bike > Bike: San Sebastian > Hard Sample Route
Length: 30km, 6hours.
Height Gain: 500m in van, 800 pedal powered.
Height Loss: 1300m.
Average Technical Difficulty: Hard; around black trail center routes.
Maximum Technical Difficulty: Very extreme; way harder than anything you will find on any trail center!
In 3 Words: Serious Technical Challenge;
And In More: This route takes in 3 separate loops, “The Blue Pill”, “The Hives” and “Pavo Real”. Each trail is very difficult in it’s own way meaning that you need to be strong with lots of different techniques to ride dab free today! This is the trail that I do on my day offs.
Starting with the van we drive to the top of the hill, gaining about 550m without breaking a sweat. The first trail for today is called “The Blue Pill” and starts with a short, 50m climb through the forests with great views over to the sea below. Saddle down, armour on and we are ready to start our descent, riding along small ridges in the forest with drifty loamy turns and the odd root to catch out the unwary. The trails are a mixture of old animal tracks and a touch of BasqueMTB magic, twisting and turning through the forest with a sprinkling of berms and jumps before we pick up an old contour trail which required total focus to ride. Dropping down through technical sections which pass through old quarries we gradually loose height, although you will definitely be stopping for a rest a few times on the way down!
When we reach the end of the singletrack we ride for a short distance along some old mining paths to reach a view point where we will normally have a break and snack while we look at the views below. The climb back up is tough but short and before you know it you will be putting your saddle back down and armour back on for the second descent of the day, “The Hives”. This is the most technical riding we will do today, and a definite step up from “The Blue Pill”. It all starts quite easily with some snakey singletrack, passing by some BBQ sites, but it becomes more and more technical as we descend, reaching a series of rocky switchbacks which need total precision and commitment to clear. The trail then gets steep and loose, with a series of tight corners which can be taken at speed, so long as you are happy with the bike sliding about a bit. The last section of the trail is probably the hardest, very steep for it’s whole length with very tight switchbacks and chutes, meaning that you reach the end with your muscles screaming for a break and your heart thumping in your chest.
The climb back up isn’t as bad as you would expect, the adrenaline from “The Hives” carries you up the first short steep section, and after that the track is rough and rocky but never too steep. We arrive back up to the shoulder of the mountain and again it’s time for saddles down and armour on. The last descent is something very different and a great end to the day; a built downhill track which is perfectly pleasant on a all-mountain bike. There are some jumps but nothing compulsary and in the most part the trail is a series of fast, flowy berms which link a drifty track through the woods. It’s steep in places and there are some serious technical challenges and it makes for a fast swoopy end to the day. The best bit of all is that it ends in a traditional brewery where they make the Basque cider (Sidra), and we can all laugh about the blown turns, dabs, successes and failures of the day over some cold Sidra and warm Pintxos!
