Get on your bike and enjoy the moment!
Let's face it, all year long our brains and bodies suffer the disastrous effects of stress. We quickly become overheated, and vacations are often the only opportunity we have to clear our heads of worries. Why not take advantage of your cycling vacation in the Vallès Oriental to incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine for a week or two? Cycling is a perfect ally for the growing number of people who have taken up mindfulness. This discipline, aimed at reducing stress and anxiety, is used in medicine to treat depression. As a preventive measure, it also helps to restore serenity. This gentle therapy, which begins with meditation for a few minutes a day, aims to focus totally on the present moment, on what you are doing. Don't think about what came before or what's going to come after, about what could be, but just about your breathing.
On a bike, pedaling, it's easier to achieve this full awareness, this pleasure of the present moment, by concentrating on the road and admiring, in this case, the magnificent landscapes of the Vallès Oriental. Breathe in the scents of the pine trees, listen to the birdsong, fill your lungs with pure, fresh air... In short, take your time, contemplate, open up to your emotions, eliminate bad thoughts. This mental clean-up is made easier by cycling, an activity that engages both body and mind, and makes it easier to control the influx of parasitic, anxiety-provoking thoughts. It's now a well-known fact that many physical pains, especially neck and back contractures, are caused and amplified by stored negative emotions.
So, if cycling is good for the mind, it's also good for the body, at every age, with regular, gentle maintenance of muscle mass, lung and heart capacity, not to mention weight and blood pressure control. And of course, cycling in the open air allows you to enjoy all the benefits of exposure to natural light and to breathe in pure, invigorating air. Even moderate daily physical activity lowers cortisol levels, the notorious stress hormone that ruins our lives, and releases endorphins and dopamine, more commonly known as the happy hormones. Yes, it's proven: cycling every day makes you more resilient to life's ups and downs and emotional shocks! So get on your two-wheeler and discover the beautiful villages of the Vallès Oriental!
An exceptional nature and a heritage to discover
The Montseny Natural Park is one of them, with its spectacular mountain ranges, oak, pine and beech forests, unspoilt trails and breathtaking vistas. The Montnegre and Corredor Natural Park is an equally superb setting for lovers of the great outdoors. A number of cycle routes have been laid out in the area, offering comfortable and safe rides, such as the Ruta Bici Blanca, which winds its way around the magnificent town of Santa Maria de Palautordera.
The pleasure is increased tenfold by the freedom to stop wherever you like and discover the region's small built heritage, such as bridges, mills and towers, but also to take a lunch break in a traditional restaurant or, on the contrary, to sample the cuisine of an avant-garde chef. What a pleasure it is to visit villages at your own pace, and to cycle to different places of activity to visit a farm, an olive oil factory or a microbrewery, or to treat yourself to a massage, or to go to a market to stock up on delicious produce..
For a tourism of the future
What's more, if you choose to cycle in Vallès Oriental, in addition to the health and morale benefits, you'll be joining the growing cycling movement in this beautiful region of Catalonia. Indeed, the number of residents who choose this soft mobility mode for their daily lives is constantly increasing. Whether they live in towns or small villages, from the youngest to the oldest, in this case often with electric bikes whose use is becoming more democratic by the day, these committed citizens are fighting for more cycling facilities and for the bicycle to replace the car for short distances. This ever-growing movement began when the route of EuroVélo 8, the 6,000-kilometer long cycle route along the Mediterranean coast from Cadiz to Athens, had to be mapped out. At the time, the European Cyclists' Federation mentioned the possibility of passing through Vallès Oriental. In the end, this option was not pursued, but the drive to make the Vallès Oriental a land of cycling remained alive and well. Numerous associations were set up to improve cycling facilities and extend the network of cycle paths. The idea is to give priority to an inexpensive means of daily transport that's good for health and the planet, while avoiding the stress of traffic jams and the search for a parking space, and also to connect the forty or so communes that make up the Vallès Oriental. This grassroots movement seeks to establish a new way of life, a real and realistic alternative to ordinary transport, a real change in mentality. It also promotes a new idea of calm, well-being tourism, sustainable and respectful tourism - in short, tourism for the future. A tourism where you take your time, where you reconnect with yourself, discovering nature and heritage, promoting cultural exchange, where meeting others is at the heart of your trip. The aim is no longer simply to satisfy the traveler, but also to enrich the host, so that hosts and guests alike benefit. Quiet, unobtrusive tourism that is constant throughout the year, allowing visitors to be spread out and avoiding seasonal influxes and mass tourism... Vallès Oriental has understood these challenges of profound change in our world and is at the forefront of this more virtuous form of tourism, close to the aspirations of a responsible society.
Gravel in the Vallès Oriental
Have you ever heard of gravel? Gravel is a recently invented type of hybrid bicycle with the ability to ride on gravel paths. A real trend in today's cycling world - it has to be said that this type of path is very common in our latitudes, particularly in rural areas - the gravel combines the characteristics of the mountain bike (vélo tout-terrain) and the road bike. In fact, the French call this type of machine the all-terrain road bike! Whether on smooth, paved, stony or uneven terrain, gravel bikes are lighter and sportier than mountain bikes, and can be ridden anywhere! And this trend has not escaped Vallès Oriental. It has to be said that, in order to explore the region's varied landscapes, you'll need to take a variety of paths. In fact, there's even a specific route designed for gravel: the Route des Gravels!
It's a circular route, ideal for cycle tourism, with a total distance of 357 km and a total gradient of 1,213 meters. Recommended for cyclists in good physical condition (some technical and/or high altitude sections), the route can be completed in 6 stages (ideally departing from Granollers) lasting 3 to 4 hours. In short, an unmissable experience for experienced cyclists!
Practical info
The website of the Vallès Oriental tourist office(https://www.turismevalles.com/fr/bureau-dinformation-touristique-virtuel/) is certainly one of the best sources of information for preparing your stay. Remarkably well-designed and constantly updated, it also has a French version that allows you to select events by commune and theme, with a wide range of proposed activities to suit all generations, tastes and desires. Once you're there, don't hesitate to visit the various tourist offices, such as the tourist office in La Roca Village, if you're looking for an afternoon of shopping, or the one in Caldes de Montbui, for example, if you'd like to take advantage of spa treatments and visit the fascinating museum of thermalism. The Montseny Natural Park region also boasts an extensive network of tourist offices(https://parcs.diba.cat/web/montseny/centres-i-punts-d-informacio).
