Day 9
Today we
are riding the Puerto Del Sol, a 7km climb that is a local riders test. There
are about 23 turns on the way up the hill, and there are 1k markers painted on
the road. As we were getting ready to go I heard some laughter from the girls'
cabin, then all 4 of them came out wearing white lace stockings with little
hearts on them, with their riding kit. Lots of posing commenced and the girls
started their ride dressed just like that.
As we
passed the gas station on the way to Rosario, Andy waved us in and said that we
have company: The Spaniards had come out to play. Andy said their A team was
here: I recognized all three of them from last year, including the one guy in
the Spanish National Team kit with the Zipp 404s. We set off and the pace was
already pretty high climbing out of the valley. I was in the third row and was
thinking that this was too fast to have a decent climb later, so I sat up and
let the other five pull away. That's when I realized that everyone behind me
had already cut it back and we're spinning along a little easier. The weather
was beautiful, lots of sun and very little wind. Soon I caught up with Dan who
had drifted off the Spaniards as well. We rode together for a while until we
caught up Gerrad, then we waited for the rest of the group since we were at an
intersection. A few Kms later the Spaniards were waiting for us and we rode
together at a much more accommodating pace until we approached the Puerto
climb.
The
Spaniards didn't wait, they just took off and I never saw them again. We took a
few minutes to strip off warmers and jackets to make the most of our climb, and
we started separately and each timed our climbs ourselves. It was quite a
climb, most of the grade was around 9%. It seemed to favour those who knew the
climb, since you could gain some advantage by making the most of the lower
grade areas. After what seemed like a never ending series of switchbacks I
finally saw the 1k mark. So I turned it up and then saw the 500m mark, then
before I knew it there was the van and it was over: 29 minutes 30 seconds. Not
spectacular. Others were around the same time, most were better :(
After the
climb we went looking for a coffee shop. The little town at the bottom of the
hill was very small. We found the cafe at the town square but it was closed,
participating in the general strike. We wandered the little streets and found
another cafe/bar that was open. It was also very small, no room for us to sit
inside, so we sat on the sidewalk and waited for our coffees.
Gerrad went in to
use the washroom and came out with the news that it was kind of a two man
operation: the washroom door opened outward and the catch was on the outside,
so if you wanted privacy you had to have someone guard the door for you. And
the washroom had only a little sink and a little urinal - no toilet, no good
for the women. But the girls had to go so they asked the barmaid; she took them
next door to her house to use her washroom... small towns, amazing. As we sat
outside we could hear a commotion from around the corner, next thing there was
a herd of goats being walked down the narrow streets. Really small town.
The sky
clouded over and the ride home was filled with cold descents and hot climbs.
But it was a pretty good day. 101.5 kms, 1800 metres of climbing, average speed
around 25kph, total ride time 4:05.
Dinner was
my favourite from last year: Lamb Hocks. Great big knuckles of fall off the
bone meat served with mashed potatoes, corn and green beans. My friends helped
me out with the green beans, I just can't eat those things. Apple pie with
custard for dessert. It was very good, everything I remembered.
Lamb Hock dinner
Colin's dessert with double custard
After
dinner we did the nickname choosing for the little wall plaques, and apparently
if you already had a nickname it didn't matter, you get a new one every time
you set a personal best. There was lots of fun, and a few bruised egos, but in
the end what happens in Spain stays in Spain. So no nicknames will appear on
this blog. I make no promises about Facebook :)
Tomorrows
route will be another 100 plus day, with maybe 5000 feet of climbing, also
known as "Spain flat." It's hard to believe that we are down to our
last two days of riding, looking back it all seems so fast.
Our little kitchen at Idle Breaks
No comments:
Post a Comment