RTG Espana Daily Dispatch - mid-res - Flipbook - Page 18
24 April to 5 May 2022
Day 8
Puebla de Sanabria to Luintra (303 km)
2 May 2022
Today was one of the shorter days of the Carrera España but, what it lacked in quantity, it more than
made up for in quality. With barely one kilometre of straight road between breakfast and dinner, today’s
route took in some exceptionally agreeable chunks of carretera de montaña and traverso sinuoso, in a
seemingly relentless mountain marathon.
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
However, it was fitting that, as we started today on one of
the staging posts of the Camino de Santiago - an ancient
pilgrimage route - we finished it in the Monasterio de Ribas
de Sil - a former Benedictine monastery now serving as a
very comfortable Parador hotel. Perhaps because of these
two spiritual bookends to the day, something of a miracle
was performed this morning. Jack Amies and Andy Inskip
managed to fix the leaky carburettor float which had
threatened to sink Gavin and Diana Henderson’s chances of
finishing the rally in their Bentley. Whoever the patron saint
of fuel systems is, they deserve a votive offering tonight.
For the rest of the us the morning began in a slightly more
secular manner with a climb up and over the Sierra de la
Cabrera to the 1840m Alto del Peñon. We found ourselves
riding above the clouds on one side, only to have to plunge
through them on the other, towards the first Regularity from
Peña Anguda at a more modest 1265m. This section proved
to be a long, twisting, brake checking, descent followed by
an equally challenging climb to the small town of Castrillo de
Cabrera. The landscape was in essence a large lump of prime
mountain real estate, with a series of opencast slate mines
doing their very best to reduce its size, gigantic stepped
scars bore testament to this earth shattering industry.
It had been a misty and chilly morning in parts though,
so the chance to warm up at the Time Control in the Hotel
Fonte da Cova was welcomed by many, particularly those
in open cars. We’d reached 1850m again, but on this side of
the hill at least, we enjoyed full sun, amazing views, great
coffee and an ever so easy - albeit hard earned - downhill
run to the second Regularity from Prada, where the Embalse
of the same name, formed the backdrop to a sunny section
through the trees.
As usual the lunch Time Control was a welcome sight, and
the Restaurante Boavista did an excellent job of refuelling
the man (and woman) whilst the Repsol station next door
took care of the machine. Within the hour both had sent
a fully refreshed and refuelled rally down the road to the
final Regularity around A Teixeira. A short, sharp piece of
broken woodland and small terraced vineyards above the
Embalse de Santo Estevo.
www.rallytheglobe.com