Mountain Bike Stage Racing is a fantastic way to experience a new region, combining your sport and passion, adventure and a competitive spirit. Not all stage races are in the same mold. Some are more competitive, and based out of one town. Other stage races are point to point around a large loop, which is again great for logisitcal planning! The Transpyr is a classic point to point Mountain Bike Stage Race. Running in early July 2012, the route leads from Roses on the Mediteranean westwards to San Sebastian on the Atlantic, over eight days. By traversing the Pyrenees, Mountain Bikers now have a dedicated option for travelling the length of this stunning mountain range.
Eight day stage races take their toll, and with 820km to cover with 20300m of climbing. Clearly that is beyond the capabilities for some mountain bikers, but thankfully you can complete the Lite A at 460km and 12000m climbing, or the Lite B at 359km and 8000m climbing. These are the first four and last four days of the 8 day event, and run concurrently. The whole route can be seen on the event website. The exact route will be kept secret until the night before each stage, adding a degree of adventure to the event.
With quite a challenging route on offer, the Transpyr organisation has a training plan available via TrainingPeaks.com. Perhaps this is how they managed to have 80% of the field complete the route in 2011 – quite a high percentage of finishers for a physically tough event.
Like many point to point Mountain Bike Stage Races, the Transpyr has a ‘dormitory’ option for competitors, or you can find your own accomodation in each town via the tourist office. Each option has it’s own element of adventure.
There is far more information available on the event website, and currently early entry discounts are available.