JULIAN SANZ - CICLISTA DE ULTRA FONDO -

This race was intended to serve as a training for Le Tour Ultime. I must confess I knew it was a difficult aim to achieve owing to the long distance, fast speed and difficult profile, particularly at the end of it. However the factor I was more concerned about was headwinds. Wind direction in not in our hands and it can turn into your worst enemy when it comes to riding against it, especially when it is a "solo race", therefore considered No-drafting.

My crew was made up of 6 people (Estancona, Gondra, Laña, Aitor Ruiz de Zarate, Oscar Salazar and Juan Carlos Nuñez) who were following me at the support vehicle during the whole race. On June 30 th we loaded the van with everything we needed and we all set off early in the morning.

We arrived in Roncesvalles (the starting point) just in time, trying to avoid waiting periods, but I had to answers some unexpected interviews and we were finally a little pushed for time .

The start was thrilling and everything happened very fast. We went through Pamplona easily and without incident. Once in Logroño I still managed to keep and effective pace, the average was (34,5 kms/h), it means we were 45minutes ahead of schedule. We were all very excited about the idea of completing the whole distance in 24 hours since everything went as planned. It was in Logroño that three police motorbikes were running in front of us leaving the way open for us so that it would be easier, that's why I would also like to thank them for their invaluable help. We felt like the King for one day!

Afterward we made for Burgos but as soon as we arrived there huge headwinds forced me to push hard struggling to comply with the schedule. Still, we were 15 minutes behind schedule. People gathered to see me pass by and the first thing that came into my mind was that there might be a time some day when ultracylcing can be as well known as stage cycling. Nighttime soon came, being this part of the day when I most comfortable feel riding, but the wind far from improving, had gotten progressively worse. My crew tried to cheer me up with my favourite music; some encouraging words written on the road along with the unexpected arrival of a friend of mine, Jairo, helped me to keep my spirits up. We were one hour behind schedule and the most difficult part was still to come.

After leaving Astorga, la Cruz de Ferro was easily got through. In spite of the rain my equipment (BH bike with Corima carbon wheels and brake shoes made out of cork) came up to our expectations as they didn't give me any trouble riding down the wet ports. However, at this point of the race I had started to feel tired mainly for my non-stop fight against the strong headwinds.

Having reached the Pedrafita Port , the most difficult part, I was only concentrated on doing kms. to arrive in Santiago .

Unfortunately the cut off time expired when there were 100 kms left to finish. Nevertheless, I never gave up and I decided to follow up to the end of it. I reached Santiago at 16:01 in the afternoon, that's 28 hours and 1 minute riding non stop.

Jose Luis García was the first man in Spain to take part in ultracycling races, facing up to his own challenges. In the EEUU they have been 27 years organizing the RAAM (Race Across America) the most important race in the world with 5000 kms and LTU in France as the toughest one with 4.100 kms. and 50.000 of climbing metres. It is a speciality where mental training plays the most important role.


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	This race was intended to serve as a training for Le Tour Ultime. I must confess I knew it was a difficult aim to achieve owing to the long distance, fast speed and difficult profile, particularly at the end of it. However the factor I was more concerned about was headwinds. Wind direction in not in our hands and it can turn into your worst enemy when it comes to riding against it, especially when it is a "solo race", therefore considered No-drafting. My crew was made up of 6 people (Estancona, Gondra, Laña, Aitor Ruiz de Zarate, Oscar Salazar and Juan Carlos Nuñez) who were following me at the support vehicle during the whole race. On June 30 th we loaded the van with everything we needed and we all set off early in the morning. We arrived in Roncesvalles (the starting point) just in time, trying to avoid waiting periods, but I had to answers some unexpected interviews and we were finally a little pushed for time . The start was thrilling and everything happened very fast. We went through Pamplona easily and without incident. Once in Logroño I still managed to keep and effective pace, the average was (34,5 kms/h), it means we were 45minutes ahead of schedule. We were all very excited about the idea of completing the whole distance in 24 hours since everything went as planned. It was in Logroño that three police motorbikes were running in front of us leaving the way open for us so that it would be easier, that's why I would also like to thank them for their invaluable help. We felt like the King for one day! Afterward we made for Burgos but as soon as we arrived there huge headwinds forced me to push hard struggling to comply with the schedule. Still, we were 15 minutes behind schedule. People gathered to see me pass by and the first thing that came into my mind was that there might be a time some day when ultracylcing can be as well known as stage cycling. Nighttime soon came, being this part of the day when I most comfortable feel riding, but the wind far from improving, had gotten progressively worse. My crew tried to cheer me up with my favourite music; some encouraging words written on the road along with the unexpected arrival of a friend of mine, Jairo, helped me to keep my spirits up. We were one hour behind schedule and the most difficult part was still to come. After leaving Astorga, la Cruz de Ferro was easily got through. In spite of the rain my equipment (BH bike with Corima carbon wheels and brake shoes made out of cork) came up to our expectations as they didn't give me any trouble riding down the wet ports. However, at this point of the race I had started to feel tired mainly for my non-stop fight against the strong headwinds. Having reached the Pedrafita Port , the most difficult part, I was only concentrated on doing kms. to arrive in Santiago . I covered 600 kms in 22 hours, which is not a bad time for a "solo race". Unfortunately the cut off time expired when there were 100 kms left to finish. Nevertheless, I never gave up and I decided to follow up to the end of it. I reached Santiago at 16:01 in the afternoon, that's 28 hours and 1 minute riding non stop. Jose Luis García was the first man in Spain to take part in ultracycling races, facing up to his own challenges. In the EEUU they have been 27 years organizing the RAAM (Race Across America) the most important race in the world with 5000 kms and LTU in France as the toughest one with 4.100 kms. and 50.000 of climbing metres. It is a speciality where mental training plays the most important role.	Ugao-Miraballes
		Ugao-Miraballes