XI Marathon Sierra de Paterna (Corta)

Just one word: AMAZING. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting such a tough and complete route like this. Technical sections, trails, technical descents, water crossings, impossible climbs... The start didn’t go very well, as we were placed at the very back of the starting gate, with 1600 people ahead of us. Imagine, when we crossed the start line, the first rider had already passed it 15 minutes earlier. Moving through the village was very slow. Just after leaving the village, I got stuck because of a crash right in front of me, a pile-up, and the worst part was that a girl had to be taken away by helicopter due to the crash. From very far back, I kept going until I reached the dirt track and started overtaking some groups. After an initial climb, we entered a more complicated zone, with ups and downs, leading us to the Los Machos climb, which I did at a steady pace, riding in a small group. We reached the first aid station, and surprise, only half a bottle of water per person. Then we started a quite fast descent, but very rough, practically only a trail to ride on. We continued until we got to the first of the impossible climbs on the route, short but very steep, which we successfully passed. Just at the top was the first checkpoint, and luckily they refilled my bottle from a jerrycan they had in the car. We kept descending and after a forested area, continuous up and downs like almost the whole race, and we approached the second aid station. After a descent and a crossing of a small stream, we started a very rocky climb, and here came the second incident of the day: the rider ahead of me lost his front wheel and fell down a small ravine. Quite a scare! I went down to get him, he was stuck with the bike on him, thankfully he got caught in some bushes and didn’t fall further. I got him out, and walked with him the rest of the climb to the aid station, which cost me a lot of time, but I couldn’t leave him there. From there on, I rode nearly the entire race alone, and far behind. After the last long climb of the day, which brought us to the last aid station, came almost the hardest part of the day. After crossing a dry stream, they put us on an endless track of at least 8 or 10 kilometers, initially climbing, with a very strong headwind, and since I was solo it felt very, very long. Then we connected with the long route near the village, the famous climb to Pinguete (this year I only managed half of it because the last kilometers had eaten up the little strength I had left), and then the finish. As I said, a very tough race but highly recommended, and I already have a goal for next year: to do the 91 km route, even if I finish last.