Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Report: Pedro's Ride

  This is the fourth installment of Virtual Turkey Burn reports I received this year. NOTE: I VERY lightly edited the submissions where I found a mistake. Images are credited to the authors. Thanks for reading these and for submitting a report if you did so. Remember that some of these reports fall on double-post days, so be sure to scroll down the page to make sure you don't miss any content! 

 

Gravel near Pedro in Spain.

Let's start by talking a little bit about me. I own two marvelous bikes. My personal thoughts move around to getting the “perfect” bike. One bike to rule them all (yes, I am also a Tolkien geek). The first one is an older (2004) hybrid bike: flat bars, aluminum frame, V-Brakes, 3x7 Alivio. It used to be one of my uncle's bikes. It was my present for him with my first real money, and when he died, I decided to keep it. A bit big for me (it is a Large), I included a Jones H-bar for comfort and a front rack to help carry things. It is not a nice bike, so it is perfect to commute around the town for groceries, or whatever.  I also can leave it outside without anxiety or having a heart attack.

I tried to add some km's taking my daughter to school.

Two years ago I was thinking about changing some parts and making this bike a little better. In order to keep only 2 bikes. But Rivendell piqued my interest, and the real reason I do not have one is I am not tall enough to go for 29”-700 wheels. So, I haven’t pulled the trigger for an Appalossa yet. I like the loooong wheelbase, full mechanical bits, old standards (except probably for the threaded headset that I presume too tricky to maintain. A post about old vs new system)

Mr. Guitar – Ted? Are V-Brakes still valid? And what about threaded headset? Or even 3X9? Friction shifting?  Editor's Note: I will likely post about this in January after all the end-of-year madness has passed.

My other bike is a marvelous Jones steel (S) Space Frame with truss fork. Fully mechanical, 1 x11. Aluminum rims and Hope 4 hubs. Nothing much to say more than that. In my case, I fully agree with Mr. Jeff Jones philosophy and I feel that his intentions about a bike that it is valid for most rides is correct.

With this bike I have ridden “Spain Tour’s” mountain ports, of course gravel paths, and in my level (no big jumps or something too difficult), single tracks. It is really comfortable.

Today’s ride: 

Unfortunately I choose incorrectly for this ride. Due to a high intensity week, including business travel, not only could I not ride, but I also felt really tired. But I want to take some nice photos of a different place, really near from where I live.

I am from the south of Spain, El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz. Near Gibraltar actually.  From my front door I can find a huge amount of gravel paths connecting farmland (wine). We also have a small set of hills, really technical for practicing mtb, and some paths to connect, mixed with road, all the nearest areas.

This latest part was my objective today. The full route implies 125 km from my front door. And the day started good. Not cold, not hot. Some clouds - that said… be careful, a bit of rain can be found. My Jones was ready, the GoPro was ready for taking photos and videos, I had enough water, and a Garmin 530.

Ready to Go!

 

Let's Move… From the very beginning I didn’t find comfort, not with my position on the bike, (Ergon seat
is marvelous), but internally.  The first part of the route crosses large salt flats, from where we produce salt for all over the world. It is almost perfectly flat.

I love these views early in the mornings.

  Then, the route starts to change. The landscape becomes typical pine forests, and a constant 1% to 3% slope will accompany us to the end. This gradient will only change halfway along the route, close to the town where we would stop, with 4 slopes alternating between 7% and 10%.

 

 At this point is when I started to realize that reaching my goal was going to be really difficult. With a huge effort my colleague and I (he was fine, he is really fit), arrived in a typical bar where we had breakfast: coffee, toast with different accompaniments typical from here (all of them made from different parts of the pig), and a orange juice.

 After this short rest, I felt much better. So we start to return. What goes up, must come down.

 

But we spent a lot of time on the way there, and also, on every small ramp I needed to climb, I suffered too much. It was impossible for me to finish ☹ So, 25 km from the finish, I need to stop and we called home. Our wives came with the van to bring us home.

 

End of the story. Very sad for not achieving my goals and need to be disqualified from the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Challenge of 2024, but happy because if God wants, I will be here next year for trying again.

I hope you enjoy the photos and the story. Stay safe, enjoy, just ride.

Wow! What a fantastic adventure! Thank you Pedro. I think the readers will agree with me and say you have more than accomplished a successful Turkey Burn Ride! 

Check in tomorrow as we will have another international report. This time from the United Kingdom! 

I'm not sure, but I may be posting one more Turkey Burn Ride Challenge Report, and if it comes in, or if one comes in unannounced, I will post those this weekend. Friday will be the traditional FN&V. 

Until then, thanks for checking these ride reports out!