{"id":5,"date":"2015-12-30T17:47:21","date_gmt":"2015-12-30T16:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/phantomatics.net\/festive500\/?p=5"},"modified":"2022-05-03T15:53:26","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T13:53:26","slug":"festive-500-ride-1-montserrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikefinisher.com\/?p=5","title":{"rendered":"Festive 500 2015 Ride 1: Montserrat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Montserrat is going to be my first ride into the Festive 500. At first glance, it is going to be the hardest one, the ride with more climbing and less kilometres, with a long climb to arrive to the Montserrat monastery (570m of ascent in 9 kilometres). I normally don\u2019t use a GPS in my road rides, but this time, as I am venturing into mostly unknown roads, I will be mounting my trusty Two Nav Sportiva in my Specialized Roubaix stem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big anticyclone has been hanging around over Southern Europe for a while now, perfect for cycling: sunny skies and mild temperatures, although the humidity is high and early in the morning there are road patches menacingly shinny wet. You can expect fog too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All my Festive 500 rides will start from Santa Fe del Pened\u00e8s, right in the middle of \u201cla plana del Pened\u00e8s\u201d, a small depression between Mass\u00eds del Garraf and the Serralada Prelitoral. This area \u2013 now known best as Cava country – has been through various marine periods, in prehistoric times of course. And the rocks which were at sea level, worn during millions of years, have formed many streams, creeks and rivers that cross this depression, giving this terrain its characteristic rolling hills. But if there is one feature that stands up in the Pened\u00e8s landscape is the Montserrat massif. The biggest single geological feature around and home to an ancient monastery. This massive stony mountain, one of Catalonia\u2019s most iconic, it is also a permanent feature of the Pened\u00e8s scenery. This mountain is the product of an old marine-river delta, it is made of all the sedimentary deposits fused and shaped by the elements during ten million years as the landscape dried again. My longtime friend Joan Lesan<\/a> – he calls himself a photographer that flies – has made an amazing drone video recording the surrounds of the monastery. If you want to understand the scenery, it is worth watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n