Pirinexus
Name: Pirinexus
Start and End: Girona, Province of Girona, Catalunya, Spain - Pont de Sant Feliu
GPX: File
Distance 215.86 miles
Description: The adventure of cycling from the Pyrenees to the Costa Brava. A surprising 340-kilometre circular route.
The 340-kilometre Pirinexus route covers a wide variety of landscapes and passes through centuries-old forests, unique volcanoes, nature parks, vineyards and unspoilt coves. On this circular route, you will discover two area steeped in history: the counties of Girona and the Vallespir region in France. You will encounter historic paths such as those of La Retirada, places that will take you back to Greek and Roman times such as the ruins of Empúries, and emblematic cities such as Girona. You will cycle along greenways, forest tracks, and roads with little traffic. It is therefore advisable to use a hybrid gravel, hardtail, or trekking bike. This is an ideal route to do with panniers and at your own pace, enjoying the territory in two, four or six days.
Unsupported:
Men: Nicholas Proia Cecchi 7/7/24 15:29:26
Women:
Para:
Supported:
Men:
Women:
Team:
Para:
Name: Pirinexus
Start and End: Girona, Province of Girona, Catalunya, Spain - Pont de Sant Feliu
GPX: File
Distance 215.86 miles
Description: The adventure of cycling from the Pyrenees to the Costa Brava. A surprising 340-kilometre circular route.
The 340-kilometre Pirinexus route covers a wide variety of landscapes and passes through centuries-old forests, unique volcanoes, nature parks, vineyards and unspoilt coves. On this circular route, you will discover two area steeped in history: the counties of Girona and the Vallespir region in France. You will encounter historic paths such as those of La Retirada, places that will take you back to Greek and Roman times such as the ruins of Empúries, and emblematic cities such as Girona. You will cycle along greenways, forest tracks, and roads with little traffic. It is therefore advisable to use a hybrid gravel, hardtail, or trekking bike. This is an ideal route to do with panniers and at your own pace, enjoying the territory in two, four or six days.
Unsupported:
Men: Nicholas Proia Cecchi 7/7/24 15:29:26
Women:
Para:
Supported:
Men:
Women:
Team:
Para:
Notes from the FKT
Nicholas Proia Cecchi: The Pirinexus is a cyclotour route that uses many “vias verdes” of the region which are mostly built on disused rail lines. Though they are dedicated cycling/ MUP paths, they present many challenges for an FKT including many at-grade crossings, they rarely run on the fastest or most direct route, and the surfaces can be variable. You may also encounter pedestrians, dogs, children, etc and it is important to pass respectfully and safely.
To build the route I consulted the posted route on the municipal website ( https://www.viesverdes.cat/en/pirinexus/ ) as well as the one listed on RWGPS ( https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41066511 ). Despite this, both seem to be a bit out of date. In France particularly between KM 140 and 170 (traveling clockwise from Girona) there seems to have been many new stretches of bike path constructed recently featuring champagne crushed gravel or perfect concrete, new bridges, and new signage. These new sectors were not reflected in the GPS tracks which I assume are somewhat dated.
When my GPS track and the signage disagreed, I chose to follow the signed route in order to ensure that I was following the real, on-the-ground route as much as possible.
The route is challenging to ensure/ verify fairness in an FKT attempt as for many sectors, the gravel path runs parallel to a road and it would conceivably be possible to make much better time by riding next to, but not on, the established route. I took pains (truly, it was incredibly painful stopping and starting at grade crossing and gates) to ensure that I was always following the signed/ indicated route to uphold the spirit of fair competition.
FKT Attempt Notes:
It had rained the previous night in Girona so departing town the first 60 KM to Olot were very slow - the surface is fine crushed gravel and when it is saturated with water it becomes quite soft. Potholes, mud, and humidity that instantly fogged my glasses abounded.
Moving on to the the first climbs near Ripoli (KM 61) I could see low clouds and precipitation hanging over the Pyrenees. The climb went well and I was soon descending to confront the second large climb of the day, from Sant Joan de las Abadesses (KM 83) to the summit of Col de Ares and the French Border. As I climbed I was enveloped in a wet cloud and visibility dropped to 20-30 meters. Despite this it never rained. At 5:20 elapsed time, I summited the Col de Ares at a touch over 1500 meters and 115 KM of distance. The descent was brutally cold and though it didn’t rain, I emerged into the high alpine valley at ~1000m nearly completely soaked through.
The terrain mellowed out, while still descending slowly, all the way to Le Boulou. Somewhere along here I rode through a small town having a Sunday festival with wine tasting and a barbecue (how do you say barbecue in French?) and so badly wanted to stop - I could imagine this being a really fulfilling multi-day credit card tour.
Just South of Le Boulou, you cross back into Spain and the path instantly changed from rough concrete and asphalt to what would be a challenging XC MTB world-cup track. Ramps of 20% and stronger, huge rocks and boulders, portions of the trail with pure slickrock and not a sign of dirt or soil on the surface. This continued South of Jonquera to approximately KM 200. I got my only puncture of the route on this section when I pinch-flatted my front tire into a rock embedded in the trail with a knife-like edge.
From approx KM 210 on, I followed the rolling gravel track through Cork trees, olive, wine, and sunflower fields, fighting a brutal headwind over this flat and rolling terrain all the way to Sane Pere Pescador where I stopped for my only re-supply at a SPAR grocery store which is conveniently directly next to the route.
From here to Palamos (KM 290) it was even more brutal wind - checking my Garmin’s weather report I saw 21-29 KM/h sustained wind speeds directly from the South. The track is very tough through here also, weaving through agricultural fields of rice, apples, sunflower, and grapes. It was often washboarded from tractor traffic and had the requisite enormous rocks embedded in the dirt surface constantly threatening pinch flats or broken wheels. You can not let your concentration lapse for even a second.
At Palamos, you enter a tourist hellscape, following bike paths across a seafront town from approx KM 290 - 310. The going was very slow as there was a ton of traffic on the path and I endeavored to pass everyone respectfully even though my patience was non-existent at this point. I strongly recommend riding this route true Randonneur style with a loud bell on your bike as the traffic ranges from local Catalans who only speak Catalan to Spanish, French, German, Dutch, and English tourists and the bell is much more effective than an “on your left” or “Permisso, por favor.”
At Sant Feliu the route turned back inland and I was no longer fighting the wind, but was fighting the coming sunset. I gave it as much gas as I could to make it through the final 200 meters of elevation gain and approx 40 KM of distance. I pulled onto familiar roads from my time cycling in Girona at KM 330 in Casa de la Selva and was able to auto-pilot the rest of the way to my start point, arriving shortly after sunset but still with twilight in the sky.
Nicholas Proia Cecchi: The Pirinexus is a cyclotour route that uses many “vias verdes” of the region which are mostly built on disused rail lines. Though they are dedicated cycling/ MUP paths, they present many challenges for an FKT including many at-grade crossings, they rarely run on the fastest or most direct route, and the surfaces can be variable. You may also encounter pedestrians, dogs, children, etc and it is important to pass respectfully and safely.
To build the route I consulted the posted route on the municipal website ( https://www.viesverdes.cat/en/pirinexus/ ) as well as the one listed on RWGPS ( https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41066511 ). Despite this, both seem to be a bit out of date. In France particularly between KM 140 and 170 (traveling clockwise from Girona) there seems to have been many new stretches of bike path constructed recently featuring champagne crushed gravel or perfect concrete, new bridges, and new signage. These new sectors were not reflected in the GPS tracks which I assume are somewhat dated.
When my GPS track and the signage disagreed, I chose to follow the signed route in order to ensure that I was following the real, on-the-ground route as much as possible.
The route is challenging to ensure/ verify fairness in an FKT attempt as for many sectors, the gravel path runs parallel to a road and it would conceivably be possible to make much better time by riding next to, but not on, the established route. I took pains (truly, it was incredibly painful stopping and starting at grade crossing and gates) to ensure that I was always following the signed/ indicated route to uphold the spirit of fair competition.
FKT Attempt Notes:
It had rained the previous night in Girona so departing town the first 60 KM to Olot were very slow - the surface is fine crushed gravel and when it is saturated with water it becomes quite soft. Potholes, mud, and humidity that instantly fogged my glasses abounded.
Moving on to the the first climbs near Ripoli (KM 61) I could see low clouds and precipitation hanging over the Pyrenees. The climb went well and I was soon descending to confront the second large climb of the day, from Sant Joan de las Abadesses (KM 83) to the summit of Col de Ares and the French Border. As I climbed I was enveloped in a wet cloud and visibility dropped to 20-30 meters. Despite this it never rained. At 5:20 elapsed time, I summited the Col de Ares at a touch over 1500 meters and 115 KM of distance. The descent was brutally cold and though it didn’t rain, I emerged into the high alpine valley at ~1000m nearly completely soaked through.
The terrain mellowed out, while still descending slowly, all the way to Le Boulou. Somewhere along here I rode through a small town having a Sunday festival with wine tasting and a barbecue (how do you say barbecue in French?) and so badly wanted to stop - I could imagine this being a really fulfilling multi-day credit card tour.
Just South of Le Boulou, you cross back into Spain and the path instantly changed from rough concrete and asphalt to what would be a challenging XC MTB world-cup track. Ramps of 20% and stronger, huge rocks and boulders, portions of the trail with pure slickrock and not a sign of dirt or soil on the surface. This continued South of Jonquera to approximately KM 200. I got my only puncture of the route on this section when I pinch-flatted my front tire into a rock embedded in the trail with a knife-like edge.
From approx KM 210 on, I followed the rolling gravel track through Cork trees, olive, wine, and sunflower fields, fighting a brutal headwind over this flat and rolling terrain all the way to Sane Pere Pescador where I stopped for my only re-supply at a SPAR grocery store which is conveniently directly next to the route.
From here to Palamos (KM 290) it was even more brutal wind - checking my Garmin’s weather report I saw 21-29 KM/h sustained wind speeds directly from the South. The track is very tough through here also, weaving through agricultural fields of rice, apples, sunflower, and grapes. It was often washboarded from tractor traffic and had the requisite enormous rocks embedded in the dirt surface constantly threatening pinch flats or broken wheels. You can not let your concentration lapse for even a second.
At Palamos, you enter a tourist hellscape, following bike paths across a seafront town from approx KM 290 - 310. The going was very slow as there was a ton of traffic on the path and I endeavored to pass everyone respectfully even though my patience was non-existent at this point. I strongly recommend riding this route true Randonneur style with a loud bell on your bike as the traffic ranges from local Catalans who only speak Catalan to Spanish, French, German, Dutch, and English tourists and the bell is much more effective than an “on your left” or “Permisso, por favor.”
At Sant Feliu the route turned back inland and I was no longer fighting the wind, but was fighting the coming sunset. I gave it as much gas as I could to make it through the final 200 meters of elevation gain and approx 40 KM of distance. I pulled onto familiar roads from my time cycling in Girona at KM 330 in Casa de la Selva and was able to auto-pilot the rest of the way to my start point, arriving shortly after sunset but still with twilight in the sky.