Day 0 - Glow On

*No prizes, take your shot for the love of the game* chants __Kae Tempest__ in their latest album, and we immediately thought of this quote when __Toni Calderón__ arrived at __Reus__ after 3 days and 11 hours of pedaling with 1,416 kilometers traveled.

A relentless result that started to take shape the first night on the way to CP1 and was solidly maintained until the end. Neither the cold and snowstorm in the Pyrenees nor the pressure exerted by __Bruno Wicht__ and his continuous attacks between CP1 and CP2 made Toni's mental strength weaken. __Toni__ made a real exhibition of leadership, perseverance, and self-sufficiency in this __Kromvojoj__. In the end, there was no prize, just his huge smile holding the brevet card. He  made it for the love of this sport he has been practicing for so many years.

While __Toni__ enjoyed his personal success and put an end to his adventure stamping at the finish. The dotwatched at __CP3__ where __Bruno__, __Nahuel__, accompanied by __Valentin Robe__ and __Marc Marimón__ had taken a break and after completing the ascent to Mont Caro, they headed straight to cover the last kilometers of the route. The Delta separated them from the city of Reus. Descending the Caro they crossed with __Borja__, who began his march at 6AM to cover the remaining distance and climb to CP3.

After these first movements of the day __Ricardo de Miguel__ confirmed his withdrawal with 707 kilometers due to an intense pain in his knee that he had been feeling for the last two days.

As the day progressed the refuge of Mont Caro was receiving visits from different cyclists to complete CP3: __Marc Balaña__, __Martynas Simkus__, __Etienne Pousse__, __Lee Roberts__, __Christopher Jackson__, __Josep Maria Cabanas__. All of them were already in high spirits and thinking about completing the route in the next 24 hours.

Behind, we had several groups in __Tremp__, __Sort__ and before the __Port del Cantó__ that started their journey from 6AM. Sort closed as an improvised checkpoint around three in the afternoon with all riders en route to CP3. The Coll d'Ares put the difficulties on the ground surrounded by heavy winds and intense sun. __Aida de Heras__ suffered again mechanical problems when her crank loosened for the second time in this race but she managed to temper her spirits and solve the incident to move forward.

At around 3 p.m. __Marc Marimón__ was the first participant to complete the alternative route with a total of 1,287 kilometers. A real achievement considering that 24 hours earlier he had left Esterri d'Àneu with an intense cold. He was followed by __Valentin Robe__ and finally __Bruno__ and __Nahuel__ closed the second and third place in order of finish. Borja Gascón closes the list of the four participants who were in the right place at the right time to risk and take the chance to complete the full course of this edition. An excellent reward for all the effort and commitment they have shown during these three days of adventure.

In the afternoon we notified the abandonment of __Jose Maria Navarro__ after noticing a crack in the frame of his bike being impossible to finish the 650 kilometers remaining. The day ended with 11 participants completing Kromvojoj in Reus, and still 21 on their way.

Day 4 - No Prizes

After the hardship of crossing the top of the Bonaigua we started the day with movements in the first positions. __Toni__ overcame Tremp with an impressive pace and took advantage of __Bruno__'s rest to open distance with the Swiss. Borja recovered his strength in Pont de Suert and Nahuel did the same in Vielha. The effort to climb the Bonaigua was intense. At dawn, __Toni__ was already riding through Mollerusa with a solid lead over __Bruno__, with __Borja__ and __Nahuel__ stalking behind.

Behind, the day began with the summit of the __Bonaigua__ under an intense snowstorm, wind, and low temperatures. At the foot of the pass and on the way to Esterri, the riders were awaiting the opening of the parcours to __CP2__. After considering the risks and personally exploring the ascent, the organization decided to completely change the future of this year's race. CP2 was closed for everybody, and all riders had to divert towards __La Pobla de Segur__.

First, we communicated the decision to the riders, offering a planned detour through Komoot to show the route and prevent anyone from following the wrong path. Then we searched for the riders pedaling early in the morning towards Esterri to reduce wasted effort. __Etienne Pousse__ and __Marc Marimón__ had breakfast in Esterri and returned to Sort to get back on track. On the way, __Marc Balaña__ and __Lee Roberts__ were diverted as well.

From __Sort__, we improvised a checkpoint to make sure that all participants were following the new route, and to strengthen the decision we determined that there would be 2 leaderboards: one for the four participants who were going to complete the original route of 1,400km and another for those who finished with an alternative track.

As the day progressed __Toni__ managed to open a gap with his pursuers and with a steady pace was slowly widening the gap with __Bruno__. Behind __Nahuel__ and __Borja__ were alternating the top three.

The trickle of riders through Sort was continuous during the day. Most highlighted the goodness of the route and the satisfaction of riding on secondary roads, in addition to a very aggressive wind that put in trouble multiple participants in their descent during the __Port del Cantó__, frightened by the fragility of the long descent.

The day ended with __Toni__ stamping on CP3 and free of pursuers on his way to Reus. At the end of the day is when the most interesting changes that could affect the final classification were seen. __Borja__, exhausted, decided to spend the night and rest in Ginestar. __Bruno__ in his determination to consolidate the second position arrived exhausted at CP3 and decided to spend the night to recover his strength. In this rest, __Nahuel__ reached the refuge checkpoint neutralizing any advantage.

We close the day with the first place almost decided for __Toni Calderon__, but many unknowns to confirm what will be the order of arrival from second to fourth position. In addition to a new struggle that opens to lead the second-ranking corresponding to the improvised alternative route.

Day 3 - Along the Way

Before starting the second edition we were aware of the miserable weather conditions participants could suffer in the highest peaks of the route in the Pyrenees, and yesterday is where the story begins.

The day started with an intense wind at __CP1__, closed at 10:56AM after the checkin of __Stephen Rew__, __Victoria Andrés__, __Aida de Heras__, __Ricardo de Miguel__, __Roger Ferré__, __Francisco Bonachela__ and __Jesse Zarate__. Once they left CP1 behind, they went down to chase the middle group whom tried to cycle at a good pace, but were constantly sopped due to the strong wind, making it difficult to reach the french border.

The head of the middle group quickly entered the roads of Ripoll to begin the ascent to Collada de Toses and Coll de la Creueta, where a cold wind was blowing again. As they advanced they reached the foothills of Cadi to rest and recover before Port del Cantó.

At the head of the race, during the second night, __Toni Calderón__ struggled to open distance with __Bruno__, after an intense night of persecutions. Behind, __Marc Marimón__, __Borja Gascón__ and __Nahuel Passerat__ offered us an intense dialogue, where stops were more strategic than ever. 

Since the beginning of the day, eyes and heart from race organization were set on __CP2__ at Port de la Bonaigua, which offered a harsh landscape with lots of thick clouds, wind, snow and very low temperatures with a real feel below zero degrees. The CP was declared open at 10:00 but we decided to close it again at 15:10 due to really bad weather conditions. High mountain forecast is hard to predict, and after personally exploring the area we decided to reopen the CP at 17:30. Luckly we had a window of good weather, and after a previous material check and warning of the thermal situation with the riders approaching, we allowed them complete the parcours.__Toni Calderón__ was the first to cross the colossus, with a difference of less than 2 hours over __Bruno Wicht__, 4 hours over __Nahuel Passerat__ and 5 hours over __Borja Gascón__.

Early in the night, we had more rain and at 21:00 hours we closed the parcours again from Esterri d'Àneu, allowing __Marc Marimón__ and __Etienne Pousse__ to rest at the foot of the pass. Meanwhile, __Toni Calderón__ opened distance approaching Tremp with the clear objective to consolidate his first position against his three pursuers.

Day 2 - At the Edge

As expected, the first night conditions on the road were pretty tough. Temperatures between 2 and 5 degrees and riders soaked for hours by local thunderstorms.

The pace set by __Toni Calderon__ broke the lead of the race early and he was the first participant to stamp the brevet card at CP1. A solid group chased him with __Marc Marimón__, __Bruno Wicht__, __Nahuel Passerat__ and __Valentin Robe__. As the points advanced, Bruno has been reducing distances with Toni and is now located just 3 kilometers after him. Expectations are placed on a head to head between the two, and the game of attrition. 

At the end of the day __Borja Gascón__ joined the chasing group and they are all resting now except __Marc Marimón__ and __Nahuel__ who continue to open the gap and keep a cautious distance with the first two on the head.

Behind and between 50 and 120 kilometers we find a group of 20 cyclists around La Jonquera. Some taking the opportunity to sleep in a hotel to recover body and clothes, bivying, and others will continue to advance into the night to reduce distances as __Isidre Escorihuela__.

27 riders have completed the first checkpoint and early tomorrow we expect the remaining five now resting in Port de La Selva, like __Aida de Heras__ and __Victoria Andrés__, and later in the afternoon the couple with __Francisco__ and __Roger__ staying in Girona.

__Michel Sutter__ was forced to abandon after breaking his derailleur hanger, __Damien Pirotais__ was hit sideways by a vehicle and is on his way to Toulouse to verify the impact of the damage suffered and is was assisted by our team to the Hospital of Figueres. __Edgar Grandio__ and __Team Superacció__ scratched at the beginning of the day.

Tomorrow the race will reach into the Pyrenees, increasing its hardness in gradient and weather conditions. In addition, the side effects of the first big effort will begin to show, especially between the riders in the middle group.

Day 1 - Caught By the Fuzz

After a busy day at the Piscines Municipal of __Reus__, with check-in of riders, review of mandatory material and bicycles. Portraits of all participants and a detailed briefing, __Kromvojoj__ second edition has started under a heavy rain, tension and nerves.

During the first neutralized kilometers riding in peloton, the group was broken by the continuous stops to find the waterproof garments and try to stay dry in these first hours of adventure.

The leading group has a gap of less than 7 kilometers with five participants with __Toni Calderon__ in the lead, __Valentin Robe__, __Marc Marimón__, __Bruno Wicht__ and __Nahuel Passerat__.

15 riders are spread out, riding at their own pace until we find a busy closing group with more than 40 kilometers from the front. Some riders have decided to stop and catch up on sleep to be fresh tomorrow. 

After the first 6 hours __Edgar Grandio__ has decided to scratch due to bad weather and strict temperatures. 

Tomorrow at 10 a.m. __CP1__ opens in __Sant Pere de Rodes__ and we expect the first riders punctually with local rains and heavy wind.

__Kromvojoj 2023__ repeats the original route of the previous year and maintains the three Checkpoints: __Monestir de Sant Pere de Rodes__ in the province of Girona, __Port de la Bonaigua__ in the Pyrenees and __Cim Mont Caro__ in the Parc Natural dels Ports. A total of 1.400km with 24.000 m+.

The participation has increased compared to last year and after 48 registrations we expect the departure of 40 participants with 60% local participation and 40% from abroad. Unfortunately the female presence has been reduced compared to 2022 with only two riders who will take the start: __Aida de Heras__ and __Victoria Andrés Rubio__. For both Kromvojoj means its debut in an adventure of these characteristics and are part of the sponsorship program of our event: __Sponsoreco__.

About the rest of the entries we are pleased to see up to 5 repeaters from last year: __Mia Guardiet__, __Enric Terricabras__, __Toni Calderón__ and the __Superacció__ couple with __Lahcen__ and __Zouhair__. Experienced riders such as __Michel Sutter__, veteran of events like Transcontinental, TransAtlaticWay and Hope 1000. 2 Volcano Sprint Riders as __Bruno Wicht__ and __Nahuel Passerat__, who is also a former professional Trail Running France. __Stephen Rew__ with 66 years is the eldest participant and __Lahcen__ repeats as the youngest rider with 25. __Martynas__ from Lithuania is the one who travels from a greater distance to start this adventure.

We add to the starting line-up a good handful of local riders with experience in local events such as Transpyrenees, Badlands and above all from the local Randonneur / Brevet world with names like __Borja Gascón__, __Josep Maria Cabanas__, __Jordi Méndez__, __Isidre Escorihuela__, __Edgar Grandio__ and __Jose Maria Navarro__.

We are especially excited to see that 35% of the participants consider themselves __beginners__ for this type of event and have decided to choose Kromvojoj as the start of their adventure in the world of bikepacking and ultradistance after the positive reception of the first edition of the event.

After this small introduction of participants, we are very aware to the __weather__ evolution since the territory of our journey is subjected to an intense storm with lower temperatures than usual and even snow at altitudes below 2000 meters. So it is likely that the northern crossing of the __Pyrenees__ will be decisive for the development of the race.

The start of Kromvojoj will take place on __May 13__ in the city of __Reus__ at 8PM. Stay tuned!

Kromvojoj 2023 ready to kick

Toni Calderón

Kromvojoj 2023 Tracking and Commentary: A Spanish ultra-distance adventure designed to be ridden at your own pace, an antidote to the high speeds of modern life.

Kromvojoj 2023 Tracking

A Spanish ultra-distance adventure designed to be ridden at your own pace, an antidote to the high speeds of modern life.

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