To update the uninitiated: the idea behind the Big Tread is simple, loads of long, easy trails and some of the best roads in Spain, basically the whole of southern Teruel province and spilling over into Valencia and Castilla-la-Mancha. A new venue is a 'luxury' camp site - the highest in Spain or so they say! - with bungalows available for the faint of heart
and a room for us to use for our stuff, tables for planning routes from the Monster Map, etc, Again, for the uninitiated, the HISS is totally informal, no teams, no prizes, no hassle, just loads of fun - set up new groups to ride our each day or stick with your buddies, it really doesn't matter - but there's no such thing and a Billy-no-mates at the HISS!
There are no useable printed maps of the region, so we make up and print our own Monster Map from downloads from the Spanish equivalent of OS 1: 50 000 series all tied together into a huge map on which we mark all the trails - and the recommended roads too for the Big Tread - all arranged in segments form which to make up your day's itinerary - a bit like planning to cross, say, London on the Underground, using different combinations of lines but the HISS has over fifty lines - and that's just the trails! (thumbs)
We send satav files before the event so ability to use these is more or less essential - otherwise join the 'flock' who just 'follow' Will-S, who more an more resembles Moses flying from Egypt!
There are detailed 'reference guides' for extra stuff - see below - and slimmed down 'field guides' to take to day-by-day
And that's it: 100% simple 100% fun. And it's all about having an adventure, what your bikes's made for after all!
The trails aren't 'graded' by me as its pointless given so many different abilities, but as a 'bench mark' guide they are doable by a novice on, say a GS650 or Serato and easy for a confident rider on a big GS boxer.
The routes have waypoints where they intersect with more challenging trails - many from earlier Aragón HISS meets and also from the new HISS Challenge which takes place in June - so for those who want to take it uo a notch you can just aim from point to point - and get totally lost in all probability! (thumbs)
Talking of getting lost - the only rescue is your own and the support of your mates - again - it's an Adventure! (thumbs) (thumbs) (thumbs)
Business wise, the fees for the Big Tread are the new 'standard' HISS rates: £125 for the five days. In addition there's a tenner off for HISS 'Veterans'. We get a discount form the camping but as yet I don't know what this will be - the more there are of us the better the deal ...
More soon with some pictures.
Regs
Simon
