Micro adventure: Three days bikepacking in the Pyrenees

Day 1: Puigcerdà - Andorra

↔ 76 km | △ 1980 m

One of the advantages of living in Barcelona is having a direct train to the Pyrenees. I took a 6am connection and by 9:30am I was at the footsteps of the mountains. The adventure started in Puigcerdà. Right outside of the city I crossed the border with France and began a long climb towards Col de Puymorens. After a short downhill, the climb continued towards Andorra. The road was busy with drivers from France heading to Andorra for shopping. Luckily, the traffic ended just after Pas de la Casa and the final climb to Port d'Envalira was much calmer.

At 2400m above sea level, Port d'Envalira was the highest point of the trip. I met some fellow bikepackers heading the other direction, took (slightly staged) photos of my bike in the snow and started a long descent. On the way down I passed some towns I already knew from my skiing trips and from last year's Coronallacs hike. The downhill ended in Canillo, where I turned to the road leading to Coll d’Ordino. While not the longest climb of the day, tired legs were complaining a lot about it. The day ended with a beautiful downhill to Anyos where I stayed at my friends’ house for the night.

Day 2: Andorra - Pedraforca

↔ 93 km | △ 1900 m

After spending the evening with friends, eating pizza and having good sleep, I woke up well rested. Any doubts I had the previous day disappeared as I started cycling towards the Spanish border. The first 30km of the day were going downhill to La Seu d’Urgell. The rest of the day was all about climbing: first to Coll de la Trava and later to Coll de Josa, with some beautiful and empty roads in between. I passed cute small towns and enjoyed the views.

After reaching the top of Coll de Josa, the views for Pedraforca opened. This mountain never fails to impress. After some more cycling I passed Gósol and Saldes to reach my hotel with an amazing view for Pedraforca.

The day could as well have ended here: I ate dinner, took some photos of the sunset and went to bed. But as I was getting ready to sleep, I saw tons of posts on Instagram about the northern lights all over Europe; a phenomena of strength not seen in 20 years. I decided to give it a try and, to my surprise, there it was: not as amazing as in the other parts of the continent (as Pedraforca is a bit further south), but a clearly visible pink layer. What a lucky coincidence to be in the right place, right time. An aurora over the Pyrenees is not something I was expecting to see in my life.

Day 3: Pedraforca - Ripoll

↔ 51 km | △ 500 m

The third, and final, day started with a lovely sunrise. I didn’t get much sleep between photographing the northern lights and waking up for the sunrise, but the last day was far easier than the previous two.

The original plan was to close the loop by climbing Coll de Pal and going downhill to La Molina and Puigcerdà on gravel tracks following the skiing slopes. After some consideration I decided against it: the snow had just melted and I was afraid the route would be too muddy for a pleasant ride. Instead I decided to cycle up the Llobregat river to La Pobla de Lillet, climb Coll de Merola and catch a train in Ripoll. It was finally a day with more descent than ascent!