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Hotel Castellarnau, Escalo, Catalunya, Spain

https://www.hotelcastellarnau.com

2, 3 or 4 riders only – no solo.

Special offer! £350 if paid up before 12 Dec 24 or if a TRF member.

Then, £390 per rider until midnight on Jan 31st 2024 (£350 if a TRF member).

After 31st Jan 2025 the entry fee will be £410. 

This includes the complete set of four maps, set of notes and vinyl checkpoint booklet per team. Does not include food and accommodation.

a) You CAN cancel at anytime (before 11 July 24) and get a full refund less £50 per rider. That’s how much you are gambling, £50. I want to encourage you to commit and sign-up. If some issue means you cannot attend, you have only lost £50. If I, Austin VINCE, cancel the event you get a full refund.

If You cancel after 11 July 24 you will:

i) Receive no refund at all

ii) NOT be able to defer your entry forward to the 2025 event

iii) Need to have holiday insurance in place to claim back these lost fees

b) If a statutory authority (govt, National park etc)  makes the event impossible then it will be POSTPONED to a sensible date and this will be announced.

c) Get holiday insurance that covers you cancelling after 11th July 24.

Do NOT contact the hotel about your reservation. Liaise directly with Austin.

https://www.hotelcastellarnau.com   It is a family-owned hotel and they cannot wait to host us! Expect it to be 70 euros pppn for Supper, bed and breakfast.

This is hotel that is in the far north of Catalunya. That means it is best reached from a Normandy port NOT Bilbao/Santander. It is 4hrs drive from Barcelona Airport but only 3 hrs from Toulouse.

Unlike Quintanar de Sierra, there is TONS of parking and space for us.

Here’s how it works at Twinshock Trailfinder: Austin has block booked the entire hotel. We encourage everyone to stay there. However, if you prefer to go elsewhere then be our guest but you will have to organise this yourself. Your entry fee does NOT include your accommodation, you pay for that yourself when you are in Spain. All we do is ensure that we’ve got the place booked for our party.

There are 90 bed-spaces in the building. The room configuration is all multiple-occupancy. Some of the rooms have 4 or 5 beds. You are NOT even guaranteed a twin room with your only your team-mate. You cannot get a single room in the Hotel. If you crave a single room, you need to find another hotel and book in there, yourself.

Do NOT attempt to book your own room at the hotel via booking.com etc.

Do NOT contact the hotel. Liaise directly with Austin.

If you don’t want to hotel it, with us, that is a great shame, you probably won’t save any money but there is a campsite (Camping Arlanza) on the edge of Quintanar de la Sierra. We have no association or arrangement with this campsite and we have never used it or stayed there.

You need to book in with the campsite yourself,  but do not say you are taking part in an event:  Camping Arlanza

The 2025 event runs over a single ICGC Catalan map, sheet 26 -Pallars Sobira. Unlike in 2023 and 2022 you WILL be sent this  paper map by Austin with your CPB and other guff. You will be sent the checkpoint booklet pages, notes and a massive scan of the map (as a jpeg) by a dropbox link.

If you are impatient, buy more copies here, direct from Barcelona at 7 euros a pop:

Link to online map store

There is one set of guff (maps, notes, booklet etc) issued per team, NOT per person. If you are a ‘lone rider’ and Austin creates an arranged marriage, there will be one set of guff BETWEEN YOU.

Low key and lo-fi. If you want to pop wheelies and show off your super noisy after-market exhaust then please do NOT attend TSTF. If you are selfish and unpleasant, do NOT enter Twinshock Trailfinder. Moto-cross space man clothes forbidden. Wear armour yes, but underneath your crocheted poncho.

Zero, this is not a competition. There is no prize save the joy of taking part.  If you are a super-competitive alpha-male then do an enduro, TSTF is not for you. If you are found speeding (more than 20mph) around the trails, you will be banned from all future events. Don’t spit your dummy out when this happens, I told you this is NOT a rally, it’s a navigation challenge.

In 2024 there will be only one class in TSTF.  Map only. The GPS experiment is now over.

Paper map only, no roadbooks, zero electronics, smartphone in a sealed bag – THIS is what we are all about…

The trophy awarded at the event is for this. TSTF is a map-reading challenge, you can only be in the spirit of the event by spending three days actually map-reading.

• Expanded and enlarged maps are fine.
• Maps annotated with notes relating to Austin’s ‘notes’ are fine.
• Anything included in Austin's notes CAN be taken out on the trail.
• Maps that are printed out then stuck together to make a rolling 'roadbook-style' map are fine.
• Laminated map booklets are fine.
• Screenshots of Google earth are NOT allowed on the trail, during the event (but they are allowed anywhere else, during planning).
• You can use the internet to assist your planning but you cannot print it out and take it with you. Only the map and notes, as issued, can be used on the actual event. No roadbooks are allowed.

What is a ‘roadbook’?

In Austin’s opinion, a roadbook is any mechanism that reduces a rider’s ability to cross terrain to simply following a list of instructions that may or may not be connected to the bike’s odometer and trip meter. These instructions include:

a) ‘Tulip’ style pictograms as used in rallies

b) Lists of written instructions (turn left at river, go 1,2km, turn right onto trail, at abandoned farm take left fork, go 0.8km, take left fork etc)

There isn’t any. Ensure you have your own and that it covers you for an off-road event of this kind.

Take out holiday insurance that covers a refund scenario. 

These people have created bespoke insurance for an Austin Vince event:

https://ss.globalrescue.com/partner/austinvince/

This event is NOT licensed by the ACU or any other statutory m/cycle body.  Remember- there is no ‘course’. YOU will decide where you go and how fast. The National Park speed limit on all trails is 12 mph. If you want to ride fast then this event is not for you. Ensure you have the NHS reciprocal cover thingy (EHIC). However – bear in mind that the EHIC often gets REFUSED in Spanish hospitals and they illegally charge you for medical treatment! This is an international dispute at the moment. Get travel insurance (see above) so you are covered come what may.

1. There is no recovery vehicle, rescue or first aid provision. Get a tow-rope.
2. You WILL be sent the maps and booklets 8 weeks in advance – do your homework
3. No unchivalrous behaviour and no cheating.
4. This event is for people who want to make friends, enjoy the challenge of map-reading and the self-reliance inherent in ‘Adventure Motorcycling’.
5. Let’s be serious, this is an orienteering event in a First World country. The VINCE is NOT ‘adventure motorcycling’.
6. Your bike must have a number plate, a UK sticker and in Spain, at least ONE wing mirror.

1. You must ride in a team of 2, 3 or 4 people, (minimum two bikes) so be sure to put together your team before registering as we need the names of all team members. If you cannot find someone to team with, go ahead and register for the event, note that you do not have a team partner, and we will match you with someone with a similar bike and riding skill level as best we can.
2. Ride slowly and sensibly – no racing!
3. Be respectful and sympathetic to all other users of the trails, especially livestock and horses.
4. Start / Finish Time: Each day,  8AM to 8PM (0800-1959). Official TSTF time is as per Austin’s mobile phone.
5. Penalties for late return:
6. Return at 2000-2009hrs  10 pts penalty
7. Return at 2010-2019hrs  20 pts penalty
8. Return at 2020-2029hrs  30 pts penalty
9. Return at 2030 hrs or later – disqualified from the event (however you may still ride day two but your CPB will not be ‘marked’).

The Dai Jones Ruling:

A dispensation consistent with the ancient English traditions of clemency and mercy. Named in honour of Bristol’s legendary trail-riding child-reforming youth worker;

If the last member of a team gets back late on day one by y minutes where y is 29 or less then naturally, they incur a penalty. However, the Dai Jones ruling states that if they curtail their second day’s riding by y  minutes or more then their penalty is revoked. Hence, the team will still only have had a max of 24 hrs riding over the two days.

1. Team mates must ride together at all times! If you separate for any reason other than one bike is broken down and stopped or one rider is injured, and the other rider is going for help, you will be disqualified.
2. Obtaining checkpoint info from another team is grounds for disqualification. In the event of a dispute or challenge, a digital photo of all team members at a checkpoint will be required to verify the team has been to the checkpoint.
3. The score sheets are collected after each day’s ride, and the scores of points collected thus far are published.  On the third evening the scoresheet is collected, points totalled and the winners announced and applauded at the Dinner on the third night.