The day after the TT we headed north towards one of our favourite campgrounds to have several days of rest. Along the way we stopped for Henry to have a break and noticed a memorial stone.
It was from the Spanish Civil War and named several villagers who had lost their lives – very simple but quite touching.
We took our time getting to Rio Luna, taking the ‘scenic route’ rather than the motorway. The reservoir was the lowest we’ve seen it.
It was so nice to be back at a familiar place – we had chips and eggs for lunch at the campground bar before taking nice hot showers. The next few days rained off and on most of the time – we did manage to get some laundry done and dried during one of the sunny spells.
Mostly we staying inside because of the rain, going up to the bar for coffee each morning and again later in the day to watch the Vuelta on tv.
One of the campground cats had kittens a couple of months ago – they’re very cute but a bit skittish. The owner (whose name, sadly, I can’t remember) asked if I wanted one – I said I’d take two if I could but I don’t think Henry would like that!
One day we took the short drive to San Emiliano for coffee – on the way back to the ‘main’ road we had to stop for a small herd of cows that were walking up the road towards us on their way from one field to another.
We then drove further west to the town of Villablino and continued south a bit along a small lake. Not finding a decent cafe or restaurant we stopped at a nice pull-out and had lunch in the campervan.
After our nice interlude at Rio Luna we headed to our next race watching place – partway up the Angliru.
We weren’t sure how far up we would get as the road does get closed to traffic. I think we made it about halfway when we encountered several police cars that were turning people back. There were some campervans a little further ahead but apparently no more space beyond that so we turned back.
We ended up at a nice pullout that was on very solid ground – with all the rain lately many of the spots that look good are very soggy. We saw a few campervans in spots that we wondered if they were going to get out of but our place was ok.
On race morning fans started cycling up before it was even light out and during the day literally thousands of cyclists and walkers passed us on their way to the top.
I wouldn’t have wanted to walk up – we’re a good nine or ten km from the top so it’s definitely a bit of a hike.
I found a great place to watch and photograph from – you can see down the hill a ways and the valley opens up for a beautiful view.
Just down from us some folks have painted the Quickstep rider’s names on the pavement and they’ve covered up the ‘Angliru’ sign with ‘in Remco we Trust’.
Unfortunately Remco lost a ton of time on the Tourmalet a few days ago so is out of GC contention but he still had something to prove – he was the first racer to pass us…
…although the peloton wasn’t far behind.
The descent of the fans after the race was the largest I’ve ever seen – it took almost two hours for all of the cyclists, walkers, cars and motos to get past us on their way down. They kind of came in waves – a bunch of cyclists, then a bunch of walkers, then a lot of motos and some buses and campervans – then it started again. We stayed put rather than trying to fight the traffic and get nowhere fast.
Sally McKenzie's European Adventures 