Jorge Padrones was desperate to eek out as much of the European summer as he could, so headed down to its southern tip in search of the soul of gravel. The Guadalete200 gravel event seemed to offer everything that he was looking for. Read on to found out how he got on.
Guadalete 200 is one of those gravel events that keeps the true gravel spirit and the original gravel approach, being something more than just a race and focusing on building community and maintaining the discovery factor that gave the gravel its unique characteristics.
Thankfully, apart from pure racing and big events like the UCI gravel series, national cups and all the purely competitive events that are filling the calendars nowadays, there are still individuals and small organisations that put together events for the people to enjoy and to meet other people. They have an idea, they know their local area and they want to share it with the rest of us, creating nice small events, far away from the others with thousands of participants.
From my perspective, these events are the ones that keep and maintain the soul of gravel. Don't get me wrong, it is also a race, people will still try to do it as fast as they can, but this is not the principal objective of this type of event.
Guadalete 200 is based on the brevet idea - an unsupported ride that takes its participants from the seaside in El Puerto de Santa María, the beautiful coastal town to the top of the Cadiz province in the heart of the Sierra de Grazalema, one of the most beautiful and undiscovered places in the south of Spain.
I would define this route as a journey through the Cadiz region, in which you will discover the variety of landscapes that the area has to offer. The route starts at the beach and goes through marshes, pine forests, pastures, salt lakes and a stunning mountain landscape taking the riders over the 1100 meters above the sea level.
On the way, there are many small villages and the typical roadside restaurants called “Ventas” in which to replenish food and water - we should not forget it is a demanding event with just over 250 Kms in total and more than 3000 meters of accumulated height gain. Also, this is the most southern gravel event in Europe as from Cadiz it almost feels like you could touch Africa.
But the event was not only the route - it started the previous day with a briefing while all the riders shared some drinks and pizza offered by the organisation which helped to socialise and to meet fellow riders, creating bonds and helping to make new friends.
Next day saw an early morning start. The sun was still to rise over the marshes as we made our first kilometers along small tracks surrounded by water. The sky was a spectacle by itself showing us all the different tones of red and oranges. We had to take into account it was a very long course with a variety in terrain and altitudes, hence we found very different climates along the way, from the cold start to the warm midday to the fresh temperatures at the top and even some rain to spice things up at the last part of the route.
There was plenty of time to finish the course (around 14 hours) and the organisation was waiting for us with drinks and sandwiches that were very welcome after 250 kilometers. As we stood around, having a nice conversation on the finish line with the organisation and other riders, you realise it is much more than a race - it is an event to create friendship, to discover a part of the country and to keep that soul of gravel ongoing. Otherwise, with only purely competitive events it will gradually fade out.
We all associate Cadiz with its endless beaches and kitesurfing in Tarifa and other areas, so for me it has been a real discovery. The region has much more to offer and gravelling is the perfect way to discover it. We should say thanks to the Guadalete 200 organisation – they knew that Cadiz was an amazing area for gravel riding and they wanted to share it with all of us. This, in my mind, is the primary purpose of the event and it was a big success.