South of Sort, the Noguera Pallaresa river cuts through a wall of limestone in the Collegats gorge, and the N-260 follows it. It is one of the most dramatic places in the Catalan Pyrenees: vertical cliffs, overhanging rock, and a river that is famous for whitewater rafting. The modern road runs through tunnels, but the old road, which hugs the cliffs and passes under overhangs, is still visible and in parts can be explored on foot. One face of rock, where water seeps down the cliff and leaves streaks of grey and silver mineral, is known as l'Argenteria, the silverware, and it is the spot where riders on the old road always stopped.
Just upstream from the gorge lies Gerri de la Sal, a village whose name means what it says: salt. For centuries a salty spring here was used to make salt in shallow evaporation pans along the river, a valuable trade in the mountains, and the remains of the salt pans and the old salt warehouse can still be seen. Across the river stands the Romanesque monastery of Santa Maria de Gerri, a large and austere church with a bell gable, founded in the early Middle Ages and once a powerful local landlord.
The riding is varied. The N-260 is in decent shape and has a good mix of curves and straights as it follows the river, but it carries trucks, campers and rafting buses in summer. In the gorge itself, the tunnels are short but dark, so take off your sunglasses before you enter. North of the gorge, the road climbs gently to Sort, a small town of about two thousand people at the heart of the Pallars Sobirà region. Sort means luck in Catalan, and the town is famous across Spain for a lottery shop that has sold several jackpot-winning tickets, so expect queues of hopeful buyers in December.
Sort is the centre for rafting and canoeing, with plenty of outfitters along the river, and the water is fast and cold, fed by snowmelt from the high Pyrenees. It has fuel, shops, bars and restaurants, as does La Pobla de Segur to the south, at the mouth of the gorge. For a larger town, Tremp is further south. The region is known for its cured meats and for trinxat, a dish of potato and cabbage fried with bacon, ideal after a cold day on the bike. In autumn the forests turn gold and red, and the light in the gorge in the late afternoon is lovely.