First, thanks to ‘matterbury‘ for pulling this thing into my radar; when someone suggests a sportive named Quebrantahuesos, you really have to go visit Google.
A Quebrantahuesos is a bearded vulture, whose habitat happens to include the area this race takes place in (the Spanish and French Pyrenees). I gather that much of the event rolls through (on closed roads) one or more national parks, and they strictly restrict the number of riders allowed each June, meaning this is one of those ‘lottery’ sportives that are becoming more and more prevalent these days.
But back to the bird – the literal translation of Quebrantahuesos (so I heard from the internet) is ‘bone breaker’. The bearded vulture has some seriously strong jaws that can crush the bones of its prey, allowing it to get to the main course for these birds – the marrow. Bones too big? Not a problem. The Quebrantahuesos just takes off with the offending bone and drops it on the rocks from a suitable height, breaking them and exposing the goodness within.
But back to the race – the lottery opens on Dec 1 and lots will be drawn on Jan 22.
The Vicious Cycle 
Good luck getting in, man… That one looks tough!
I think I’m in. Finally an excuse to start training!
Wah? You need an excuse!? 🙂
Look forward to your [eventual] write-up … it does sound interesting. The guy I first saw write about it said it was far and away the best organized sportive he’d done (while complaining bitterly about Etape :-).
Well, that’s excellent. I’ve done 4 Etapes and I thought they were pretty well run. Now the weather just needs to cooperate – I’ve never ridden in the Pyrenees without hellacious conditions! Thanks again for the ‘intro’.
Awesome! We just got back from 20 on the mountain bikes… not much, but it was -4 C and windy as all get out. Still, our best winter in recent memory and I’m digging it.
I’m waiting for it to get above 10C here to go out for my ride…#feelinglikeawuss
You know that movie, A Christmas Story? Yeah, I looked like Ralphie’s little brother. On a bike. Four layers. And a gilet. Impressive, it was not. Chuckle.
Good looking bird – and wearing the Vicious Cycle colors, if I’m not mistaken… Should get these guys on your handlebars as mascots!
Rumor is that there will be two events this year, 18th and 19th of June. No idea of how reliable this is though.
http://nicolascamarero.com/quebrantahuesos-2016-atencion-exclusiva/
(in Spanish)
Seems there’s only the one, but with one more later for mountain bikers. I think I got in, but can’t really decipher the site well enough to be sure. Waiting for email confirmation.