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The third and final stage of the Challenge, which is also the Prologue for the Pros, started on the Castle Wall!
Cycling B&B in the foothills of the Pyrenees
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Racing though the cobbled streets of the Old Town, Ainsa!
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What can I say? "Be the Leopard!" . . . .
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Enduro World Series Day 1 - Bottom of Stage 3. Close enough that I got covered in dust a few times!
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Timing Point at the bottom of Stage 3.
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Sam Hill punctured coming down one of the Stages. One of his closest rivals, Martin Maes, who had come down before him, was still at the stage finishing area when he came in and he immediately set about helping Sam to save as much time as possible.
This is how we roll!
This is how we roll!
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Day 1 Stage 4 had some nice drops and a fast finish . . .
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Over the finish line and signing autographs. Sam Hill and his "puncture repair buddy" :-)
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At the end of the day it was Fiesta time!
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Where we live and what we do!
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Ainsa, which is the town around which the Zona Zero MTB trails have been created, has been voted a "Rural Tourism Capital" :-)
Ainsa, and the areas surrounding it, have so many things to see & do that are spread over such a large area that even on a "busy" day you can hardly see anyone!
Mountains and amazing views, Abandoned villages, medieval Castles & Towns and over 1000 km of MTB trails . . .
We really are very happy to be living in such a beautiful area.
Ainsa, and the areas surrounding it, have so many things to see & do that are spread over such a large area that even on a "busy" day you can hardly see anyone!
Mountains and amazing views, Abandoned villages, medieval Castles & Towns and over 1000 km of MTB trails . . .
We really are very happy to be living in such a beautiful area.
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Mrs Bonus and I have taken a new and quite significant step on our "Big Adventure"!
After a year of living on The Farm with Ramon & Rosa, which was fun & interesting to say the least, we have now moved 5km "down the hill" from Guaso to the pretty little town of Boltaña and into an apartment of our own.
We're still close enough to easily carry on with whatever work we can do on our own dream property, but after a lot of consideration and with some "from an outside point-of-view" help from friends here, we came to the conclusion that we really needed to be able to offer some accommodation to people here asap.
My MTB guiding and her "picnics" have been going well - and now we are in a place that allows us to easily offer B&B to visitors.
It is nice to have our own space again, even as fond as we are of Ramon & Rosa, and were looking forward to hosting visitors and spoiling them rotten in this special part of the world.
Of course Rosa cried because 5km away is just soooo far away. But we've seen them every day since we took the keys to our own place and actually they're ok. They know where we are and they know we'll be back, hopefully soon, and into our own place as their neighbours.
After a year of living on The Farm with Ramon & Rosa, which was fun & interesting to say the least, we have now moved 5km "down the hill" from Guaso to the pretty little town of Boltaña and into an apartment of our own.
We're still close enough to easily carry on with whatever work we can do on our own dream property, but after a lot of consideration and with some "from an outside point-of-view" help from friends here, we came to the conclusion that we really needed to be able to offer some accommodation to people here asap.
My MTB guiding and her "picnics" have been going well - and now we are in a place that allows us to easily offer B&B to visitors.
It is nice to have our own space again, even as fond as we are of Ramon & Rosa, and were looking forward to hosting visitors and spoiling them rotten in this special part of the world.
Of course Rosa cried because 5km away is just soooo far away. But we've seen them every day since we took the keys to our own place and actually they're ok. They know where we are and they know we'll be back, hopefully soon, and into our own place as their neighbours.
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On Sunday I did my first Spanish MTB race. An XC race held in the nearby town of Barbastro - which is about 60km away from us. I wore one of my "Cycling South Africa" shirts for a change :-)
The event was really well organised, the route well marked out and with lots of civilian marshals. Also there were police stationed at the two spots where the trail crossed or briefly used a road. There were a couple of semi technical and quite steep climbs where quite a few riders got off and pushed. Because I'm used to the technical climbs local to where we live in Zona Zero I didn't have any problems and I rode up them which enabled me to make up some time :-)
The climbs had spectators on them - which was cool. I understand enough Spanish to appreciate the encouragement and a couple of times spectators warned walking riders, who were lost in their own little worlds of pain, to move over because I was coming past. It was a nice gesture and very helpful. The terrain was very similar to what I used to race in SA. A mixture of Red Barn / Northern Farms - a hot day with a bit of a wind, fast dry dusty farm roads, singletrack, trees, sharp climbs and some nice long loose descents. Perfect.
My race was only 36km long - 2x 18km laps, with 330m of climbing per lap but I have to say, it was a hard couple of hours! It's been a while since I rode at race pace like that. I came 10th in my age group.
There were no issues with traffic at all and I only saw one rider crash - a guy that went into a gravel corner a bit "hot" and slid out. I did see a few mechanicals and Mrs Bonus saw some riders "retiring" after the first lap. She said they didn't look happy
There were free cold drinks & beer, sweets, biscuits & fruit at the finish line and the entry cost of 33€ (including a day license) included a goody bag with a free commemorative Cycling Shirt and a ticket for lunch at the prize giving after the race!
All in all really good value and a great day out. Friendly & well organised.
Well done to Club Ciclista Barbastro for organising it all.
The event was really well organised, the route well marked out and with lots of civilian marshals. Also there were police stationed at the two spots where the trail crossed or briefly used a road. There were a couple of semi technical and quite steep climbs where quite a few riders got off and pushed. Because I'm used to the technical climbs local to where we live in Zona Zero I didn't have any problems and I rode up them which enabled me to make up some time :-)
The climbs had spectators on them - which was cool. I understand enough Spanish to appreciate the encouragement and a couple of times spectators warned walking riders, who were lost in their own little worlds of pain, to move over because I was coming past. It was a nice gesture and very helpful. The terrain was very similar to what I used to race in SA. A mixture of Red Barn / Northern Farms - a hot day with a bit of a wind, fast dry dusty farm roads, singletrack, trees, sharp climbs and some nice long loose descents. Perfect.
My race was only 36km long - 2x 18km laps, with 330m of climbing per lap but I have to say, it was a hard couple of hours! It's been a while since I rode at race pace like that. I came 10th in my age group.
There were no issues with traffic at all and I only saw one rider crash - a guy that went into a gravel corner a bit "hot" and slid out. I did see a few mechanicals and Mrs Bonus saw some riders "retiring" after the first lap. She said they didn't look happy
There were free cold drinks & beer, sweets, biscuits & fruit at the finish line and the entry cost of 33€ (including a day license) included a goody bag with a free commemorative Cycling Shirt and a ticket for lunch at the prize giving after the race!
All in all really good value and a great day out. Friendly & well organised.
Well done to Club Ciclista Barbastro for organising it all.
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I’ve been doing some more exploring. This time I’m checking out some of the routes the Enduro World Series used when it was here …
Took a ride up a Pista (Stone Track) that goes “the back way” from the small town of Boltaña where we’re living now, up towards the village of Campodarbe.
When the EWS was here the other week they climbed this pista on one of their stages. The views, as always, are amazing.
Took a ride up a Pista (Stone Track) that goes “the back way” from the small town of Boltaña where we’re living now, up towards the village of Campodarbe.
When the EWS was here the other week they climbed this pista on one of their stages. The views, as always, are amazing.
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We've been in our new place for a couple of weeks now and Mrs Bonus has now got it just how she likes it :-)
The place was rented "part furnished" but we've bought some of our own bits & pieces out of storage to finish it off. Living on the farm with Ramon & Rosa was fun but it really is nice to have our own space and our own "stuff" around us again.
Last night we had some friends around for dinner - including a new Dutch friend who's just got back from walking the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage route (800km across northern Spain!) and Mrs Bonus was able to cook and look after everyone from her own kitchen.
A lovely evening, food & wine and amazing stories of what it's like to walk 800km is 5 weeks . . .
Now the Camino has been bumped up our "to-do" list a bit :-)
The place was rented "part furnished" but we've bought some of our own bits & pieces out of storage to finish it off. Living on the farm with Ramon & Rosa was fun but it really is nice to have our own space and our own "stuff" around us again.
Last night we had some friends around for dinner - including a new Dutch friend who's just got back from walking the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage route (800km across northern Spain!) and Mrs Bonus was able to cook and look after everyone from her own kitchen.
A lovely evening, food & wine and amazing stories of what it's like to walk 800km is 5 weeks . . .
Now the Camino has been bumped up our "to-do" list a bit :-)
