One of the most prominent polymaths of his generation, Salvador Dalí was most famous for his often bizarre surreal art. Intrigued by what may have inspired Dalí, we head to his birth place in Figueres, Catalonia for a 52km ride, tracing our way along the DO Emporadà Wine Route, through the Parc Natural de Cap de Creus before passing Port Lligat, where Dalí painted one of his best known pieces of art “The Persistence of Memory” in 1931, finishing at Cap de Creus, the furthest point east on mainland Spain. A truly beautiful ride ride with diverse landscapes from weathered mountains to the deep blue sea, I hope you enjoy the ride!
Start: Figueres
Distance: 52km
Highest point: 502m
Elevation gain: 1,082m
Max gradient: 11%
For more help and advice visit our website at http://thecolcollective.com, become part of our col community and sign up for our free newsletter for monthly updates. And if you fancy riding with us then we’ll be hosting a number of cycling experiences for all abilities in the French Pyrenees each summer. Details available at http://thecolcollective.com/cycling-tours.
Thank you to our partners Mavic, Cannondale, Exposure Lights, Lezyne, MyPower by InfoCrank, Muc Off, The Sufferfest, TORQ and USE for enabling us to bring these truly special mountains to life for you all. If you’re in need of new bike kit in the future and you enjoyed this video then bear them in mind and help keep the wheels turning 🙂
Special thanks to our friends at Costa Brava and Girona Pyrenees tourism for helping us pull this ride together and the opportunity to experience such a beautiful area. Already can’t wait to get back one day!
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Stay well, ride safe and thank you for watching.
Mike Cotty
The Col Collective
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[Music] [Music] welcome to the coal collected on door in the Costa Brava and Girona tyranny [Music] Oh [Music] today we’re going to explore Darlene’s coastline ride 52 kilometers setting in figueres which is the birthplace of Salvador Dali we’re going to trace our way all the way through the wine route past some historic villages along the way to cut the cruise which is the furthest point Eve in Catalunya and mainland Spain [Music] you [Music] it’s just over 16 kilometers on the clock now we’ve joined the 604 1 go into the captor cruise nature parks climb it up for the first time today we’re going to get to around 500 meters in 8 kilometers so not all flat as it might look like on the profile definitely not feeling to the left you’ve got the high Pyrenees snow cap keeping us a watchful eye on us and our progress towards the coast [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] what a beautiful road for approaching 400 meters elevation and what’s great about it is the gradient never pitches up – stinks it’s about five or six percent all the way means you can really appreciate it look at that [Music] [Music] [Music] back down to sea level after a flowing to send seven kilometers with passing the monastery of Santa Rosa quite a spectacle first information dates back to the 9th century much before that they’re not sure of its origin so it’s left to put a mystery and now we hit these support there it will port the silver we’re heading inland on our way to Quebecers [Music] you [Music] Hey [Music] [Music] you [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] what arrived it really is they’re coming together a nature the other mountains on one side and the sea on the other quite easy to see where the great Dalian Sal Khan is inspiration from with landscapes like this truly magnificent you [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music]
26 Comments
yes yellow socks/shoes combo is back and I thought I lost you
LOved it great stuff Col Collective
lovvvving it
You are losing your edge Mike, sitting while climbing? 🙂
Brilliant
Inspirational, as always.
Could've done without the sound of cow bells from cattle without bells though.
Mike, I propose a next video in the area of the Montseny and the Guilleries.
1 year ago i commented on a CC video of the Col de Joux Plane. Almost exactly a year later i find myself in that part of the Alps….up I went. Not only are your videos inspirational to just get out on your bike on a 'normal' day, but they are useful too!! Shame Mont Blanc was in cloud!
Cheers guys!
On a side note, if you are in that area try the Montée d'Avoriaz from Morzine. Great ride. ~9km at 8%ish. Then there is a GREAT descent to Montriond. Minimal traffic, quiet, fast andflowing bends, great scenery. MAGNIFICENT! (Plus a swim in the lake to cool off is also motivation!)
The videos are great and I can understand being based around Girona but there are many equally beautiful places in other parts of Spain and far less traffic. At the other end of Catalonia try the Sierra de Montsant or the Maestrazgo region of Castellon for a start.
Enjoying the videos but the flamenco music, really, save it for Sierra Nevada. Also a heads up that the pronunciation of Cadaques is not correct. Sorry rant over, beautiful place yet to visit in Catalunya, as people have alluded to, Montseny, and its not far from San Miquel de Fai which is one of my personal favourites.
I had the pleasure of riding these roads in May of this year. There was very little traffic, but there is none in your video, so I wonder whether you filmed this on closed roads?
Great video .. beautiful ride… I would love to do it …
You dont seem to have encountered much traffic…?
GR8 video Mike . . .
I'm sure that cow was mooving faster than Mike there… @5.12 😂
Why are you riding down the middle of the road?
Lovely video, really appreciate the mellow ride and fantastic production value
Simply …. beautiful. Inspirational too. Keep up the great work.
always…..great…..stuff!
Great landscape, cool relaxing video to view
what time of year did you do the ride?
I've recently discovered this channel and I'm loving it, so thanks a million.
I live in Catalunya, and you've shown me some great rides, especially out of Girona.
It's really better to avoid Cadaques during the summer summer months as it generally fills up with tourists, and the road up to Cap de Creus will be busy with traffic. April is the perfect time for a lot of rides here, not only for the relative peacefulness out on the roads, but also because of the mild temperature.
Mike, how was the wind up on Cap de Creus?
When I was there the wind was vicious. I've never experienced wind that strong before.
You should also do a video on Italy‘s Amalfi coast!
Epic to watch!
Sin duda alguna es una experiencia maravillosa rodar por este bello paisaje. Me gustó saber sobre Dali, pero más me gustó, escuchar el canto de un pájaro. Muchas gracias y Saludos desde, mi inseguro y corrupto país.
Wonderful stuff – thank you 🙏