The CAT700 Sports Association
Who is behind the CAT700 and the Gran Vertical, you might ask? We are the Associació Esportiva CAT700, a sports association specialised in the organisation of cycling events, with the aim of promoting cycling adventures and this as a facilitator for local economies, based on respect and discovery of the territory. We are committed to empathy-based cycling, one that transforms the experience of pedalling into an intense human experience and exchange with the local people.
The hard core of the association is represented by three figures who, due to our background and experience, form a unique pairing for the design and organisation of our proposals. We have gathered around us some essential collaborators without whom our projects would hardly come to fruition.
The three pillars
Mònica Aguilera
On foot, by bike or rowing, I have always had a special predilection for adding kilometers, the perfect excuse to see the world and add new experiences.
At a young age I started competing in mountain biking and later in orienteering races, opening the doors to what was my first great sporting passion, Adventure Raids, a discipline in which I grew as an athlete and as per person, with all the values that come with elite, long-distance, team and self-sufficiency sport. With the Salomon Extrem team, we won the World Raids in 2000 and 2001. Later, other victories and podiums would come in expedition Raids of international prestige, competitions of up to 10 days non-stop. I have climbed to the top of the Ecomotion podium in Brazil, El Desafío de los Volcanes in Argentina and Chile, Travesía Max and 7 Cerros Medellín in Colombia or Camdex in Mexico. I have also participated in several editions of the Raid Gauloises (Ecuador, Nepal and Kyrgyzstan) and the ARWC (Costa Rica, Reunion Island and South Africa).
As an individual, in 2007 I started my journey in mountain and ultra-trail races. In 2010 I won the prestigious Marathon des Sables, being the first Spanish athlete to do so. I have also been on the podium of one of the most important ultras, the Mont Blanc UTMB Ultra Trail, finishing in second place in 2007 and in third place in 2009. I have also won the Transgrancanaria, Transvulcania and Trail Anteto and prestigious marathons such as the Alpino Madrileño, the Marató de Sant Llorenç Savall, the Alpina Jarapalos Marathon or the Espadan Marathon.
In recent years, I have focused my sporting life on mountain bike orienteering, gaining 12 calls with the Spanish national team.
I have turned my passion into my job. With a degree in Physical Education and Sports Sciences, I have been organizing different types of outdoor sports events for more than 15 years. I always like to offer products where the participants enjoy the experience, setting them challenges and activities that leave their mark and enrich them.
Carles Loré
I could say that I am curious, a lover of travel, anxious to know the unknown, and always ready to face new challenges.
My sporting origins were in the world of climbing and high mountains. At the age of 14, I already had a special joy in discovering new corners and peaks, a joy that I still have today.
This passion for climbing led me in the 80s to make a good number of ascents on big walls, both in Catalonia, in the Pyrenees, and in the Alps when we had the opportunity to travel.
At the age of 25 I got my qualification and worked for a few years as an ECAM and EEAM instructor in rock climbing, carrying out various studies and clinics on equipment and safety.
Already in the decade of the 90s I know the Orienteering Races and dedicate myself body and soul to competing all over Europe and in its different modalities: running race, mountain bike, adventure raids… I am a qualified technician in Orienteering Races I have guided and worked as a trainer in this sport, and recently as a coach.
As a sports promoter and director, I was on the board of the Catalan Orienteering Federation for 19 years, 15 as vice-president and 4 as president.
In 1992 I made my first bicycle trip and the chosen destination was the Ring Road: a circular route of 1300 km in Iceland. In those years the route was not as well known as it is now, and an article about the trip was subsequently published in the magazine “Extrem” which surely encouraged other travelers to try it.
Fond of photography since childhood, the camera always accompanies me on my trips and outings in the mountains. I like images from afar, so behind my Fuji you never know where you’ll find me. If you plan to participate in the CAT700, stay tuned!
Eliseu T. Climent
When I was 14 years old, I bought my first saddlebags, with which I satisfied the urge to explore. They were teenage micro-trips close to home, by bike, spending the night under the stars. To give you an idea, this was all happening in 1982. Later, the fever for pedal adventures has led me to cross the Pyrenees five times on different itineraries (dirt and asphalt) and at different speeds, from leisurely versions to an express trip in five days. I have also traveled the Alps and their asphalt and dirt roads, the Dolomites and many corners of Europe; and the Moroccan Atlas, and Benin, in sub-Saharan Africa. Cuba, Iceland or Finland, this one in the winter version, with temperatures that exceeded (below) 20 degrees below zero, are some of the destinations that have marked me the most. On gravel, road bicycle or tandem, my attraction to the pedal does not decrease with time. Pure pathology.
Throughout my existence, I have combined the passion for the territory, the desire to explore and outdoor sports (trail running, mountain skiing, telemark, cycling and cycle touring, climbing…) with my training as a philologist and the my job as a journalist for three decades, which has led me to work in magazines such as Desnivel, Grandes Espacios, Altaïr, Vèrtex, Trail or Volata, and to publish itineraries guides, such as the Mapa-guia de la Cavalls del Vent (ed. Alpina), the trail running guide in Barcelona Collserola. 20 itineraris per a descobrir-la (ed. Alpina) or the route of the Grand Gravel Maestrat and Ports de Morella (ed. Mont Editorial).
After completing a framebuilder course in Italy, in 2013 and considering the intimate, personal and non-transferable relationship you have with the own bicycles, I launched my own brand of custom made frames, Gravel Cycles, specialized in gravel and travel frames, where I have been designing myself each model for a decade to make the dreams and wishes of each customer come true.
After creating, together with Jordi Laparra, for the prestigious Transpyr cycling race its road version (Transpyr Road), it was clear to me that it was necessary to organize events outside of the timer that encouraged the journey, the sensitivity for the territory and its landscapes, as well as the human experience that involves a major challenge. And so the CAT700 was born, which would not have seen the light of day without the involvement of the whole team, where we are all driven by the irresistible desire to share with you the places we know.