The long-weekend trip to sunny and hilly Girona was one of our first holiday designed with road cycling as main focus. After exploring few routes in Romania, a weekend of cycling in Mallorca and also a one-day route in Lisbon, a road cycling holiday was next on our bucket list! And what better place to choose than the Mecca of road cycling?

We started our first day in style with breakfast at La Fabrica, a cosy coffee & brunch place owned by the former pro cyclist Christian Meier. As you can see, we indulged ourselves as we had big plans for the day ahead.

The cycling route

Distance: 63 km | Elevation gain: 1,015 m (max elevation: 480 m)

Route: Girona – Els Angels – Monells – Santa Pellaia – Fornells – Girona (Komoot link)

The route was inspired by this video from The Col Collective – click here for the youtube link.

Girona – Els Angels

The city of Girona is perfectly positioned next to beautiful cycling routes. In less than 5 kilometers from the city center we got to Els Angels – a famous 10 km climb with an mellow gradient of 3,5%.

There were no cars on the road, but we met plenty of cyclists! The winding roads and the scenic views made the whole experience a joy!

As it was already mid-November, the weather was a bit chilly … but it definitely felt a lot warmer on our way to the top of Els Angels! I was regretting a bit taking the winter jacket on such a sunny day, but later in the day it proved very useful.

On top of Els Angels hill there is an astronomical observatory 🙂 It was a surprising discovery, but it is easy to understand why this place is appropriate for observing the Universe – so far from city lights, no other hills close by. It would be interesting to have a night stop there.

Els Angels – Monells

From Els Angels to Monells there was a sweet descent and plenty of amazing views on the way.

The city of Monells is a beautiful medieval town. This time we did not visit the city center, as we were a bit hurried to get back to Girona before sunset, but next time we’ll definitely make a coffee stop there.

Monells – Santa Pellaia

Next we went towards Santa Pelleia, a little village on top of a hill. This was the second and final climb of the day – approx. 6 km with an average gradient of 4%.

Santa Pellaia – Fornells

From Santa Pellaia there is a descending road that gets through beautiful and peaceful places. In this area, just like the whole route, there are no cars passing by … we felt like the whole road was a cycling path.

Fornells – Girona

On the way back to Girona to took a small detour in order to avoid a crowded road. Most of the segment was good for road cycling, but there were also some unpaved sections that meant getting a bit dirty 🙂

Overall the weather was great for a November ride – sunny and a bit windy. However, I felt very comfortable (most of the time) with my winter clothes.

Back to the city, exhausted but happy, we went to have dinner and then went straight to bed.

The bike

Model: Factor O2 VAM Disc Size 48 

The bike was rented from Eat Sleep Cycle. It was in excellent condition and we were upgraded to the electronic shifting option – for me it was the first time I tried electronic shifting, thank you! 🙂

Regarding renting places in Girona (and Spain) – be aware that there might be a siesta break during the lunch hours and that the autumn/winter schedule might be different than the spring/summer one. You might want to double-check the schedule if you plan to pick up or return the bike at around lunch time.

‘Till next time … happy cycling!

Georgiana