Registration and Riders' Briefing

Tonight we had the registration and riders' briefing in Barcelona.  There are about 250 riders in the event and about 170 supporting staff!  After picking up our packets we had obligatory photos:

Of course this was followed by the obligatory machiatto served up by the folks at AllPress who will be supporting us through out the event.

And then the evening briefing.  This included safety tips, description of the extensive social media activity, and finally, the detailed briefing for stage 1:

Another Day, Another tune up ride....

Tune up ride with Ian Walton with a beautiful panorama of St. Feliu.  Followed naturally with a Cafe stop in town!

First day in Spain

I arrived in Barcelona today to join in the Haute Route Pyrenees. Registration and safety inspection is tomorrow and the race begins on Monday.

After a nice ride with Ian (one of the staff) we stopped for coffee in the center of La Garriga.

The scenery here is different from Northern California!















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Today I fly to Barcelona to join in one of the hardest amateur bike events on the planet:  The Haute Route.  The Haute Route (www.hauteroute.org) consists of three parts: The Dolomites, The Alpes, and The Pyrenees.  Each part consists of seven days of intense riding with climbs of many of the most famous cols along the way.

The Haute Route Pyrenees starts near Barcelona and finishes on the Atlantic Coast.

The event is organized like a professional race with moto outriders, support cars, etc. and each stage is timed.  I will be posting pictures, results, and observations on this blog but you can also follow the event on Facebook and on the HauteRoute site.

Because of the schedule of this event I will miss the Best Buddies Carmel-Hearst Castle Challenge for the first time in several years but I am raising money for Best Buddies anyway and I would appreciate it if you could make a donation:

Mark Bregman's Best Buddies Fund Raising Page