Volta a Gualta and Els Àngels
The ride
It starts and finishes at the Pont de Pedra, in the middle of Girona, and heads out east onto the Empordà plain: the gentlest riding in the province, long straight lanes between fields, with the circuit around Gualta at the far end.
Ride that part as your warm-up, because it is the only part of the day that lets you. Then the road turns back inland and you climb Els Àngels from Madremanya with seventy kilometres already in the legs.
From the sanctuary it is downhill most of the way into Girona, and you finish where you started, back on the bridge.
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Layer 2
Layer 3Coffee stop
Gualta is the far turn of the loop, and L’Obrador de la Marida is on its main street: a proper pâtisserie in a village of four streets, and the easiest stop in the collection to reach, with no climb to earn it. Note the days, though: it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Before and after, in Girona
This one starts and finishes in the city, so the Girona cafés work either end: a coffee while the group gathers, or brunch when you get back.
Passport climb: Els Àngels
Els Àngels has three sides and this route takes the one from Madremanya: quieter than the road up from Girona, and steeper where it matters. The brown signs count you down from the junction. Same summit, same stamp in the passport.
