The Medical Bike Tour 2013

Pain, exhaustion and cycling on willpower alone is tough enough for cycling pros. The fifteen participants in the Medical Bike Tour 2013 found out for themselves what this means for poorly trained amateurs in a three-day stage tour through wild Spanish mountains. When Team Cannabis turned up at the GrowMed fairground in Valencia after 380 gruelling kilometres, the relief and euphoria were almost palpable. Each of the riders beat their demons - and thus cycled together another 50,000 Euros for medical cannabis research.

Pain, exhaustion and cycling on willpower alone is tough enough for cycling pros. The fifteen participants in the Medical Bike Tour 2013 found out for themselves what this means for poorly trained amateurs in a three-day stage tour through wild Spanish mountains. When Team Cannabis turned up at the GrowMed fairground in Valencia after 380 gruelling kilometres, the relief and euphoria were almost palpable. Each of the riders beat their demons - and thus cycled together another 50,000 Euros for medical cannabis research.

After a night in Madrid, we were picked up by the Paradise Seeds van at our hotel for the short trip to our starting point, the tiny hamlet of Budia (150 inhabitants). The bikes were unpacked and, as is customary for bike freaks, widely admired. It was a colourful collection of carts, rugged mountain bikes, and brilliant steel vintage classics to advanced aluminium and carbon bikes that cost more than an above average salary. Anticipation peaked when the cycling clothing was unpacked. We were impressed by the professional-looking sets, on which sponsors like Rabobank and Garmin had been replaced by big names from the cannabusiness. Good fun!

The team of fifteen was a very diverse group. There was an Austrian, the powerful Harry from grow shop Bushdoctor, four fierce Slovenes, and two Dutch girls who, particularly on climbs, put quite a few men to shame. The youngest rider, Luc Paradise Seeds’ son and climbing prodigy Zanur, is only 17; Peter, at 69 years old, was the oldest, but certainly not the least. On the contrary. Care was in good hands with two emphatically talented Brits who are working on a study into the positive effects of cannabis on sports; the following vehicles were staffed by the always good-humoured The Hague-based Alex ‘Happy Smile’ and Roos, not to mention the unsurpassed Patrick, AKA Ali Baba.

On the road

Unfortunately, the second stage of MC Biketour was not without mishaps. On a piece of dirt road three riders crashed on a corner. As if by a miracle, the damage was limited to abrasions, although unlucky Jaka had to be checked for sprains in a hospital. Fortunately for him the damage was relatively moderate.

Doping

That there is such a thing as a runner’s high has long been known. But that you can also reach an unprecedented state of euphoria from cycling is something you never hear about. Yet the rush you get from cycling through your pain threshold day after day is phenomenal. Naturally, the MC Biketour was tainted by doping, although the use of performance-enhancing drugs was limited to cannabis. The gentle Slovenian Rasta man Jan, known by his countrymen as ‘Blade’ due to his slender physique was something of a mascot to us. He does not wear a safety helmet. Jah and a fine collection of Rasta hats are all he needs. During one of the rare flat parts of the tour he told me that he practices many sports, and always smokes - pure - while doing so. He plays football with a group of friends. “If we all have smoked cannabis before a match we are unbeatable. We become, as it were, telepathic.” While effortlessly riding uphill on his big tractor tires we regularly see our Rasta hero with a smoky joint dangling in his mouth. The three The Hague-based gentlemen delegated by coffee shop and seed bank Dizzy Duck also regularly light up a joint, although I do see its use decrease over the tour.

Goosebumps and tears

Barbara, the only Spanish participant, who only joined the peloton on the penultimate day for the final 30 kilometres, could not keep up with the awful pace and had to drop out. She finished the rest of the route at her own pace, though oddly she would go on to arrive first in Valencia.

As we entered the outskirts of Valencia in close formation I saw tears welling up in the eyes of some fellow travellers. I myself also struggled with emotion. I felt like we were mythical warriors, proudly returning to the home castle after heavy battles. We really did achieve something special there in three days. Sentiment does not last long; the strongest men of the peloton still wanted to show that they were far from exhausted and sprinted away in a mighty demarrage. Despite the stiff headwind they sprinted with a breakneck speed of over 40 km per hour towards the Mediterranean Sea. I gave it my all, but still did not manage to close the gap. Just before the city centre we found each other again. When we reached the fairgrounds at five o’clock we were welcomed by a jubilant welcome committee. We did it!

For all participants, drivers and attendants, the MC Biketour was a matchless and heart-warming adventure. With massive thanks to the many sponsors, team leaders Luc and Matej were able to hand over a cheque of 50,000 Euros to the Spanish professor Guillermo Valesco at the GROWMED fair in Valencia. We didn’t ride ourselves to exhaustion for nothing, a pristine pinnacle of an already memorable experience. Hopefully even more riders will sign up to the third edition!

With thanks to: Sweet Seeds, Royal Queen Seeds and Advanced Nutrients for their Basic Sponsorship, the club of 100 sponsors and also to all the anonymous sponsors.