Syd Stelvio - London to Lisbon Day 8
Leon to Sobrado – 339km
Another early escape from a city signalled the start to the eighth day on the London to Lisbon rally. This time we were leaving Leon, that had far less traffic lights than we had experienced in Pamplona, I guess there were none left after Pamplona had snaffled them all away. The coastal town of Muxia beckoned today, though a remote MTC would lessen the competitive distance to 339km, with another 100 or so after that on the run into the evening halt, and the promise of a view of the Atlantic.
We settled into the usual morning tab along the highway, before turning off and heading to the first of four planned regularities, through a series of traditional settlements in the foothills of the Montes de Leon, all with a magnificent church at their centre. This morning, we would be following the Camino de Santiago, or specifically the Camino Francés, or the French Way. The reg finished before we joined the famous pilgrims walking trail, as progress can be slow amongst the walkers and cyclists, and they aren’t likely to find their inner peace with a bunch of noisy rally cars ruining their morning!
Roadworks in the middle of nowhere would ruin some of our competitors mornings though, with some old fellas and a grab truck holding up the traffic as they inexplicably shovelled earth from the roadside. The most frustrating thing was that the traffic was largely non-existent, though the chap in charge of the stop and go lollipop seemed to be able to see phantom cars, as he stopped the rally cars when nothing else was coming down the road. David and Debbie Bundy would suffer at Lollipop man’s hand, and in the end, they would finish their morning with 1:07s of penalty in the brown Triumph. I’ve heard the closing car recruited Lollipop man as a travelling marshal for the rest of the event.
Post reg and we were firmly ensconced amongst the pilgrims, as the road passed the highest point of the trail at the Cruz de Ferro, the iron cross that marks the top of the drop at nearly 5000ft. I’m glad I wasn’t walking it. At this point the trail goes off road, and so the cars were able to enjoy the mountain route on the way to a test at Karting Cabanas, a twisty little circuit near Ponferrada. Today it was Mike and Sarah Thorne who had the bit between their teeth, setting the fastest test time of 2:02 seconds, quickest by quite some way. Of the front runners looking to set the fastest time in their classes and thus not lose time in the overall table it was Graham Platts and Neil Ripley, and Peter and Louise Myles that managed to leave the circuit with zero’s, whilst the Baine’s and Bowser’s lost time to their rivals, dropping Dick and Harry in the Porsche back behind the Healey of Platts and Ripley.
Another hilly regularity was in store after the circuit, that began amongst verdant vineyards, before climbing high into the hills and then dropping down the side of a gorge. At 20km long there was plenty of ground to cover, amongst a variety of terrain and different sized roads. Stephen Hardwick and Ian Riley had been having a decent rally, in the little Alfa Guilia, but their day was about to take a turn for the worse, or a turn to the right at least, when they should have turned left. Up until that point they had delivered a perfect morning, with zero’s everywhere, but they would now pick up a minute, though the blow would be reduced by their Joker.
The day was halfway done by now, with a run to the lunch stop that passed through the delightful town of Villafranca del Bierzo, crossing over the Rio Burbia, under the gaze of the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria, dating back to the 16th century, bringing to an end our spiritual morning on the Camino.
The second half of the day yielded another pair of regularities that were lower in altitude than the mornings offerings, but they were technically challenging as they switched between tracks between field and forest, with a couple of difficult junctions on reg number three in particular. The last reg of the day was going to inflict more pain upon one of the cars fighting for a podium, as the Porsche of Peter and Louise Myles arrived at the first control 22 seconds early. I can only assume this was due to the large dog that was doing its best to fight the cars at the beginning of the reg, and when I say large this thing was measured in hands. The entire reg seemed to be full of angry canines, of all shapes and sizes, and all determined to have a fight with anyone, or anything, that came near them – a bit like Glasgow at kicking out time.
By the end of the day then, there had been a fair amount of movement in the results table, with Graham Platts and Neil Ripley back at the top, but exactly level on time with the Baines, neck and neck heading into the final three days. After the day’s mistakes from competitors around them, third place is now in the hands of Dave Maryon and Henry Carr, both veterans of this event and perhaps worth an outside bet should the top two begin to feel the pressure and make errors. Tomorrow is our final day in Spain, and by the evening the rally will have crossed into Portugal, just as things are starting to get interesting. Until then.
Syd.