Inhoudsopgave/Table of contents/ La table des matières - Free

way to the top flanked by many
walkers heading the other way,
some on the road but most of
them on a parallel path to the
north. I passed many metal
crosses, one at the highest point
of the road but I couldn’t place
a BIG sticker there. That would
be totally sacrilegious! Instead
I saw a road off to the left
(north) that led to an old
disused military camp and this
was higher than the road over
to Astorga. This went up to a
radio mast and so planted the
BIG sticker there on the gate to
the left hand side. On the way
down I had a sidre at a bar in
Acebo and had a look at the
history of the place on the wall
hangings then made my way
down until I came to a road
junction soon after the village.
I asked a German walker if the
road to the left led across to
Espinoso to short cut the route
for my next climb to the south
west, the Morredero, BIG
number 383. He wasn’t sure
but in conversation told me he
was walking the whole Camino
from Pied St Port in France to
Santiago de Compostella
(Santiago on the Compost is far
less romantic) and covering
25km each day and taking him
3 months to complete it. That is
mind boggling! Ninety days x
25 km each day is 2200km.I
carried on down the road back
to Ponferrada and took a left
almost immediately and biked
up through Salas, a narrow
cobbled street through a huddle
of houses then steep and direct
but not a difficult road to San
Cristobal, another village of the
same layout but this had only a
bar and I would visit this on the
BIG Review 2009
way down later. Morredero is a
long, tough climb through
barren countryside to reach the
top, a true sierra. I was only
passed by one car. I placed the
BIG sticker at the summit plate
facing north on the west side of
the road then turned around and
freewheeled most of the way
back to San Cristobell except
for one short climb crossing a
valley. Back down to
Ponferreda for the last time and
I asked at a hotel, a posh place
on a main road with suits of
armour inside. I needed
direction along the N536
(F16.84€) and was soon on the
right road for the next
conquest. I took a stop at Barco
to buy from a supermarket.
Shortly afterwards I was told
off by the police at Medua for
having my bike parked over a
white line! I stopped to look at
the map to decide if I should
take a narrow hilly road to the
left from where lorries were
coming down, maybe this was
the road to the next
climb I wanted to
do.
While I was
pondering this they
came alongside and
to me to move it
beyond the line. I
explained why I had
stopped and told me
that the turning was
the next road to the
left, a wider and safer road.
They then escorted me – a
motor bike in front and behind
me to that turning. People in
Sobradelo at the road junction
must have been wondering who
the famous cyclist was to have
police escort. The leading
motor cyclist pointed out the
road and they carried on and
left me to it. I was on a wide
road up to Casaio where there
is a turning to the right for
lorries going down to a huge
open cast coal mining area.
From there the road is narrower
and steep in places, eventually
reaching a very barren road
summit, the Fonte da Cova
46
BIG number 382. To the right
(west) is the open cast mining
area in a huge bowl cut out of
the side of the mountain. At the
top on the other side of the road
is a large gravel area and
except for the road summit
plate there is no other object or
growth up here. A road goes
down to the right for the
mining area and many white
vans were on the way up
carrying workers who waved at
me as I took photos of the BIG
sticker on the one and only
plate up here, this faces north
on the east side of the road.
Back down the pass the way I
came and along a wide road
through A Rúa then took a
right for Quiroga and up to
Alto de Boi (BIG number
379). Again there were road
workings on the way up, many
loose stones. There are many
bends in the ascent on a steep
and narrow road following cliff
edges. I placed the BIG sticker
on the summit marker plate
facing south on the west side of
the road. Back down again the
same way and I crossed from
Quiroga to San Clodio and
became confused trying to find
the right road for the next
climb, Alto de San Clodio
(BIG number 378). I asked at
the railway station café but got
no response as I couldn’t ask in
Spanish so tried to find the
road by taking a left parallel to
the rail line along a narrow
road but soon discovered this
was taking me too far out for a
right turn to the mountain, I
was heading for Sequeiros. I
went back into the village and
came to a road junction and
asked a local. He told me to
take the next right – which
wasn’t far from the station and
over a level crossing where the
climb starts straight away.
Towards the top I succeeded in
stopping traffic as the setting
sun was directly in my eyes. It
was getting late at 21.00 and
couldn’t find anywhere to stay
the night. I found my way to
the top but found there is no