10-03-2014, 09:49 PM,
(This post was last modified: 10-03-2014, 09:51 PM by Bierzo Baggie.)
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Bierzo Baggie
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RE:
Sunday morning route with similar characteristics to the Alto Sil. Covered much of the same ground as 2 weeks ago but hoped to add a proper peak to the circuit. Took with me a tangerine, a cereal bar, a bag of bilberries and a stash of jelly bebies. Didn’t need to take water as there are several springs on the way.
Set out from Toral del Merayo at 8.
Ran up the hill to Ozuela. Ozuela hangs off the hillside like some Tibetan village.
I’m using a lot of imagination of course.
Turned right at the old schoolhouse (now abandoned) and ran up the cart track to Santa Lucia (also long abandoned). Pushed on above the church (technically not yet abandoned as it sometimes provides Holy refuge to a herd of goats) and took a path to the top of the valley. First drink at the waterfall after approximately an hour and a half. Mmmmmm. More fresh water at the picnic site just below Campo de las Danzas.
Here there is snow, but considerably less than 2 weeks ago.
Followed the final hairpins of the road up to the pass, although the actual road dies in a muddy meadow.
Right to Ferradillo or left to La Guiana (1850m) ? I take a left.
La Guiana (or La Aquiana) is the nearest mountain to Ponferrada. It’s an easy climb, especially in Summer. You can get up the dirt track in a sturdy car. 20 years ago I summitted it on a racing bike. Getting up here in Winter can be a tad tiresome though.
Ever had that sinking feeling? The snow lingers longest in the shade of the pine plantations. Ended up sinking up to my knees on the flatter sections. Progress was slow and laborious.
On the final section (500m of firebreak) I met a man who was sliding along on snow rackets. I took to a thin ribbon of debris to the left and found the going easier.
On the top there is a crumbling hermitage and an observation tower which is used to look out for forest fires in Summer.
Vast sections of the Montes Aquilianos are still snow-covered, especially on the north facing flanks. The views all around are always spectacular but when adorned by layers of thick snow, even more so.
https://picasaweb.google.com/bierzobaggie/LaAquiana
Ran comfortably back down the firebreak, the icy crust just about taking my weight. A slow trudge followed to Ferradillo and then the familiar descent to Rimor and back to the car at Toral.
Total time 5 hours 55 minutes.
Distance : no idea.
Legs fine, ankles fine, achilles well-behaved, left knee tender, mild backache ....there’s always something eh?
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12-03-2014, 11:30 AM,
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RE:
In snow up to your knees? That's still a mighty effort BB!
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21-03-2014, 11:03 PM,
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Bierzo Baggie
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RE: Alto Sil
It is 8:45am. I’m in the Plaza del Pueblo, Santa Cruz del Sil. There’s a trail running party going on.
Lots of folk looking the part, lots of gym toned bodies, lots of core strength, hell, I’m picking up an inferiority complex!
The most lurid colours known to man, multiple accessories with straps, strategic pockets in unimaginable places, compression socks everywhere...
Ahead lies 33km and over 1800m of vertical climb.
Every year the race organizer gleefully tampers with the previous year’s route and makes it steeper, rougher and longer, almost to Zegama-esque proportions. One year I will meet the limit of my capabilites. Confident that it won’t be this year though.
A field of 450 or so set off and soon stretch out as far as the eye can see like a gaudy, multicoloured millipede in some videogame, snaking up and down firebreaks.
Trot a while alongside Higeno “the historico,” an ever present 60-something who defeated cancer itself on his way here. We chatted briefly of how barely 10 years ago there were only 2 races of this type on the calendar and you’d know most of the field by name. Now there’s something every weekend with each trail running extravaganza trying to surpass the previous one.
A lot of spectators out today cheering us on. In the village of Paramo del Sil they’re waving cowbells. It’s bedlam.
A long climb follows up to 1600m where we shuffle through snowfields. A lot less snow this yearthough, affecting hardly 2km of the total circuit.
Descend to Primout, an abandoned village once populated by hippies until the Guardia Civil kicked them out.
Then the emblematic river section, hopping stones, grabbing at overhanging branches and clambering up the river bank where necessary. This year a rope had been strung across the final section and I happily clung on to it.
The last big challenge was Peña Negra, the Black Peak, 400m straight up from the valley floor, short, steep and nasty. Grabbed a stick from the floor. It was a gnarled, twisted branch which had suffered fire damage. It held my weight though. Tottered upwards at 40 minute km pace. Yes, you’ve read that right, it was that steep. Or rather, I was that fxxked. Slowly, slowly, snail... up Mount Fuji.
Near the top I met a man who was sitting down. In these places there is always a man sitting down. There is always some poor fxxker who’s worse off than you. He tottered alongside me for a few steps before sitting down again.
At least 20 people passed me on that last climb. At the top I cast away my mighty staff of power and growled. But deep in my heart I knew that one day that man sitting down will be me.
Next, several kms of descent with plenty of mud and water to negotiate. Arrived back to the Plaza of Santa Cruz in 5 hours and 21 minutes. The “escobar” is not far behind me, sweeping up tailenders and generally pissing everybody off! But I’ve kept him at a safe distance and my ticket is booked for another year.
Didn’t take my camera with me this year. It’s a great race for photos ....
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23-03-2014, 10:34 AM,
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RE:
Wow BB, that's amazing ... another gobsmacking effort. I''m not sure I'd ever have the gumption to tackle a race like that, but I'd love to marshall one day. Might have to take some Spanish lessons and book a flight.
You're an inspiration BB!
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26-03-2014, 11:26 AM,
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Bierzo Baggie
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RE:
Couldn’t finish this thread without telling the story of the race winner, Zaid Ait Malek.
Of course, my view of the race itself is the sedate version from the back of the pack but the guys and girls at the front would tell a very different story. They are at the very top of their games and they are going for it hammer and tongs. Four or five of them are amonst the best in the world.
As I am slipping and sliding through the melting snow above Primout, more than 10km away the almighty battle for the podium places is reaching its climax. The race favourite, the young Colombian athlete Saul Antonio Padua had bonked spectacularly climbing Peña Negra and has been overtaken by his dad. Heroically, young Saul still finished the race when many top runners would have called it a day before crossing the line behind their inferiors. But this sport is thankfully different! Total respect all round.
Padua senior however, pushed on and arrived back in Santa Cruz in 9th position, just behind the first lady, Ana Conde from the Basque Countrty. They say she’s a mountaineer and although fairly new to mountain running she is definitely the lady in form at the moment. The second lady (18th overall) was a 15 year old girl!
Second man was Manuel Melillas, a local kid from a village the other side of the mountain. He holds the best time for the Aquilianos of 5:34, one of the great mountain running records in the north. They’re starting to talk about him in Europe and some, in hushed tones, dare to suggest that one day he could rival King Kilian himself. Not yet though.
And the winner, in 2 hours and 52 minutes Zaid Aik Malek ...the story is at first a Moroccan version of Kes...
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30-03-2014, 07:42 AM,
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Antonio247
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RE: Alto Sil
Congratulaions on that really tough race and beautiful report, BB!
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30-03-2014, 07:42 AM,
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Antonio247
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Posts: 1,619
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RE: Alto Sil
Congratulaions on that really tough race and beautiful report, BB!
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14-07-2014, 07:21 PM,
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RE:
So ... it was a great start to the season, yes?
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16-07-2014, 12:24 PM,
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Bierzo Baggie
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RE: Alto Sil
The chassis is starting to fail me.
All those niggling little injuries accumulated over the years seem to be coming back to haunt me. Sometimes as I get up there’s a song from Madness playing in my head ...
”in the morning I awake, my arms, my legs, my body aches....”
Can’t see myself running into my 50s. My stuttering run will gradually convert into a dignified walk and I shall grow old gracefully .. I hope.
But not quite yet.
Race 1.
Alto Sil.
Finished uncomfortably close to the cut off times, although I wasn’t aware of this at the time. But I secured my place for another year, being amongst a small, select group of those who have finished all 6 editions. There’s a high demand for race numbers now, with many of the top runners also shining at Zegama.
Alto Sil 2015 is on the same weekend as the Moyleman 
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