VOLTA EIVISSA XCM 2024
Even though I’m used to riding mountain bikes, participating in a race is a completely different experience. This time, I teamed up with one of my best friends, Andreu Miró, to tackle the 3-stage race, Volta Eivissa, an XCM race around the island. We knew I was a little bit stronger than him, and that was okay; we always have lots of fun on the descents, and I would help him on the flats and the climbs.
Besides that, we didn’t know what to expect; we’ve never ridden with so many riders at the same time. On the day of the start, there were 1,200 riders.
STAGE 1: 68km +2.000m
Still nervous, we went from the hotel to the start, a 15km ride to warm up our legs and be ready for what was about to come. Spoiler alert: we weren’t. We started strong, with the adrenaline of the race and everyone starting fast, and we had to calm down and find a pace that we could keep during the day.
We found it, but it was maybe too late for Andreu; at kilometer 30, he was done and dusted, and we had to conserve our strength on the climbs to be able to finish. On the other hand, on the descents, we were really fast, and we could pass quite a few riders. It was fun.
STAGE 2: 85km +2.250m
The queen stage! Andreu couldn’t finish. I am sure he had some stomach virus or something because he was feeling good, but he had no strength to pedal. So at kilometer 50, after 20km going super slow, he told me, “Hey, you keep going, I will try to find a way to go straight to the finish line.” I’ve known Andreu since I was 13 years old, and I know when he says stop, it’s because something abnormal is happening, so we took a look at the map and found a way to get to the next refueling point, where he could ask someone to drive him.
At that point, we had already pedaled 50 kilometers, but I still had some gas left in the tank, so I started pedaling as fast as I could until the finish line. Besides that, the views we had during the stage were amazing, with the abrupt coastline and the different shades of blue sea being part of almost the entire stage. There were some super steep parts where you had to push as much as you could to maintain some speed and not lose balance.
At some point, Andreu told me he couldn’t pedal anymore; he was empty. So we decided to look for a shortcut for him to make it to the finish line. We split up. I kept going, as fast as I could; it was hard but also fun at the same time. Andreu found a guy from the organization who drove him to the finish line, luckily.
At that point, we had already pedaled 50 kilometers, but I still had some gas left in the tank, so I started pedaling as fast as I could until the finish line. Besides that, the views we had during the stage were amazing, with the abrupt coastline and the different shades of blue sea being part of almost the entire stage. There were some super steep parts where you had to push as much as you could to maintain some speed and not lose balance.
At some point, Andreu told me he couldn’t pedal anymore; he was empty. So we decided to look for a shortcut for him to make it to the finish line. We split up. I kept going, as fast as I could; it was hard but also fun at the same time. Andreu found a guy from the organization who drove him to the finish line, luckily.
STAGE 3: 59km +1.400m
We decided with Andreu to start at the same time and go alone, so Andreu and I could go at our own paces, without worrying about the other. It was a 3-hour ride, 3 hours pushing as much as I could, and it was a great feeling, especially the first 2 hours.
Then I felt my legs struggling to keep up the pace, and I knew it was time to reduce the speed a little on the climbs and push again on the flats and descents. I kept going, and at some point, I had a glimpse of a cramp; luckily, I managed to make it go away and finish with great speed.
Even though we suffered a lot, it was three amazing days on the bike. We learned a lot from this new experience, and we are already hungry for more. What will be next?
