looking for lunch stops that offer more than a ham and cheese sandwich

That was one mighty piece of bacon in my salad Jaume happily ate.

Finding that perfect balance between challenging and fun!

Have to be in good enough shape to keep up with everyone:)

Patience

And most importantly, finding those little roads that keep you coming back for more!

We hope we can continue offering Bikecat cycling tours for many years to come!

Oops! Depending on who you meet on the road, sometimes it is more challenging than others...i can´t help it.

Celler de Can Roca

We are all very happy for El Celler de Can Roca, recently named the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine. Congratulations!



El Celler opened in 1986 by the chef Joan and sommelier Josep and a few years later, their younger brother the pastry chef, Joan joined them. The three brothers attribute their love of food to the stews their mother made while growing up in the local restaurant also named Can Roca.


A few years ago, we enjoyed dinner here with the Endurance group and it really was amazing. Every bite was like, ¨how could this possibly taste so good!¨.
I kind of wonder if we will bring a group to this restaurant again...since it seems you will have to make reservations a year or so in advance. But they deserve it and we are happy that the local cuisine has achieved such recognition.



There are many wonderful restaurants in the area we can recommend and enjoy with you, all benefitting from the fresh local ingredients. We wait for you here in Girona, home of the best restaurant in the world! Sounds pretty good!

Sa Tuna

The beautiful Costa Brava beckons as the spring brings summerlike afternoons and cool sweater candle evenings.

The article Sa from Sa Tuna is from what they call ¨salty¨ Catalan, from the sea. Previously isolated villages along the coast and on the Balearic Islands speak with a different accent and expressions. In standard Catalan, the article would be el/en/lo or la and in ¨salty¨ Catalan, the articles are es/so or sa(feminine).

Sa Tuna is a wonderful little cala or cove located down the hill from the town of Begur. From here you can take the Camí de Ronda (path along the coast) in both directions to get different perspectives of the coastline and access more private calas, especially useful in the summer when there are many people.

In the area you can see many Indianos, mansions built around 1900 after sailors came back from the Americas where they had sought their fortunes and came back to settle down.
There are several little hotels to stay and relax after a bike tour...or anytime. July and August aren´t really recommended for the crowds and how that makes everything a bit less charming.

La Calçotada

This past weekend we partook in a great Catalan tradition: La Calçotada!

A Calçotada is a get together of friends and family for a backyard afternoon calçot feast in late winter or early spring.

Calçots are a special type of green onion originally from the Valls area south of Barcelona. The tradition of the Calçotada has reached nearly all areas of Catalunya. There are restaurants that specialize in them and they usually give you a big bib and gloves, or better yet, make them at home.

 The calçots are grilled, wrapped in newspaper to stay warm and grow more tender and then traditionally served on curved roofing tiles. While the grill is still warm, you can throw some botifarra on the grill, large sausages, to enjoy at the end of the meal.

Now, to tell the novices from the experts, no bibs or gloves, time to get good and dirty. You hold the onion with the bulb part down and gently slide the outer layers of the onion down. Then dip the onion in romesco sauce, tilt your head back and eat up the tender parts of the onion. When all the calçots are gone, you can try to stuff yourself with a botifarra or two.

I would have more pictures, but I had to hurry up and eat while there were still calçots left!
At the end, you can only hope someone still has the energy to go make coffee.
Time for a walk around the village.

La Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

La Volta a Catalunya is the fourth-oldest cycling stage race in the world. It was held for the first time in 1911, only behind the Tour de France (1903), Tour of Belgium (1908) and the Giro d´Italia (1909).

An early hero of la Volta and a 7 time winner was Mariano Canardo who, when he won his last Volta in 1939 the banner read ¨Year of Victory. Franco Franco Franco¨ of course referring to the winning side of the war and the beginning of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

In the years after the civil war and of WWII, the racers and most people were mainly concerned about earning enough to eat but still their passion for the sport kept the race going.

With Joaquim Rodriguez ¨Purito¨

This is the 93rd edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and there is an amazing group of riders: Bradley Wiggins, Joaquim Rodriguez, Christian Vande Velde, Dan Martin, David Zabriskie, Chris Horner, Alejandro Valverde, Ryder Hesjedal, Michele Scarponi and many others.

Today it was certainly exciting to see the start of la Volta in Calella. We have been going to see stages of la Volta for many years and this was the first time it was packed with spectators! There were so many people checking out the cool team cars and trucks, all the new equipment and bikes for the year, walking through and hearing the cyclists yell at their buddies they haven´t seen since last season in many different accents and languages is just thrilling.
Three stages of the Volta come nearby, with Tuesday´s stage starting in Girona. We will be rooting for the local team Garmin, and of course one of the favorites to win Joaquim ¨Purito¨ Rodriguez, a local Catalan.

You can´t help but feel admiration for all of the riders as they show their Incredibly toned racing form, standing next to them can make you feel like a couch potato..or something like that.

Here at Bikecat we wish all of the riders a great race and a wonderful time in Catalonia!

Girona Classics Tour

The Classics are the typical rides the pros do when they train in Girona: Els Angels, Sant Hilari, the Olot Loop, Santa Pellaia (also called the Hincapie Climb),the Costa Brava (amazing ride along the Mediterranean coast), and the challenging Rocacorba and Mare de Deu del Mont climbs.

Mare de Deu del Mont

May 26 - June 2, 2013 Bikecat presents the Girona Classics Tour. A tour everyone can join. You don´t have to be a part of a group, club, etc. to join this tour. We will need at least 6 people to make this tour a go.  Come and see why so many pros choose to live and train in Girona.
We will treat you better than a pro as you have door to door airport transfers, 4 star hotel experience, and support van full of all the goodies. The option to rent a racing bike from the Garmin team, Cervelo or Felt, will make the experience complete.
In the evenings, relax and enjoy little Girona and its many wonderful restaurants and museums.

www.bikecat.com/girona-classics-tour/