I got home from Sea Otter on Sunday. I fly back to Girona on Wednesday. Somewhere in between I’ve managed laundry, a physio session, and the world’s least romantic meal prep. That’s elite sport in 2026.
The Traka starts Thursday.
What the Traka Actually Is
If you don’t know the Traka, here’s what you need to understand: it started in 2019 with fewer than 100 riders. This year it has 4,000 entries from 74 countries. It is the largest gravel event in Europe, and it has grown that fast because it earns it — the route, the organisation, the atmosphere, the setting. Girona delivers every time.
I’m riding the 360. That’s 360 kilometres of Catalan terrain — proper terrain, with 3,200 metres of climbing — starting and finishing in the city. It’s not a race against the clock so much as it is a race against yourself, and against everyone else who thought they were also up for 360 kilometres of this.
There is also a 560. I considered it. Jacob talked me out of it, sensibly, on the basis that Unbound is five weeks away and I don’t need to destroy my legs in Catalonia in April. He’s probably right. He usually is.
Why This Race, Why Now
The Traka fits the 2026 plan in a specific way. It’s a sustained multi-day effort at a distance that tests every system — nutrition, pacing, bike fit, mental resilience — without quite being the ultra-distance events later in the season. Badlands in August is 800km. The Rift in Iceland is 140–200km of genuinely hostile terrain. You don’t walk into those cold.
The Traka is also a Girona race, which means I know the roads. Santa Vall was here in February. I know what the Catalan climbs feel like, what the gravel surfaces demand, how the weather can flip. That familiarity matters on a 360km route where every decision compounds.
The Turnaround
I’m not going to pretend that flying from California three days before a 360km race is ideal preparation. It’s not. But the season was always going to look like this, and the answer is to manage it rather than panic about it.
The OGT team have been incredibly helpful on the nutrition and recovery side of the turnaround. Getting the fuelling right in the 72 hours between finishing one race and starting another at this distance is a real logistical question, not just a matter of eating pasta and hoping for the best. We’ve been specific about it — the timings, the quantities, what goes into the race bags for the Traka itself.
The Ventum is already in Girona. Shipped ahead, serviced by the Merlin support crew. I just need to show up and ride it.
Thirty Hours to Go
I’ve been writing these race previews and reports throughout the season as a way of processing what I’m doing and why. The Traka feels like a threshold moment — the first time this year I’ll genuinely be out there in the dark, hours into something very long, asking the question that long-distance racing always asks eventually.
I’m ready for it. More than that — I’m looking for it.
See you on the other side of 360 kilometres.
Supported by Merlin Cycles, Ventum Racing, OGT, Gravaa, and Questa Financial Planning. Coached by Jacob Tipper at JT Performance Coaching.