As with previous years September is the month that we head to Spain for some trail riding fun. This is usually organised around the VINCE off road navigation event that takes place every year at this time. For 2025 the trip was split up into three parts :
- The VINCE in Llavorsi
- VINCE Scouting in Ripoll
- Trail riding in Burgos
The VINCE
In previous years we (Dougie and myself) have taken this competition seriously and committed to spending many hours studying routes and preparing maps. But this is a significant time commitment and with other trips and activities already booked we simply don’t have the time to do the necessary preparation. So last year we took the decision to enter “tourist class” as non-competitive participants. This worked very well and we decided to do the same this year, which gave me the opportunity to create some video footage of the fantastic scenery and trails.
I have tried to improve my efficiency at creating and editing video content. On previous trips I typically waited until the end of the trip and sat down in my office with a desktop computer to do the compilation and editing. Of course this was well after the trip had finished and was of less interest to any potential viewers. To accelerate the process I have started using my phone for editing, which does have some limitation, but I think the compromise is worth it for the much more rapid turnaround. With a bit of practice I was able to collate the day’s video clips and produce an edited video by the evening of the same day.
I have started publishing these day by day videos on YouTube and have created a playlist for each part of the trip. There follows a playlist featuring the three days of the VINCE event.
VINCE Scouting in Ripoll
Following the VINCE event we moved much further East in the Spanish Pyrénées to Ripoll. This is the area that will be used for the 2026 VINCE event and we had offered to give Austin a hand with scouting out suitable trails and setting some checkpoints.
The following video is a playlist of the five days of trail scouting.
Trail Riding near Burgos
Having completed our VINCE Scouting work we drove back westwards, covering 600km to our next base near Burgos. We stayed in a character property called La Morera, which was very comfortable and provided a perfect base to explore the region and visit the sites of the Sergio Leone film “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”.
