El Piri

Across 800 kilometres and 19,000 metres of climbing, El Piri carries riders from the medieval streets of Girona deep into the natural parks of the Catalan Pyrenees, from the Espai Natural de les Guilleries, over the Serra del Catllarás and out to the remote ridges of the Serra de Boumort. It then loops back through l’Alt Pirineu, Cerdanya and the Parc Natural de les Capçaleres del Ter i del Freser. The final route is the fruit of James's years of patient exploration in the region, distilled into what he considers the very best sequence of gravel the Catalan Pyrenees have to offer.

El Piri prides itself, above all, on being an inclusive event. While the adventure does demand a certain level of fitness, the organisers are quick to point out that riders with limited bikepacking experience have completed the course. They go further still through a dedicated bursary which removes financial and material barriers for riders from underrepresented groups. The same spirit lives in the name itself: L'Esperit del Bikepacking or the "The Spirit of Bikepacking." El Piri is not a race so much as an invitation to ride the most beautiful gravel in the area at your own pace, and to pause along the way at the remote refugis and villages that give the route its soul.

Perhaps building El Piri was James's way of giving something back to the country that took him in. Ride along to understand what this is really all about.