In this episode, I caught up with multiple South African champion Ashleigh Moolman Pasio. We talked about how she ended up in Banyoles near Girona, the Rocacorba Cycling business, her QOM Strava record on the famous Rocacorba climb near Girona, and the challenge she set herself to get the best women’s time below 30 minutes.
Ashleigh will share her advice on how to pace yourself when aiming for your PR because pushing just a little over your limit for half of the climb will ultimately cost you later.
The Rocacorba will never attain the status of an Alpe d’Huez, Stelvio, or Tre Cime di Lavaredo, but thanks to a lucky combination of geography, local patronage, and technology, It has already become much more than a footnote in cycling folklore.
We hope you’ll enjoy this fully packed and insightful episode with Ashleigh Moolman Pascio of @aginsurancesoudal
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome
05:20 Live From Columbia
09:31 Rocacorba Cycling, How It All Started
20:23 Rocacorba
21:45 A Bucket List Climb, the Pros Test Climb
29:29 Strava Segment, Mastering the Pacing Strategy
36:20 When Getting to the Top
38:49 Tips for Descending Rocacorba Safely
41:16 Training Intervals and Efforts
48:41 The Benefits of Riding with Local Guides in Girona
52:08 Rocacorba Strava QOM
56:25 Ending
#castellicycling #cycling #cyclingpodcast #AshleighMoolmanPascio #womenscycling
Rocacorba was the first place um that I went to to start doing my intervals and that Shakira um and PK were our competition you know the property speaks to community it speaks to Bringing things together and so I felt like this was my challenge was to to start a business where I could try and connect the [Music] dots welcome to G podcast your exclusive access to the iconic brand that has revolutionized how Pro Rider stressed and post the boundaries of cycling clothing performance for decades in each episode we’re joined by people from the world of cycling to learn the best practices for Peak Performance how to dress writing stories and hear firsthand what new Innovative products are in the works and get a glimpse into castill almost 150 years of history on today’s episode we talk to Ashley mman p show of the AG Insurance sudal team about one of the most prestigious drava segments contested by both professionals and amateurs The Rocker corba clim outside of Jona and within a stone throw of the beautiful costabrava coast and pirones the medieval town has been home to many of the world’s professional cyclists for nearly three decades offering the perfect environment for cyclists looking to Horn their form on quiet roads and with fantastic year round temperatures it’s a place filled with vibrancy and culture and there’s a wealth of great cycling climbs to tackle almost too many to choose from Rocka corba is a demanding Hill to climb so getting to the top in a respectable time is the main highlight under 45 minutes is considered a good time for non-pros it is one for those who love to climb and there’s nothing at the top other than two large tcom M and stunning views on a cloudless day doing a cell media Camp earlier this year we brought an exclusive group of global cycling journalists to Jona to test some of our new gear and visit the castill flagship store downtown Jona we stayed at the famous Rocka corba cycling owned by Ashley moleman pasio and her husband Carl and only a kilometer away from the iconic R Cora climb and a climb I always wanted to feature in Castelli’s epic climb Tuesday series on Instagram so I thought to myself why not start a classic climb series here in the castill podcast where we’ll talk to locals and to Pros to gain all the inside of knoow and history of some of the many legendary climbs and their history so I reached out to Ashley while she was in Colombia for an altitude training camp to have her help me unlock R Cora history and why so many local Pros have made this clim the training ground and one of the most prestigious DVA segments contested by both professionals and amateurs as asley and her husband have lived in Bolis outside Jona for a long time and asley has been the rooka Cora Queen of the mountain for many years she actually in 2020 coming out of lockdown broke her own record on the climb and the iconic sub 30 minute mark on the 9.9 segment a performance that many of the Big World Tour mail names turn themselves inside out to achieve in this episode she’ll share her advice on how to pace yourself and going for your personal best because if you push just a little over your limit for half of the clim you will ultimately pay for it later that’s what happened to me a few months ago we’ll discover why this clim is such a favorite for the pros despite never been featured in a pro race but before we dive into the episode let me give you a little bit of details on this climb a little over 30 years ago the only people who knew about the messy tangle of TAC and Third Road up to the summit of Roa corba where radio Mass engineers and members of the Jona hangliding club and a few local mountain bikers the mountain of puu Lies 20 km north of Jona and reaches 994 m above sea level hardly a monster when on a clear day you can see the pyes and on a little Hill near the summit lies the 20th century santuari DEA corba which gives its name to the climb however in the past Dozen Years Roa Cora’s Fame and name has spread far beyond religious tourists and bands of gravity Sportsman who in 1989 drove up the dirt road section near the summit and built the first hand gliding ramp Lance Armstrong was one of the first professionals moving to Jon in the early 2000s but he had gone by the time the Rooker cor was fully paved around 2006 and the climb turned into an unofficial test climb for local base Riders there’s only one way out the rooka Cora it’s a Savage dead end that from a cycling point of view only exists to get to the top and back down again a Road to Nowhere except hopefully to some sense of your Fitness it will never attain the status of the AL the stelvio the Paso or theim Lao but still thanks to a lucky combination of geography patronage and Technology Roa corba has already become more than a footnote in cycling folklore now let’s dive into the interview with Ashley and don’t forget to use the chapter links to jump between the topics or fast forward to the essence on this interview the r corba climb details Ashley thank you for joining me today live from Colombia that’s fine yeah all good it’s the rest day today it also seems a little chilly there isn’t it or it’s just because of the skies and it looks a little foggy I don’t know if to just yeah so we as I mentioned we’re at at 2,580 or 2,600 M now so I mean I’m being uh cautious as a cyclist rather to stay you know be sure that I’m 100% warm because I know it’s a rest day and I want to be sure I don’t compromise my immune system is probably compromised it’s not cold it’s just a little bit fresh and a little bit foggy but by in about two hours time it will be warm also because it’s only like quter 8 in the morning exactly and if we drive down um then it’s really warm um and quite humid so it’s been mostly in the range of about 25° each day um so it’s it’s perfect temperature and of course you and Carl you both speak Spanish so there it’s is it difficult to communicate or also coming as maybe non-s Spanish speaker I mean only with English is it easy to communicate with people or yeah I mean to be honest um there aren’t a lot so if you’re going to restaurants and stuff which I I highly recommend um then yeah you have to speak Spanish um or at least try I mean a lot of like you can get away obviously with them with some you know Google Translation on the menu or sometimes you go to places where the menu is also in English so they they do have a lot of americ tourism here also you know a lot of Dutch um and European people do come here um so they’re not close to helping you they’re very helpful you know so if you can’t speak good Spanish it’s not a big problem but it does mean you’ll have to make some effort you know to to try and communicate or to point at things or you might have to use Google Translate um for us it’s actually been quite interesting because you know we live in Jona where it’s Catalan and now we’re in a place where they speak Spanish and it is some words are different like they do use some of their own words like they don’t for example use the word Amigo um as friend they use another word someone told me and I’ve now completely forgotten it um but you you’ll get by easily because the people are just so helpful you know so it’s not like you know some parts of the world if you don’t speak the language they’re not interested to help you here they they’ll always help you um no yeah exactly nice I mean it’s been like I said on my Bal list for quite some time like years and I just need to check it off for sure especially after hearing all this I would look up again on your on your strawber profile where you are guys are and also looking little bit more closely we are actually in have in mind now to to consider you know in the period of like December January when it’s bad weather in Europe and people are looking to get away you know to to get a group of people together and to come out together because I think um that’s a nice way to do it of course you can do it I would always recommend like if you were to come that you come with your wife um or with someone to share the experience with it’s really nice to experience you know the local culture to go to um the restaurants for example the town squares you know are always uh you know full of energy like on Sunday night we went into the town of rtio and the Town Square they were thousands and it was local people you know it was all local people it was Palm Sunday you know and they are religious but you know you need to share that with someone you know where you can go and sit at a cafe and really enjoy um the the culture thanks for all these great inside tips and uh recommendations okay asley let’s let’s um let’s get started I don’t want to take too much of your time here today but first of all when we visit the Rocka Cora cycling doing a cell media Camp earlier this year you know it was my first time there I want to seen your place on gcn channel and other websites and stuff and your guys place is really amazing it’s a proper cycling Heaven the way that you have the whole facility going also for your guest taking care of everything the B basically and then also of course all the area around it but um since this podcast is about the rer corack climb I would like to start with having you maybe telling us a little bit about your rocker corat cycling business and I’m guessing this is a nod to the clim with the name of course and how you guys ended up in Bolis and with r aoba if you can kind of do that as a short version I’ll try so when I first started my career in Europe um Carl and I actually went to Italy because he has Italian Heritage he has an Italian passport I have an passport so of course you know we wanted to go and experience um the culture there um and we spent about 2 years in in Northern Italy um in the Lago major sort of region um just just south of Milan um and we really really loved Italy um and the culture and the language and the people and the food but we never managed to really integrate into the community there um and so we just kind of felt we we needed to find a place where we could settle and feel normal you know not like a tourist every day um and so that’s when we started looking uh further um to to find somewhere else in in Europe to settle and um I came across uh you know Jona of course because there were a lot of um expats living there a lot of South Africans a lot of Americans um and so I thought well maybe this is the place to go Carl was quite hesitant you know the normal Italian sort of style where they kind of get um accustomed they like to stay in their comfort zones so I really had to convince him a lot um and one of the things that K said to me is I need to go somewhere where there is water you know because in that Lago major area and he grew up at the water you know he’s like I’m not going to Jona because there’s no water and so that’s when I started looking a little bit outside of Jona and I came across Bales with the lake um and I managed to convince car to to give it a try so we when we moved to the area we um we immediately settled in the Bales region close to the lake we never we have never lived in Jona um and then when I first arrived there um you know I like to do my intervals on a climb you know I like to to find a place where I I I’m I’m quite boring in that way I like to use the same place for my intervals because I huse you know um the surroundings is also a way of measuring my progress you know sometimes our power meters don’t work very well you know and so sometimes if you go to the same place and you do your intervals you also start to see points you know in in the on the climb that you reach and that’s also a measure of progress and I also just feel safer you know to um to stay in in certain zones um and so I was looking U immediately for a place where I could do my intervals and of course Rocka corba was the first place um that I went to to start doing my intervals and so our very first arrival in the area Rocka corba immediately became a very significant part of my life you know I would use it at least once but sometimes even twice a week uh for doing my intervals and I very quickly also became the queen of the mountain right and we’re going to get into that in the second yeah and then after living in the area so we moved to to the area in 2012 and after living there for a couple of years and and you know absolutely loving um the culture the people we we integrated into the community much easier um in Jona the people were very um welcoming although they’re super patriotic and and passionate about their Heritage they’re also very happy to share it with other people and a lot of them speak English which also made it a bit easier to integrate um and so we settled very easily and very quickly um in the area but then you know as we were getting older um you know I only I got into cycling a bit later in life I’d already studied so I was in in my middle 20s when I came over to Europe and as we were getting more and more into our 30s you know KL and I would have conversations about you know what’s next you know um you know when when my career is over what do we are we going to go back to South Africa but if we go back to South Africa yeah we have engineering degrees but we haven’t worked in the industry so you know what’s next and so we’d ride um on our training rides and we noticed these beautiful masas or farm buildings you know Stone farm buildings and both Carl and I come also from a background where our parents or families have been involved in Hospitality whether that’s bed and breakfast or or um restaurants so it’s in our blood you know and so we thought well maybe that’s the next thing you know we need to find one of these big farmh houses and we need to share this amazing region for cycling with the rest of the world um and so that’s how it all started um and it was in 2017 that we started actively looking uh for a property um and we so happened to reach out to an estate agent um to see a different property um and when we met with her she immediately said I’m going to take you to the property you asked uh to see but I have another one that’s just come on the market it isn’t even listed yet and I need to take you there first and she took us to kulia so that’s the historical name the house of culia the family name is culia and I walked through the arch into the courtyard and immediately I just knew it I could just it didn’t it it wasn’t in the condition it is right now today uh the courtyard was totally overgrown um you a lot of the stones were um covered by grass the the pond was totally overgrown with reads but I just walked in there and I got the feeling of of community you know that this is this is a hub this is where people can come together um and you know and we can build community and that’s something that’s always been really important to me is is sharing um my experience sharing my career um to motivate others and to to build a community um and so immediately I knew it and it didn’t matter what other properties we saw because I’d already made up my mind um so yeah that’s not a very short version but yeah I tried to keep it as short as possible and also I remember you telling me when then you guys you saw the place and you fell in love with it you were not the only couple bidding for that that location right yeah and okay I forgot were with other people I forgot to me mention another reason why it was the most perfect loc property was because of its location it’s literally based at um at the bottom of the Rocka Cora climb so you literally roll down our driveway and you and you hit the road um that leads towards Rocka corba and you know Rocka corba is such a big part of my life you know it was part of my progress um it’s the way I measured my progress in Europe um it I was the queen of the mountains so you know it just made so much sense to to find a property that was in this location but as you said it was a very competitive process uh to buy the property it was we are the first non campia owners so it had been in the campia family for hundreds of years um and it had been left to the eldest son um and he never married he never he never um had a family so he was just living there with his parents and he never had a passion for the for the property because there is also Farmland there’s multiple buildings and the way to make that property sustainable because it’s so big was to start a business and he just never had um that foresight or that energy so as soon as his parents died he just wanted to get rid of it so of course it was selling for for a good price um and it’s quite a prominent property so we actually were we are told that Shakira um and PK uh were our competition were one of our competition as well as I think a Dutch couple who had a similar idea to create a a cycling business so yeah it was it was a very very competitive process and quite stressful I had really attached myself to the property like emotionally so I really it it’s that’s where my cycling Spirit you know my fighting Spirit came in I was gonna I was going to nudge everyone out the way to make sure that I got across the Finish Line first um and yeah we were really happy did when we finally secured the property your husband Carl told me that you already had in your mind the vision and the business plan of the future and the rer Corp cycling later yeah and I think that was was also what was presented then to the owner or I think the big reason why we managed to to win over um the owner you know the campia the um original owner of the building was that we always spoke about um community and how important that was to us and we made a promise to him basically from the very beginning that we would never make it um exclusive you know um and I think that’s what really really um stood out to him you know because it it is it’s the most prominent Farm in the Bolis area it’s it’s on a little Hill it looks over the whole um city and we we said from the beginning that we would make it accessible not only to you know to the rest of the world but to the locals as well um and that I think is what managed to Edge us ahead um of the rest yeah because your job is to be a professional cyclist on the very very top level and so and also with Carl also running the business and coordin things you have a lot of locals you know people working at the facility coordinating things you have the kitchen you have the chef you have the the people coming in for the cleaning you have guides for Bike Tour I mean everything you name it we came down with casell as you know with a big group of journalists and everyone just felt home like what you said that connection I had then one extra night after the the rest of the group left and I was having dinner the same table with another group of your guests there that evening there was something normal that would never happen you know in another location or hotel that they would put two groups of people that never met before on the same table and we sat down that we had one or two good bottles of red wine fantastic food made by Ryan and we said that till like almost midnight I was feeling bad for for Ryan and Jess that was just I think we just waiting to you know to get home but it was it was part of the experience and everyone just had that feeling I mean the feedback I had from the from the journalist those afterwards was so positive so that was so good to hear and that was also what that made me feel like hey I came home told my wife about and she was like oh we should go I was like yeah no I want to bring you and uh it was beautiful thank you it was really nice yeah I mean it’s it’s the it’s the property you know I think the the farm Vibe um and that’s something we we always wanted to do it justice because in the farm kitchen the original Farm kitchen there’s a a Woodfire bread oven um and we were told by um by the family that that bread oven was actually a communal bread oven um you know many years ago so people from the community could come and bake their bread in the oven and so that again was just a tradition that or that we wanted to carry forward into into the future you know so again like I think it’s just the property as well it’s it’s it just creates this Vibe and of course col and and my character um you know we’re very open we’re very social uh people so we always just want to make people feel at home feel comfortable of course if someone comes and they like their privacy then we always respect that but in general very quickly people start to chat you know talk about their rides talk about their experiences where they went on the coast for lunch um you know and so it’s it just is a great like Community feeling definitely is I can confirm that very nice so Ashley getting back to R Cora while n is famous for the kadon and Luca the mesera and you know in derona area it’s the Roa Cora roaa has been used by some of the world’s best cyclists as a test climb as you also mentioned that you do your own testing but also your efforts on to see what sort of shape they’re in I remember in 2012 the year that Ryder Hazel won the jro I was there in Jona when we were sponsoring the Gin bakuda team back then and uh he was telling me about both him and then Martin were polishing off his shape and doing his last test there on the rocker cor bar before going to the jum and I know for professional cyclist it’s all about getting a sub 30 minutes and for a good amateur I think we’re talking about 40 minutes plus can you tell me a little bit more about why Roa Cora has become a notable climb despite never being featured in a grand tour because all the other famous climbs that we know of they have all been Fe like the Al it’s the G or pyrones you know all these other famous clim Rob been featured in either the Welter the jro or or the tour what made do you think rooka Cora that special and that bucket list climb for professionals living in the area but also cyclists coming to their own area I definitely think it was the pros um that made it the climb that it is today and Ryder hell is probably one of The Originals really who um who made it that iconic climb that everyone needs to test themselves up you know I think Ryder and David Miller I would say um in this case I don’t think L Armstrong was was that um involved or important in terms of of the Rocka cor clim because because um it was a bit before his time uh Rock cor was only paved um not so many years ago to be honest so in the time of for example L Armstrong um it wasn’t completely paved um all the way to top um but yes I’d say Ryder Hall is is one of those um cyclists who I think used r corba a lot um in his preparation um David Miller I think um Dan Martin as you mention um these are the kind of riders that that really sort of formed um the the name O of Rocka corba and I think the reason why is because it really is I would say the toughest climb in the area so um you know it’s it’s distant it’s not it’s not as long as for example Mar Delmont which is the mother of God climb it’s um is literally the trans it’s like 18 Kil it’s it’s 18 kilm but it’s very irregular you know so it’s not a very good time climb to H as a test um whereas Rocka corba okay the first part is is um quite tame you know it’s not super steep but as soon as you’ve gone over the first 3 kilometers you really hit the the second part of the climb which is unrelentless is the word I’m trying to say actually so it just never stops you know you have to keep on the pedal and when you get to the top you know the last part is really Steep and you just if you haven’t timed it correctly you’re totally empty you know H so it’s a it’s a tactical climb you know you have to pace yourself well to get a good time up there and it’s really a good challenge so it it quick formed um its name as the climb the test climb as you said so like Ryder haal did his final test before the jro a lot of riders would do their test there before going to um to the Tour of France and so that’s how it Formed its name and to this day um you know there’s sometimes a bit of a mixed um conception about Rocka corba because often people will go I don’t understand why Rocka corba is so famous because it’s quite a boring climb you know there’s nothing there’s no view you know you’re you’re just suffering all the up the climb you know so why is it so important why is it so special and the reason why it’s so important is because it’s that it’s that challenge you know it’s to challenge yourself to see what time you can set and there is a very very prestigious you know leaderboard you know so it’s it’s a good way to kind of measure up you know against the pros or to measure up against other people in in your age group and I always say to people when they say that why is it so special I say okay it’s the challenge firstly but secondly it’s a it’s a clim that keeps it secret till the very end so you have to go all the way to the top you have to suffer all the way to the top to enjoy the view because when you get to the top The View opens up you know you you can look out over to the coast to Jona you can see the whole area and it is a really beautiful view um not only that it also has a very iconic sort of feature on it which unfortunately not many people see when they’re climbing the road version of Rocka corba um it’s named after a a rock outcrop because Rocka corba actually means Rock outcrop and there’s quite a prominent like rock outcrop that actually looks like a ship um and there’s a monastery um on top of of this uh rock out crop so the only way you really see that very clearly is from the other side so from the Jona side and if you climb the gravel part of of um of the climb which is just as tough as the road part so also something I recommend people to do because it’s a great challenge that’s when you really see the iconic rock out crop um of Rocka corba and we quite lucky at Rock corba cycling because we have um access or we we work with rock aob clothing um it’s not our brand it’s a it’s a local guy um who does clothing he has keys to uh to this the sanctuary and so sometimes you know it’s it’s really great to make a special occasion specialest yeah to go up to the sanctuary and to really see what Rocka cor is all about what it’s named after and to see the sunset from up there it’s always really That’ll be amazing to do one day yeah I mean the most important the most important thing is the challenge you know it’s the challenge and then you have to wait till the very end to really experience the view I would love to do that next time because I’ve done it by- by two times first time there was 2012 do some shootings and meet with Ryder Hazel then in 20156 still with the Garment Shar team I was there with David Miller Dan Martin and uh Jack bow I remember but that was then driving the car while we were doing some footage shooting there and then last time was there in end of February early March when we came to visit you guys but and always gotten there to the big antennas there on paved on the paav road so I would love to do the take the dirt road next time that would be a bit of an experience yeah and we really need to find the time to make a race that goes up brcko Cora because you know it is that one iconic climb that has not yet featured in in a race and I’m not 100% sure possibly it’s a lot of people say to me it’s because of the parking you know it’s not easy um for all the buses or but I mean it’s not unknown for this what I was about to say is not unknown look at Zan exactly so I think I need to make it my mission to have on the top of Rocka cor because I think it’s a really great opportunity to also create um you know a bit like the Flanders or um like the Str Yan where you can create something really nice for for the fans as well because it would be really easy to do some kind of a ER race the finishes on on the top for for um for the amateurs as well or just a hill climb and you could have two versions of the hill climb you could have a Gravel Hill Climb and you could have a road hill climb so yeah that’s a very good idea yeah it’s on my my to-do list I like that and I’m pretty sure if it’s on your to-do list and with all your passion and engagement everything it will happen one day I’m pretty sure about that so it’s a long to-do list so it takes time to tick all the Box but yeah I always get there eventually so talking about the climb itself I don’t know if this is a myth but I’ve heard and it’s not just the last few years but 12 years ago when it came there the first time that the locals they use their age plus 10 as a time to aim for when climbing the full length is a 10 km or it’s a 13.8 because I kind of have these two segments that always pops up so the the straa segment um is 9.8 km so just of 10 but the the official climb is supposed to be 13.8 but it really starts from like there’s a factory on the corner and so it’s maybe 2 3% um for the first three kilm so that’s why we don’t usually um use the full climb as as the stra segment okay so coming back to that myth is that something you’ve heard before like the locals talk about I’m not I’m thinking they’re probably not chewing the handle bars when they’re riding up it’s more just like taking it easy with that AG plus 10 is that a good it’s a really good um Target exactly so whenever we have guests who want to set a good time up Rocka Coro yeah we we use that myth or that um that theory that um yeah your age plus 10 and if you get anything less than that then you’ve really gone very well I need to go back and look at mine here for last time the so again also get this right so with the stra segment if I remember right so the clock starts ticking or the straa segment starts when you cross that low Stone Bridge is that where the road turns left up into the trees is that the one exactly that’s exactly where it St okay because again then also pacing yourself because if you have to also go for the queen of the mountain or the K it’s kind of a difficult one like you said what happened to me last time I was start just pushing a little bit too hard in the beginning then it kind of flattens out again and then it pops up again and then you had a little bit of small descent and then you got the last part where it just completely exploded I remember the last bit coming up to the big antenna can you kind of give us a quick run through of how people should Pace themselves when doing this climb yeah that’s that’s the big trick is pacing and if I’m totally honest I still don’t think I’ve gotten it 100% right um so that’s why it keeps enticing me to come back you know because I’ve been the queen of the mountain for many many years and no one’s close to my time when it comes to to female Riders so a lot of people sort of say to me why do you why do you bother to keep trying um and it’s because of this very um you know pacing strategy that I feel I I could always do it a little bit better um because as you say the first part of the climb as you cross over that bridge into the trees it’s very much a power climb for the first 3 kilometers you know the gradient is super steep um you you’re feeling good you’re fresh you just you know come from your warm up so it’s very easy to get um OV excited in the bottom part of the climb um and then you you hit your first little descent um usually you know around in in my case uh around between 8 and 9 minutes um maybe for some a little bit longer depending on on what your age is um and then after that first descent that’s when it really kicks up and it is quite um you know steep all the way you know there there isn’t very much respite except for as you mentioned there’s one more little downhill section um where there’s a big field um and then you have the last 1.8k is you know you see the first antenna at this little downhill section and then you have 1.8k and you know you need to get to the to the next antennas and this to me is the crucial point the last 1.8k is so you you really want to try and get your pacing right in the first part so really stay more at at your threshold don’t be tempted to go over threshold because it’s often tempting you know to go more into that anerobic sort of power Zone where you’re over your threshold so in the first um 10 minutes you really need to try and stay at your threshold no more um and then you do also need to kind kind of huse that little descent after the first first three kilm or 10 minutes huse that a little bit for recovery so um you know don’t free will of course you know try to keep the power going but use free speed in this moment to try and catch your breath take a good drink from your bottle or maybe even a gel is quite good at this point um so that when you head the more difficult part of the climb you have something and then I would only say to start kind of going more into over threshold in this in the steeper part but again not to to go too deep not to go into the total Red Zone where you can’t come out because on that last little descent um section with um before you hit the last 1.8 case again use that for a bit of recovery you know spin the legs out a little bit don’t you know push a heavy gear on this um section take another drink because when you hit the one the last 1.8 K that’s when you really want to give it everything um and especially as a climber like myself in that last 1.8k is my strength is really to climb out of the saddle so the important thing for me is to try and keep enough in the legs to be able to really you know get out of the saddle um not all the way of course but to to um use the steepest parts to get out of the saddle and to really give all my power and and I still to this day haven’t quite got that right because usually when I get to that last 1.8 colomet I don’t feel you know fresh enough to really um use my out of the P um saddle climbing strength so usually yeah I get out of the saddle for a few seconds here and there but I I’m I I’m feeling too fatigued to really huse um that that full potential so I need to get back there um this year again and and give it another go now these are really good recommendation I’m just kind of we seeing this the images when I did it two months ago and especially that little bit descent before I really ramps up the last 1.8 km this is what I was just trying to just give it full gas and that descent because I was just thinking okay okay I need to get some fast speed here and then go up there that was the first mistake and then second mistake was probably those I kept looking at the antenna up on the top and I just thought I was getting closer and closer but then I was looking on the map on my device and I could just see that then the road was kind of just going around the top around the antenna so it just and it just became steeper and steeper there so I think there definitely for next time I need to learn from my listen here listen to what you’re saying and then yeah just uh work on this both physically but also ment next time for my next run up there at the Rock no it was definitely a challenging climb for sure yeah something else which is really really important if you going for your stra attempt up the climb you really have to and now this is hard because you’re really empty there’s a line on the road um near you know at the top and that’s actually the end of the stra segment but um it’s a little bit tricky because there’s like a platform um you know just above this this line where the antennas are and if you cuz I’ve made this mistake before you go you cross that line and you think you’re done and you try roll onto this sort of platform because it’s it’s a a space where you can relax but on straa it sees that platform as below the line so I’ve had a huge issue before where I gave it a massive effort I I I was broke the 30 minute Mark and I went and I recovered in this Zone and when I came back and I looked at my straa time it only finished my time when I crossed the line again to go down so I was so distraught I didn’t get the segment and I had to do it again so the secret is you really need to keep going to the all the way up to the gate to the gate touch the gate and then you know okay I will have my stra straa segment correct I’m sure the person who created that segment did it on purpose to just to eliminate a few people at least at first run so yeah no that happened before I rode all the way up to the gate because I kind of had that in the back of my head I mean I don’t even know where this segment ends yeah also myself rode all the way up to the gate which is only like 5 m longer yeah yeah but when you empty it’s a long 5 m oh yeah no completely true so when you get to the top of Roa Cora there’s stunning views of course but are there other recommended ways for cyclist to celebrate their accomplishments and enjoy the surrounding scenery things you can recommend also a time of the day like late afternoon just to soak in the sunset maybe I don’t know I would say it’s always great to hit there’s a um like a platform where a paraglide is you know jump off and this is also quite an iconic feature on the climb so I think it’s always good to take a photo you know at this platform a lot of people will sort of sit with their legs you know over the platform um it’s and like kind of look out at the view this is quite a good um Instagram photo I mean my husband Carl has been totally crazy and there are other people that have done this before but I don’t recommend this for anyone else um he’s actually sort of like hung off on the it’s possible to climb down the platform and to look like you hanging onto it but I don’t recommend this it’s but yeah I always recommend you need to go you know to this like platform really um soak up the views obviously take a photo you know um it’s it’s never official until it’s H you’ve got a photo whether that’s to post on or to post on Instagram you always want that memory of course um and then yeah just to take a few minutes to really you know um recover you know soak it all up before you go down because the desent is actually really really Technical and really tricky so you want to be properly recovered before you start um taking The Descent down so if you’ve done an effort if you’ve done the climb for the reason most people do it to set your best time then this is the way I’d say you know you i’ I’d recommend rather to do it earlier in the day because um in in Spain it’s very well known for the hottest time of the day in in Spain or in gerona to be you know after 3: between 3: and 6: in the day that I’d say is the hottest time of the day so I’d recommend to do it earlier in the day so that it’s not too hot but you need to you need to enjoy the effort by you know soaking it up checking out the views getting your photo and recovering before you do The Descent if you want to experience the sunset then I’d say the best way is actually to go on your gravel bike and and then to have something a bit more organized as an event so that you can really stay up at the sanctuary at the big rock outcrop enjoy some drinks and then have a car trip back down so that you don’t have to worry good advice yeah about riding exactly no because what you’re saying saying is and I found out that myself I mean even now after been racing a few years pro myself and then been living in the Italian dolomites for 18 years outside our doorstep here we ride straight up in the mountains but I did find also like you said The Descent and some points technical both due to the corners but also that you have a lot of cracks in the in the tarmac what safety precautions should cyclist know when descending Roa corba after completing the climb but just apart from just being precautious about the speed but are there any other things that people should really be aware of because there some places when it’s deep especially you are accelerating I mean the bike is going fast yeah it it’s really is a tricky descent and not only is it uh technical in its sort of layout with the switchbacks it’s also the surface is quite bad um you know something that we we’re trying to fight for them to to redo the surface so that it’s better um so you really do have to descend cautiously if if you’re descending it for the first time I never recommend trying to do any um you know straa descent segment attempts on on Rock cor because you it can go very wrong so I always recommend to to take it slow I know The Descent Fair very well now so you know for me it’s it’s easier um to to go a bit faster if I want but for everyone else if you haven’t done it before uh really just just take it easy it’s not worth it um to crash especially after you after doing a hard effort up the climb so it’s just really important to always watch the road surface because there are places where um where there are you know quite really bad sort of um I don’t know like cracks in the road uh so you really don’t want your your wheel to to go into those cracks um and then there are switchbacks that if you come with too much speed you’re just not going to make it around the corner um so always enter into the switchbacks you know more cautiously breaking you know well before the Switchback so that you can respond um and then the bottom part once you’ve you you know the the part that we spoke about the last 3 kmers or the first 3 km and in the case of The Descent the last 3 kmers there the road surface is really good they’ve redone it it’s smooth so if you want to kind of you know feel out The Descent and and go with more speed then i’ I’d only recommend to do it in in this part of the time just let the bike roll coming out there of the woods and out in the in the Open Fields then after yeah exactly okay no that’s good because like I I was a bit surprised to be honest this time but maybe also because I was a little bit too cocky and I had to ride back to to Italy but that was like you said in one of the one of the swits backs came down a little bit little bit too fast so but luckily stayed on the bike so what kind of intervals if you can leak a little bit of what kind of intervals or efforts would you do on the climb mostly so I have to be honest um it’s Mo mostly the first part of the climb that I use for intervals because you know generally speaking you know I’m talking about anything between 4 minutes and 10 minutes you know is what I use the first part of the clim for um if I have there are occasions where of course I have longer efforts so maybe be a sub threshold climb and then I’ll get almost to the top or or sometimes to the top um but yeah like I said if if you look at my heat map on straa it’s really the first three kilometers of the climb um that you know I have I I use the most or I know every every corner every crack in the road of the first three kilometers but then you know having said that of course I’ve climbed the climb um many many times as well all the way to the top um so yeah it’s mostly anything from 4 minutes to 10 minutes um that I that I do on Rocka corba and then of course if it’s something longer then sometimes I might even ride the first part easy and do that first little descent and then if it’s like a 20 minute effort or a 15 minute effort then I use the second part of the climb um so that I know I don’t have that descent you know which will obviously affect you know the the general the overall effort and also being world’s famous and riding an iconic climb that every tourist have to take off the the bacalis when they visit the J owna area all that people that you run into on the roads are a lot of them that coming up for a chat is it difficult sometimes that even just to do your thing in I’m not saying in a crowded area but you know it could be crowded ESP in summertime on The Rocker corbine if you have to do some of your efforts and stuff on or how are people approaching you when you’re out riding I mean generally speaking uh it’s very it’s very easy for people to recognize when you’re doing an effort um so I don’t I don’t ever feel that I’m disrupted um in my efforts usually it’s quite nice actually because um if you ride past a group or a couple of people who are doing the climb and you ride past them while you’re doing an effort then they’re usually very encouraging you know so they’ll shout encouragement go Ashley go or you know something like that which is actually quite nice it gives you a bit of extra energy to give it your best and then yeah of course you know at the top of course it’s it’s really nice if you bump into someone at the top and and they’d like a photo or they want to ask some questions then I’m always happy to oblige and to to chat and answer people’s questions or take a photo you know that’s the nature of professional cycling you know we’re accessible to our fans and I think it’s important that that we make the effort for our fans because that’s essentially what what makes the sport what it is right you know we need the fans to to watch and to um to be interested in in the sport um so I’ve never felt disrupted um by actually have only once had someone sit on my wheel to be honest in an interval um and he didn’t last all that long um but sometimes Pros talk about this being really really annoying if someone tries to sit in your wheel um but as long as they’re respecting your space again you know for me it’s it’s not usually um an issue for me um it there has definitely been a big change uh since the the TT France F of EX Swift uh in terms of uh you know our fame or recognizability um in the general public so I’ve definitely seen a massive change since then since women cycling is really so much more um available on the TV and of course with the tour um so yeah of course more and more people recognize um us nowadays out on the roads but generally speaking fans are respectful um and they don’t distract what you’re doing that’s good good thing about cycling is that when we all get into a cycling gear and we’re out there on the roads um it kind of you res all levels of society we all on the same level we can all chat to each other and like we saying you’re in Colombia you might have somebody writing up next to you you might not speak fluently the language but and somehow you always manage to communicate and everyone just feels part of of something bigger you know that everything is connected so exactly and and that actually was essentially the vision for rocker cor cycling my cycling tourism business is that you know I come from an engineering background um so I have you know a problem solving mentality a a strategic mentality that’s ingrained in me and so you when I first entered into professional cycling that was one of the biggest frustrations firstly obviously when I first entered in 2010 the exposure um for women cycling was was really bad so that was the first frustration was to fight for you know equality and for equal opportunity for women but not only that you know it’s it’s throughout the industry that I feel um that there is a lot of um you know it’s very disconnected um you know you have cycling is such an accessible sport as you say when we’re on our bikes together and we ride together there’s this energy and connection um that that brings everyone to the same level but somehow you know the different parts of the industry aren’t really connected um well in this way so you have professional sport that exists quite independently from cycling tourism which exists quite independently you know from the cycling Brands you know and I felt like Rocka cycling you know the property speaks to community it speaks to Bringing things together and so I felt like this was my challenge was to to start a business where I could try and connect the dots you know and so that’s where throughout my career I’ve always tried my best um to to engage the partners that are involved um in my professional team so because cycling tourism is the place where industry brands can have access to the consumer you know and that’s of course brand exposure through our our professional teams is important for the brands but I think a connection to the consumer is even more important and especially in this day and age where marketing is so you know there’s so much out there there’s so many advertisements I think trying to create that that more personal connection to the consumer is really important for the brands and so yeah that’s always been the vision of rocker cor recycling is that the rental bike Fleet would speak to the bike that I ride as a pro and you know that there’d be accessibility to the brands that I ride as a pro um and where I can engage with the cycling tourism um the cycling tourists as well to really share my experience of the brands and and why I choose uh to ride Castell or so you know so yeah I we for sure it has played a big part in in connecting the dots but there’s still a long way to go in making sure that the different parts of the industry see the same vision that I do you know sometimes that’s a little bit frustrating um but yeah that’s the vision of of rock cor cycling sh for everything you have done and achieved so far I think you’re probably if not the number one but on that top cycling’s best ambassadors of the cycling world that is out there today not really and everything both for women cycling both of cycling in general and community and everything know big shapoo really for everything you have they done but also then with rovo because I remember when we came there you also had a big Fleet of specialized bikes that people can rent because there were people from South Africa there were people from the states all over Europe coming to your place but also one of the things that I really enjoyed was um that you also have the guides you know the bike guides that take your guest out on different rides depending on the level you want to go to the coast and just want to go and hit some of the climes in the area are there any benefits of riding with one of your guides yeah so we really um prioritize uh sourcing local guides um as much as we can so at the moment we have well we have Albert who’s the um who’s the head of our sort of cycling department so he’s he’s the guy you always see the friendly face in the cycling Department um answering all your questions but he he also guides and then we have um another really good guy guide whose name is gilam um and they’re really unique because they’re locals um and that’s what we really try our best to do um is to Source local guides because they just have extra knowledge that um that nobody else can have you know so they can answer all your questions you know from you know maybe the history of the area or um they they know all the best stops you know the local restaurants or cafes there’s a lot of cycling cafes nowadays you know which which are all over Instagram so they’re easy to Source but sometimes especially when you’re going on the quieter roads into the mountains or if you’re going towards the coast um it’s really really um great to have a local guide because they know all the shortcuts all the quiet roads you know there’s still there are still occasions for example where I’ve ridden with Elbert where he still shows me roads that I had I don’t know about you know and I’ve lived in the area since 2012 you would think I know them all but there are just so many options and sometimes um the smallest quietest road that you think why is this even paved you know like why few I thought about that yeah yeah so that’s what I’d say is the real um benefit of Hing a guide is that they know all the the secret roads that aren’t on straa that people aren’t riding on a day-to-day basis they know the best stops they can provide a lot of insight into the area um the history answer the questions talk about the um the local Legends you know all that type of thing and yeah it’s just also to be able to ride with peace of mind that you don’t have to look at your Garmin you know or your wahoo you don’t need to be focused on on following directions or if you’re going to miss a turn you can really just relax soak up the environment because that is again you know that’s what makes Jona so unique is that it’s so quiet the roads that you don’t even have to worry about traffic and stuff like that so when you’re on the bike you can really just enjoy being on the bike and if you if you then have to be looking at a map all the time it’s kind of taking away from that experience of completely immersing yourself yeah yeah or if you have a mechanical I remember was with Albert I think was a group of your guests also had a mechanical one another ride I mean he was around and you know he could help us right straight away he gave us also with a big group of journalists indications of you know what to look out for because I think we had that big strike around the highway with the trucks yeah when we were there and he would also give us input of you know detours to do you know if we could we if we would end up in um in traffic and and then you come back and then the first thing Albert he does is like he just takes your bike downstairs give them a quick clean up and make them sure that they’re ready for the next day and it was fantastic it was it was great it was really very enjoyable for everyone good so last question and that is something we touched on many times we just set the sub 30 so what is your best time on the rocker cor but since you’re the queen of the mountain and have been that since many years already but I know that you broke the record it was was that in 2020 coming out of uh lockdown mhm yeah so for many years my time was around 34 minutes um and then after the lockdown you know I was training on the indoor trainer from a room in in the in our building where I could see the towers you know from the window and it would be that constant sort of lure or um you know that challenge about you know Rocka cor and my Q so the first day we could um ride outdoors I immediately set out to set um a new record on The Rocker cor climb and on that day I think and that’s the one that’s currently up on stra at the moment I think it’s just over 30 minutes um but I have broken the 30 minute Mark um on 2950 I think is is what my time is or something like that 2940 2950 however for some reason it shows on my straa is my PR but it’s not the Q at the moment so I actually need to um I keep saying to myself I need to get in touch with strawber to understand why they haven’t uh why they’ve taken that one down because it was um up I don’t know if it’s got to do with the fact that I’ve um put my my power data it’s not free for everyone to see at the moment I don’t know if that’s part of the reason so I need to look into it because I was really proud of that effort you know to break the 30 minute as a female Rider um was really a big effort and something I’m proud of so yeah I need to put it back up there um so that so that it’s there there to be seen and yeah now I mean I keep talking about oh it would be so cool to to break the top 10 um in the men but that’s a really really competitive field you know to break into the top 10 it’s I think it’s it’s now talking about sub 29 or even sub 28 minutes I’m not sure if I have that in me but um maybe I need to give it one last go yeah see all the way down to I think it’s the 34th position here yeah that’s the last one who just got on about 1 second the 30 minutes in total both men and women after the co pandemic when I set that um 30 minute Mark was Sub sub 30 2950 I was in the top 15 actually um but it’s so competitive that now now it’s it’s become even harder to be um in the top 15 overall oh yeah because now we have the top 15 now you need to be TJ farden and he time is 2833 seconds it’s crazy I mean if you look at the top 15 here most of them are professional cyclist I also heard that a lot of Pros living in the Jona area they don’t even upload the rides on straa if they don’t get a good time or they don’t make it public at least yeah exactly so yeah it’s a very it’s a very competitive segment yeah very I think the most competitive segment um in the world to be honest I think so too yeah last thing here the mati sakal you’ve done that also I’m sure thousand of times it’s not really in your backyard like the r Cora but I’ve heard a few Pros are going to some of the sakal now also do some of the efforts or maybe also some of the FTP testing maybe because it’s more consistent in the grading I don’t know I’ve never done it yeah I think I’ve done it once okay I don’t go there often at all um it’s a little bit further for me to get there it is a bit more consistent um The Climb I think so it does suit quite well to efforts and to FTP um but yeah for me it’s more The Climb that the Jona Pros go to um because I think it’s exactly half an hour for them to get to the climb um and so it’s a it’s a really good climb for them but literally I think I’ve done it maybe once or twice um so it’s not a climb that I’m super familiar with no me neither just I was just curious because I heard on my last trip there there was a few there’s a few guys that were talking about definitely a place to go as a cycling tourist because you will always see Pros there because they do use it for their efforts when I did at the rocker corba there early March I ran into they coming down into two professional coming up not together but split up in the climb yeah yeah no there are often because it is it’s it’s a nice challenge everyone always needs to do it at some point in their preparation for but but the crown is really sitting there on the rer corba that’s maybe just look at the top 20 of the Riders so but again big shapo Ashley Ashley thank you so much for jumping on this call with me today on C podcast especially live from Colombia that was amazing thanks s good to see you again no thank you please give my best regards to Carl and tell him I can’t wait to go for for a run with him again or a bike ride because uh yeah we should probably be riding a bit more I also got into a lot of running over the years so I also enjoy that bit more of the trail running that’s definitely also something I’ve found out in your area that is beautiful but also booming that whole trail running scene yeah it’s definitely booming so it’s nice to be able to do both when you come in October bring your your trainers exactly um and your bike and we can do both cool yeah and I’ll will enjoy that as thank you so much for taking the time and uh enjoy the rest of the time there in Colombia safe trip back and speak to you soon thank you say hi to me we’ll do by bye
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Will be adding Rocacorba to my list of places to go to!