The Andalucía Bike Race is a mountain bike race in pairs with six circular stages starting and finishing in the same town. Each stage is unique and in this thirteenth edition of the test, trails, paths and tracks around Jaén and Córdoba have been covered. A territory that was unknown to me, which has an authentic Mountain Bike flavor and determines the quality of what is already a classic event for the cycling calendar.
This year, these trails, roads and tracks in Jaén and Córdoba have seen more than 700 runners pass by, as well as fans and the local public, but they have also been "swarmed" by a few fundamental characters for the success of the ABR and protagonists of my story today.
They are the photographers, video cameras and creators of content for social networks. On them falls the responsibility of capturing the images of the cyclists, creating the narrative and making the dust, stones, rocks, sweat and panting of the runners reach us on the screens of our devices.
It is these professionals who access those technical and intricate sections lost in the mountains and with the images they capture they take us to the moments that decide the future of each stage.
In the case of road cycling, we are used to live television broadcasts, even to watching live stages in their entirety. The Mountain Bike is more elusive and difficult to broadcast on television due to the complexity of the terrain through which it travels.
If sometimes the bikers and cameras that broadcast the road tests live on the road already find it difficult to keep up with the rate of descent of a rider, let's take Tom Pidcock's attack in the last Strade Bianche, distancing himself from the breakaway companions and overtaking the TV bike, carrying out the same work on narrow and very technical trails is not absolutely feasible.
Live television coverage of MTB is limited to the World Cup circuits, where it is possible to place a series of fixed cameras and monitor short sections of the circuit lap by lap.
It had been a long time since I had covered an MTB event, the last one had been a World Cup in Vallnord in 2016, and when I received the call to attend the ABR it was clear that it was a resounding yes, they also gave me the option of pedaling the stages that I wanted, and this took me to when in 2019 I participated in the Cape Epic. A candy that could not be despised.
But my head began to spin about the logistical aspects that I was telling you about, because it would be my first time in Córdoba and I don't know the area. I don't have time to locate sections prior to the race, and thinking about photographing the race with a bicycle, even an electric one, implies being able to only reach one interesting point on the route, hopefully two. Something totally insufficient to offer quality coverage.
But the storm of doubts cleared up when I spoke with Laia, the ABR press officer. She would accompany one of her media teams. I would be the spoiled child.
All the dirty work would be done by Guille, production; Pablo, media manager; Enric and Jordi video cameras. I just had to fit in with their day to day, jump out of the car when they told me, find my space to take my photos and get back to the car in time to get to the next location.
Being in this privileged position was going to save me the meetings with the technical directors of the race, and creators of the route. They would offer them first-hand information on which were the most technical and interesting trails and roads of each stage.
It would also save me the hours in front of the computer searching Google Maps for the best roads to connect the accesses to those magical points in the day's stage.
It would save me the extra trips to the locations recommended by the technical team to check that they are certainly visually attractive enough to try to access them on race day.
During the stage, I spared myself the mathematics of calculating the average speed at which the elite runners were traveling to try to fit an extra location on the route, and that Enric, a video cameraman with a lot of experience in testing this guy, he seemed to have as clear as I the addition of two plus two.
It saved me from driving, managing schedules, locating points, and having that mental spreadsheet that Guille was supposed to take in charge of production.
It even saved me editing afternoons at the end of each stage in which you usually prepare all the images to attend to the needs of the different clients you are working for, since on this occasion there was no rush of now.
In short, it saved me a lot of obscure work, and that those of us who dedicate ourselves to this world know well, which is why I would like to open this window to the back of an event of this magnitude.
And you will think, why did you go to Córdoba if they gave you everything done? The answer is simple, because I could touch it, because I could pedal it. And there is no better way to explain it than to experience it in the first person.
While my colleagues edited their photos of the stage, edited the video summary of the day and reviewed the plan for the following day or wrote the press releases for the day, I was in charge of preparing myself to ride the last stage in Córdoba.
I had to take my bike out of the travel bag and meticulously reassemble the Canyon Lux that I had brought for the occasion. Put on the number, adjust the tire pressure, check the tightening of the screws, get the clothes ready and rest, because even though the stage was short and simple, I did not come with exceptional training.
I even had to go to the hotel reception to ask for some safety pins and be able to place the number, I think it gives you an idea of the little practice in these competitive battles.
Once in the starting box, I was very grateful to be on the last row of the last stage of a six-day race. It was obvious that the forces were already at their limit and at the time of the starting gun there would not be a fierce fight for the position, something that had me very worried.
After a brief stroll through the wide avenues of Córdoba, we immediately went to the first path. From a distance a great cloud of dust announced us, 700 cyclists looked like a great herd of sports transhumance on wheels.
After a few initial traffic jams at the occasional bottleneck, I was finally able to find my rhythm and begin to flow along the innumerable trails that water the mountains around Córdoba like veins.
Do not worry that I am not going to do a detailed review of the route of the stage because I could summarize it as what is authentic Mountain Bike. The one that I missed and makes you smile when you cross the finish line, absolutely empty, for not having regulated my forces enough and just wanting to get quickly to the next section of downhill trail to be able to push the limits of ability on the bicycle.
I recommend it so much that I am already thinking about which friend to convince to accompany me next year to complete the Andalucía Bike Race.
