16th May Girona to Peratallada
Today’s choice of destination was the historic town of Peratallada which features a castle that dominates the town centre. The first leg of the ride generally followed the Riu Onyar until reaching the base of the 344m cat. 2 climb up to Els Angels. It is a twisting road over 10km with an average gradient of 3.4% but with frequent ramps up to 7% and is a popular challenge for cyclists. The fastest time posted on Strava is currently held by George Bennett with Simon Yates coming in 10th place. While our group of gallant Knights may not compete with such illustrious company, making it to the top is a marvellous achievement.
After a well earned rest, it was time to continue. At least this time it was downhill over the next 10km to Monells. Gentler gradients then continued to Corcà and Bisbal d’Emporda as they travelled around the Bosc d’en Nadal eventually passing Vulpellac and Canapost before reaching the ultimate destination of Peratallada.
For the return journey the Knights opted for a less taxing route. Initially heading north from Canapost to Serra de Daró before turning west towards Parlava. The easy going was shortlived as they passed the village of Rupià where the gradient went skywards once more averaging 4.8% for the next mile with a sneaky ramp up to 10%. After winding around Flacà and Sant Joan de Mollet there was a long straight stretch leading into Celrà. The final leg followed valley of the Riu Ter back to Girona for a total distance for the day of 75km with 823m of climbing.