Coll de Rates · Four Acts An Art Project Inspired by the Costa Blanca’s Most Famous Cycling Climb
- Katherine Henderson
- Mar 21
- 3 min read
High above the quiet villages of the Marina Alta, the road of Coll de Rates climbs through limestone, wind, and light.
For cyclists it is one of the most famous ascents on the Costa Blanca.
For us, it is simply part of the landscape we live beside.
We cross the summit regularly — sometimes on bicycles, sometimes in a vehicle but mostly on foot — moving between the villages of Parcent, Tàrbena, and the surrounding valley.
Over time, this repeated passage began to reveal a structure.
Not a technical structure of gradients and hairpins, but something quieter — a sequence of moments that almost every rider experiences while climbing the road.
We began to think of the ascent not as a climb, but as a four-part movement.
From that observation, the Coll de Rates · Four Acts project was born.
The Idea Behind the Project
Coll de Rates is one of the most photographed cycling roads in Spain.
But most images focus on performance — speed, effort, achievement.
Our interest was slightly different.
What does the road feel like?
What happens internally as a rider moves through the climb?
When we looked closely at the ascent from Parcent toward the summit, a pattern slowly emerged.
The climb seems to unfold in four distinct movements:
Anticipation
Endurance
Exposure
Release
These are not stages imposed on the road afterwards.
They are recognisable moments that appear naturally as the mountain reveals itself.
Coll de Rates — The Four Acts
Act I — Anticipation
The road begins quietly.
It curves gently upward through terraces and limestone slopes. The body prepares without fully realising it. Effort has not yet arrived, but attention sharpens.
The climb has begun, though it does not yet declare itself.
Act II — Endurance
The gradient asserts itself. Progress becomes rhythmic, deliberate, sustained — until it is interrupted. Resistance appears. Forward motion is no longer assumed.
There is a point in this ascent where progress stops feeling continuous.
The road does not suddenly steepen. Instead, forward motion is quietly refused.
This is the wall every passage contains.
Here, resistance is not danger but obstruction. An old presence asserts itself — unmoved by effort, indifferent to intention. Today, this resistance is often embodied by the wild boar.
The boar does not threaten.
Act III — Exposure
As the summit approaches, the landscape opens.
The shelter of terraces disappears and the rider moves into rock, sky, and wind. The mountain feels larger here.
The climb becomes less about the road and more about the surrounding space.
Act IV — Release
Beyond the summit the road loosens its grip.
Shoulders drop. Breath deepens. The valley opens again below.
Whether descending toward Parcent or continuing toward the coast, the rider leaves the bottleneck and returns to movement.
From Landscape to Studio
Over time, these four movements became the basis for a small studio project.
Each act of the climb was translated into a minimal black-and-white image, focusing on form, movement, and negative space rather than literal illustration.
The works were designed as limited studio prints and organic cotton garments.
Rather than traditional cycling graphics, the intention was to create something closer to portable art objects — quiet references to a landscape that many riders know intimately.
The project is called:
Coll de Rates · Four Acts
A Road That Outlives the Ascent
Thousands of cyclists climb Coll de Rates every month.
Some chase personal records.
Some ride it once during a holiday.
Others return year after year.
But the road itself remains unchanged — limestone, cloud, wind, and the narrowing passage near the summit that has shaped movement through this landscape for centuries.
Our project does not attempt to explain the road.
It simply marks that we encountered it.
The Coll de Rates · Four Acts Collection
The Four Acts artworks are available as:
Limited studio prints
Organic cotton T-shirts
White studio garments printed in small batches
You can explore the collection here:
Coll de Rates — A Road Worth Knowing
If you ride the Costa Blanca, you will eventually find yourself climbing Coll de Rates.
Some riders remember the effort.
Others remember the view.
And some remember something harder to describe — a moment when the road seems to ask a quiet question.
The Four Acts project began with that moment.
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