El LImite 2019

Last week we returned to El Limite with a few brave guests. A 2 day sportive with a 145km race on the Saturday followed on Sunday by the Pico de Veleta hill climb (highest road in Europe). As usual Granada was around 35 deg but humid with a thin cloud cover, which helped a lot in the end.
The start on Saturday was just outside of the city centre but returned straight back through the middle for 20 km before we hit the first climb and the end of the neutral zone. The first climb was quite a steady one but having ridden this sportive many times I know exactly what is needed for the final climb so rode fairly steady. The route was a really nice one on mainly very quiet country lanes winding through olive groves and passed a reservoir and a few pretty towns. The heat was really starting build towards the final climb and I was starting to pick of a few of the riders who had gambled and gone off hard. It was the best I have felt on the final climb for years so knew I had ridden it about right, the finish line was still a welcome sight though. All of our guests arrived soon after with eventual smiles on their faces after the shock of the final climb had been slightly forgotten.

Sunday was the Pico Veleta climb but high winds meant the route was going to be shortened as has happened in the past. Normally the timed section is 36km but we were a good 14km short on the day. The winds were huge as predicted with 120kmh gusts at the very top and nearly unrideable conditions for the last couple of kms for us. But again we all made it even if we were a bit battered. As usual the food afterwards and the organisation was fantastic and we shall be returning for more of the same next year.