After fitting our bikes and getting to know each other over lunch we headed out on a warm up ride traversing this side of the Pyrenees. We are in the town of Tramacastilla Spain.<\/p>\n
Tramacastilla regularly hosts the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a and it is also part of its own race, the Quebrantahuesos, a 200km cyclosportive over some of the great climbs in this area.<\/p>\n
After a beautiful Barcelona sunrise, our shuttle to the starting point was delayed over one hour. This shortened our warmup ride considerably. So On the Road ride was 20km but over 1400 ft of climbing.<\/p>\n
Our warm up, a fitting initial challenge, took us on part of the 2014 Quebrantahuesos, on a route popular with the local cyclists as we wound our way along a most picturesque ridge, that was anything but flat! From our hotel we rode up to the Puerto de Cotefalbo (1423m) before descending towards the Ordesa valley. Before reaching the valley though we turned towards the attractive village of Torla where we grabbed a drink and a snack before heading back the way we came. With the Pyrenean peaks creating a wall to the north our warm up ride provided us with a real sense of what is to come!.<\/p>\n