It takes a few moments for the pain to hit, crashing over me like a wave… and then I have a massive asthma attack
start. It feels steeper this time around, and the threat of terminal cramp hangs over me like a terrible secret trusted to the wrong friend.
The Eat Sleep Cycle car has been providing service and later on Lee will recount some of the incredible scenes of humanity catalysed by the inhumanity of the route: ‘We met a chap in his eighties wobbling up the final climb with his grandson, who was calling him a champion, and a young man who had crashed hard on Gallina, injuring his leg, yet was determined to finish and crawled to the end.
‘We saw another rider go flying over his bars and all the riders nearby stopped to help. I’ve never seen such camaraderie and determination in a cycling event.’
Back to my own troubles, and the Els Cortals d’encamp is a 2,000m-plus Colossus that today stands guard over the finish of La Purito. I take my 12th bottle of the day at the final feed stop and fumble around in a futile search for some kind of rhythm on the steep grades. By now I’ve been riding on my own for about an hour and a half with little real idea of where anyone else is in front or behind. Then about 4km from the top I pass a rider I recognise through his fancy socks as having been in the lead group. Then, 2km later, I pass two more. The huge finish arch comes into view at the same time as I pass the 2km to go sign, itself a cruel taunt as in between them the road snakes around three more hairpins and up some long ramps. I keep looking over my shoulder but there’s no one coming. Everyone is empty.
After I cross the line it takes a few moments for the real pain to hit, crashing over me like a wave… and then I have a massive asthma attack. Moments later I’m put in wheelchair, carted off to the medical centre and placed on a nebuliser (salbutamol and oxygen) by the kind medical team. After 20 minutes, and then a Coke to revive me, I feel like myself again. My finish time is six hours and two seconds, which I’m later very happy to learn places me seventh.
If you’re wondering how long it took the real pros to ride this course, the Vuelta stage in 2015 was won by Mikel Landa in a staggering time of four hours 34 minutes. Martin Velits was the last rider home in five hours and 10 minutes.
As for myself, nothing I’ve ridden compares to La Purito. The route and the riding conditions combined to make it surely one of Europe’s very hardest gran fondos – in fact one of the toughest anywhere. If you’ve done a few big events and you’re looking for an even bigger challenge, and especially if you want to ride something different from the usual haunts favoured by Brits – this should be high on your list. Just know what you’re getting yourself into and go prepared. Jamie Wilkins is a freelance cycling journalist who intends to stick with following official direction markers from now on