Day 12 Rabana del Camino to Vega de Valcarce

Day 12 Rabanal del Camino to Vega de Valcarce

46.23 (total 437.31)

I slept well and was up at 6:00. We had a good breakfast at the aubergue as we knew there was not much on the road today, at least not early. We had a plentiful supply of coffee con leche and tostada before we set off at 7:00. This was after several repacks of my panniers. The problem was that it was now much cooler and I still had wet clothes to carry. These had not dried the evening before.

A perfect morning

The morning was decidedly cool. I layered up with base layer, short sleeved top, long sleeved top and a light coat and could still feel the cold. We picked up the climb where we had left it the evening before and we started off in a lovely clear morning with the sun rising over our shoulders. The road ramped up and it was soon into tractor gear for the first time in a few days to grind slowly up the hill. The temperature went down as we climbed higher and we were into cloud which reduced the temperature even more. After 5 miles and 90 minutes cycling, we arrived at the Cruz de Ferro (4,930 feet altitude) and stayed a while to view the mountain of stones (signifying the unburdening of sins) and reading some of the eulogies that had been left there. The Summit at 4,980 feet (the highest point on the route) was a little further on and I was shivering it was so cold.

Cruz de Ferro

The top of the climb went up and down for short while before the road started to descend. The guide book made it clear the descent was dangerous and mentioned that cyclists had been killed going down this hill. At the start of the descent the road was covered in grit so the brakes were on continuously to prevent any build up of speed. The wind chill also kicked in very rapidly as we were still in cloud and my whole body was shaking with the cold. The poor road surface continued to the village of El Acebo where the guide book recommended getting off and walking for safety (I rode through the village) but after that we had dropped below the cloud, the road was wide with a good surface so it was fun time!

The descent was a cracker! It was a long series of hair pins but visibility was good and there was no traffic so it was simply let go of the brakes and hang on. We had all lost each other but I did see Ricky about a mile in front and a long way down the mountain. I was holding a speed of over 40 mph and topped out at about 45/46 mph. Sheep and goats were a bit of a hazard as they didn’t seem to understand English as I was yelling at them to get off the road. There was also much writing on the road as I guess it was used as a climb in Spanish cycling events, perhaps even the Vuelta.

Near the bottom of the hill was the very pretty village of Molinaseca where I caught up with Ricky. We thought of stopping for coffee but we both thought that Chris was somewhere in front and decided to go on to Ponferrada to catch up with him. As it happened Chris was still behind us having stopped at the top of the mountain before the descent. We had missed him as the Knights Templar had started a procession off and he had been enveloped in the crowd.

Molinaseca

We ride on and into Ponferrada following the road route but no sign of Chris. We eventually made contact with each other via text message and Chris is also in Ponferrada but he arrived following the walkers route and is in a different place. We arrange for Chris to follow the road up to us as we are by a distinctive roundabout with a large fountain. It subsequently turns out that just about every roundabout in Ponferrada has a large fountain and it takes a little while for us to find each other. During these efforts we passed a really handsome castle but we did not have the opportunity to take a picture. We did eventually meet up and then we headed for McDonalds for a proper lunch before heading off again. Not only did we eat but the day had now warmed up and layers were taken off in the sunshine.

The road out of Ponferrada was arrow straight and was relatively flat but we knew the next big hill was not far ahead. We rolled on to Villafranca del Bierzo and had a short break before staring the climb with the intention of getting the first 10 miles done ready to take the big climb next morning. The road up to Vega de Valcarce followed a valley and was criss crossing with the river below and the Autovia above. As I rode up I came across a snake in the cycle lane and couldn’t decide whether it was dead or just sunning itself. I didn’t investigate!