Just wondered if TRYDNM(ETY) might be the EMMRC at Lenzerheide.
It's on June 28th and it's a devil of a mountain run challenge.
Obviously way off the mark - I'll get me Berghaus :o
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Since running another Aquilianos stage last Wednesday morning I’ve been thinking about the notorious Erik the Belgian but even in the internet age it’s amazingly difficult to find out information about the man. Even his entry in Wikipedia is tantalisingly brief. And Erik the Belgian was probably the most prolific art thief of the 20th century… in the whole wide world.
Maybe he still is.
Stage Two. San Clemente to Peñalba (and back). A shade under 20 kms with about 700m ascent. Got into a rather nice walk-run groove and it took me about 3 hours.
Last Wednesday was a bank holiday for the grandiosely named “autonomous community of Castilla and León” and this let me sneak in a rare mid-week long ‘en. It is precisely in this part of northern Spain where you’ll find the highest proportion of historical buildings in a ruinous state and running between San Clemente and Peñalba there is plenty of evidence to prove the point. It would have provided a ripe picking ground for Eric the Belgian and his acolytes.
The terrain in this section is at times rugged and unwelcoming but there are plenty of signs that man has scraped a living up here for centuries. From San Clemente I followed an ancient cart track cut through the rock which rose above an ancient, crumbling smithy, its vast slate roof caving inwards as if made of paper. After about 45 minutes walking and running up a deep valley I reached Montes de Valdueza and its muddy, unpaved streets. Montes is dominated by its huge monastery which dates back to one of the first monastic communities in Europe. A scruffy handwritten note on the door announced that it may be visited only at weekends and that you’ve got to look for some bloke in the village for the key. What remains of the grand old building is in a sad old state but even sadder was the gaping hole in the hermitage wall just before you descend into Montes. This is the site of the Visigoth stone, the only surviving remnant of the original building and which had been encrusted above the door of the inconspicuous little hermitage. I’ve always stopped here to pay homage to the odd relic with its alpha and omega symbol and its strange indecipherable text. Not any more. Somebody’s nicked it.
To extract the stone the thieves must have made one hell of a noise and as the only road into Montes is visible across the valley for at least 2 kms it’s difficult to believe that none of the 5 or 6 permanent residents didn’t see or hear anything. It sounded to me like a perfect scenario for Erik the Belgian.
In the 1970s Erik was responsible for the disappearance of more than 1000 works of religious art from churches, cathedrals, hermitages and museums all over Spain. Many of them were taken from isolated little villages in Castilla y León, rather like Montes, where priceless treasures from other epochs were literally there for the taking. Eric was a trained painter from Brussels and a somewhat unorthodox art expert specialized in all types of religious imagery from the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Erik was the man for the job. The churches were easy to break into and the only difficulty lay in deciding what was worth taking or not.
But Erik always claimed that he had bought more than he had stolen and that he had often dealt directly with the priests themselves. Far from being a common thief he considered himself to be an art lover protecting the heritage from the sort of deterioration I’d seen in Montes. He frequently compared himself to Lord Elgin and said that he only ever worked with reputed collectors who were guaranteed to protect the articles removed. Then again he would say that, wouldn’t he?
Erik was detained in 1982 and accused of more than 600 thefts. After over 3 years in prison awaiting trial he was eventually acquitted of all charges. Unsurprisingly the lawyer who defended him became his sixth wife.
I doubt that Eric the Belgian is behind the disappearance of the Visigoth stone. Today he lives in anonymous retirement on the Costa del Sol and spends his time painting and tracing the works of art that have “passed through his hands”. This time he's returning them.
Two years ago I’d taken a photo of the stone. Now I took a second photo of the gaping hole. I’ll call it “before and after”.
A wonderfully wild section followed between Montes and Peñalba. By now it was drizzling incessantly but it was also warm. The remaining snow on the mountains was thawing rapidly and I had to negotiate a couple of streams which had converted to sizeable torrents. Here I came across the only other people I saw all morning, 3 runners training for the forthcoming events in the area. Once over the pass Penalba emerged in the distance like a misty mountain mirage. Peñalba is a showcase village where all the roofs are decked in shiny new slate and the streets are lovingly paved. The typed note on the door of the Mozarabic church gives the timetable for guided visits and its works of religious art are stashed away in the museums of León and the Louvre. The local government have pumped money into Peñalba and it shows. You won’t find Erik the Belgian and his mates around here.
Bierzo Baggie Wrote:Unsurprisingly the lawyer who defended him became his sixth wife.
Why "unsurprisingly"? I was frankly astonished by this matrimonial footnote.
Interesting tale (and evocative snaps as always). That "after" picture is just so sad. This kind of vandalism is a despicable crime. "My interests are more important than yours; more important than those of the community and our history". It's a form of cultural murder.
But another fascinating run logged. There is sadly no chance of doing the Aquilianos this year (as suggested a while back), but we'll get out there one day, perhaps for an Almeria-like long weekend RC outing.
Keep 'em coming please.
And good luck to the Baggies this evening. I want them to have promotion guaranteed before arriving at the Bush next Sunday.
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
I'll second The Fat One's pledge to get out to the Aquilianos before I pop my clogs.
It may end up being a walk/ run but I feel I know so much of the route already it would be daft not to. There's no substitute for heart-thumping mountain-top vistas and you seem to have cornered the market. With a rather full Spring schedule for 2009 perhaps 2010?
Until then I'll just have to get my jollies vicariously through this consistantly excellent diary.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Yeah all the best for Sunday BB - sounds like great running over there. The pics and stories are great too. I had heard of Erik - once you told the story it reminded me of a TV doco I saw about a copycat thief over here who went around country churches stealing art works in exactly the same way. Very few of them have ever been recovered.
But to steal a whacking great stone like that ... crazy. The thief couldn't exactly be a shy, retiring type now could they?!
It wasnt always as simple as straightforward theft and it may not have been the case with the Visigoth stone. Who knows? I still find it hard to believe that nobody in the village heard anything.
Apparently Erik sometimes bought items with the collusion of people from the town or village in question and sometimes from the priests of the churches he was supposed to have robbed. He claimed that the Spanish state and even the Vatican itself often authorized the sale of works of art to make some extra cash. What was sold in many cases would have ended up neglected, lost or stolen anyway.
Its also clear that in many places the heritage wasnt recognized or considered important and when it was, it wasnt valued. What was the point of having a medieval tableau in all its splendour when the water from a leaky church roof would only rot the thing away?
Others of course, were less willing to sacrifice the family silver. The parish priest of Roda was said to have spent 16 years sleeping in his church terrified that Eric the Belgian would one day call in search of a rich ecclesiastical bounty.
El Gordo Wrote:Why "unsurprisingly"? I was frankly astonished by this matrimonial footnote.
Interesting tale (and evocative snaps as always). That "after" picture is just so sad. This kind of vandalism is a despicable crime. "My interests are more important than yours; more important than those of the community and our history". It's a form of cultural murder.
Erik would have disputed the idea of cultural murder. He said that he robbed for love of art and that the museums of Europe had filled their exhibition rooms using similar methods for centuries .
What was astonishing was that he was acquitted. This either suggested that people in high places collaborated with Eriks methods of cultural safekeeping or that his lawyer was a genius. I was just imagining Eric after those 3 years in prison (and the life sentence he was expecting!) falling down on one knee and proposing to his lawyer in the very courtroom. Of course it didnt happen like that and it might have been surprising that she accepted but not knowing the lady in question I cant say.
The definitive story of Erik the Belgian is yet to be written. I picked up these titbits of information from a couple of interviews in the newspapers.
Last Sundays excursion was a 6-hour mountain hike. Ill try to write it up when I can.
Im now in a provisional list of 200 for the race I still dare not mention. Only 140 can take part. The draw is next Thursday and if my name comes out of the hat Ill finally have to mention the race I dare not mention. Itll be just like the draw for the 3rd round of the cup.
Good luck in the draw BB.
Happily your beloved baggies won't need any (luck) as they've only gorn an' done it, which has gone down extremely well here. I've met some cracking Baggies recently, not least Adrian Chiles (previously mentioned in despatches this parrish).
Whichever way the draw goes at least we'll finally get to find out what TRYDNM(ETY) bloomin' well is!
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Stage 3: The Mountain running section.About 25 kms and 1800m total ascent in a shade under 6 hours.
Left the car in Montes and retraced my steps from the previous stage to Peñalba. From here I climbed la Silla de la Yegua, the Mares Seat, a truly hideous slog which rises from 1000m to over 2100m in three kilometres. Some of the first kilometre is downhill so most of the climb involves a 1:2 gradient which is just about on the limit of what you can get up without using your hands. When I came here with my dad in April we aborted half way. Dad was thinking of doing the Aquilianos long route in June but the Mare had other plans. The problem is that its not a natural route. The mountain paths and tracks around here generally zig-zag up to a pass once used by travellers, shepherds, drovers, pilgrims or traders in order to get from point A to point B. This particular path, however, was invented by a madman who had the inexplicable desire to find out what was like to scramble up a 1 km high pile of builders rubble. There are few redeeming features. OK, the views back are glorious but the summit is an antenna-laden anti-climax and the wind turbines which come forth and multiply from the west each year edge ever closer to dispel any illusion of splendid isolation.
Covered those 3 kms in 1 hour 42 minutes. Wow! That must be 50 minute miling! But its probably the fastest Id ever climbed la Silla. In the race I dare not mention there are at least three similar climbs all on the same day. If I really thought about it I probably wouldnt even bother trying.
The 8 km stretch between la Silla and la Guiana peak on the other hand is wild, untamed beauty. Theres no choice but to cover the spine of the Aquilianos on foot. The wind farms are yet to intrude and hopefully never will. Any 4 by 4s or quads foolish enough to push on after the Silla would inevitably overturn and bounce their merry little way down the glacial valley and good riddance to them. For a while you are very much at one with nature and thats just how it should be in this last wild place.
My favourite part of this section is Pico Tuerto, the one-eyed peak, except that it has two eyes and the soft white curves of the twin peaks made it all seem strangely sensual.
At the top I met a group of walkers, some of whom were training for the Aquilianos. As the next section was mostly runnable I tucked in behind the most senior member of the party, a stocky 64 year old called Angel who trotted stealthily over the rocky terrain. I kept up with him using a run-walk technique thanks to my longer stride length but when the going got steeper I huffed and puffed.
We chatted at the top of la Guiana and here I discovered that Angel had been up both Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua which is the highest mountain in South America. His next challenge would be Mt Elbrus in Russia. After the Aquilianos of course. Oh, and he weighed a couple of stone more than me despite being much shorter. As if I needed any more convincing of the innate ultra-distance and climbing qualities of the over 60s (I didnt) Angel provided me with it.
A nasty little descent down the Aguiana firebreak followed and then a pleasant jog through a sweet smelling pine plantation took me to the evocatively named Campo de las Danzas, the field of dances. This marked the end of the Aquilianos high mountain stage. I still had to get back to the car though and it that meant another hour or so along a wide dirt track back to Montes.
I was sore at the end, my feet ached but it had been a fine test. Id also seen roe deer, a family of red squirrels, several unidentified birds of prey and one bushy fox who had crossed right in front of me. And I also got back for lunch.
That was my longest long one yet (10 days ago now). Mañana Ill know whether I can mention the unmentionable.
I know it's hideously tough and would make the Three Forts seem like a collection of speed bumps but you make this damned race sound so inviting! Sounds like an epic session - six hours?!!
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Sweder Wrote:I know it's hideously tough and would make the Three Forts seem like a collection of speed bumps but you make this damned race sound so inviting! Sounds like an epic session - six hours?!!
I was walking for most of those 6 hours .
In any case a road marathon for me is the toughest sort of race by a long way. No doubt about it. It doesnt matter if you do it in two and a half hours or five and a half, youre usually aiming to get around as fast as you can, without changes in rhythm and the view is normally restricted to the next 10 metres of tarmac in front of you. Agony!
That 3 forts race sounds superb. Its up on my list of races that Id love to do one day alongside the Grizzly in East Devon.
I’m in, and this is a real collector’s item of an event, a rare butterfly in the world of obscure off-road races. And it’s only 7 weeks away.
You won’t find much publicity for the fifth edition of the travesera integral de los picos d’europa. It takes part inside a national park and it’s in nobody’s interest that it becomes too popular. For that reason it’s limited to just 140 participants. Organized by the mountaineering and climbing federation of Asturias the route crosses the three “massifs” of the Picos de Europa in the same day and involves 60 kms and 5000 m climbing . I’ve just broken the news to the missus. That was the hard part…:o http://www.gmensidesa.com/fotos/DEVA/ http://www.gmensidesa.com/fotos/XURDE/ http://picasaweb.google.es/aramotz07/4TRAVESERAPICOS07 http://www.vayahistoria.com/webpicos06/index.htm
How do they decide who gets in? Is it a ballot? A ballot in which, a cynic might say, those whose names are not drawn out have to run the 60kms across the mountains... But we know better, I guess. I suspect it's one of those events that you'll never forget.
Looks like there's a fair bit of orienteering involved. Do they give you a map or are you left to your own devices? Are there water stations en route? Tell us a bit about it. What sort of times do most people manage? It's the sort of route that I'd love to walk, perhaps over 2 or 3 days. I can't really imagine racing it, even if run-walking is necessary.
But I envy you the chance to do it, and even more, I envy your ability to do it. Can't wait to hear how it goes.
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
'Envious' doesn't nearly cover it
Congratulations BB - you're going to be running across the top of the world.
At least we can share in your daring deeds - vicarious mountain adventures here we come!
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
anlu247 Wrote:Best of luck in the race that you already dare mention, BB. It must be a tough but wonderful experience.
Saludos desde Almería
Thanks Antonio. Maybe we could do that race in Ronda one day... now there's an idea
About the Picos event..
For the first couple of years this was a low key race that only attracted local athletes and mountaineers. Last year the 140 entry limit was reached in a few days and people started showing an interest from other parts of Spain. Internet is partly to blame but it’s also been described as one of the most spectacular events of its kind anywhere. This year they’ve changed the entry requirements and supposedly were going to introduce a ballot. And you must be “federado” which means paying subs and insurance that covers you for mountain-based sports (including skiing). Luckily I’d already “federated myself” in January (for the first time) as I was already thinking of doing a few long mountain hikes this year and after the Villamanín experience it seemed the right thing to do.
As for the ballot they ended up accepting everybody who had signed up and so we’ll be closer to 200 than 140.
The time limit has been tightened up as well. Last year it was 18 hours and now it’s 16 and a half.
It is an astonishing route. Picos is in the north of Spain and the range rises abruptly almost from sea level. This means that the height gain over relatively short distances is spectacular, possibly the biggest anywhere in Europe outside the Alps. Its limestone rock faces (none of which we’ll have to scale..I hope) are extremely popular with serious climbers. You’ll also find a lot of English walkers here as well, many taking the Plymouth-Santander ferry or the Easyjet flight to Oviedo.
Did the new Peñalba-Montes-Manzanedo race this morning and came through it quite well although there were a couple of falls and a twisted ankle...nothing serious I hope. I’ll try and write it up during the week.
A new event for the race calendar and a clear sign that trail/mountain running events are becoming increasingly popular in these parts. Maybe this is also the case in the UK.
“Tebaida Berciana” is a name sometimes given to describe the zone immediately below the Aquilianos range. Here, between the 7th and 9th century monastic communities and hermitages were set up by solitude seeking monks such as Saint Fructuoso, Saint Genadio and Saint Valerio. “Tebaida” refers to Thebes in Egypt where Saint Paul the Anchorite lived in a cave for almost 100 years. He consumed only fruit, water and half a loaf of bread each day which was flown in by a charitable raven. The lost valleys of Bierzo provided the perfect location for a new wave of cave dwelling Christian hermits to follow Saint Paul’s example. Hence the name of the race.
And more than 100 of an entirely new breed of eccentrics assembled in the “Tebaida Berciana” last Sunday to tackle a 19.5 km circuit with two stiff climbs and one particularly tricky descent. I tried out my new found descending skills with mixed results. At the first slippery corner I made a right tit of myself, literally sliding sideways off a slate littered path (rather like the race cyclists sometimes do just before an end of stage sprint). Shot over a low lying dry-stone wall and ended up rolling halfway down a field. It must have looked a bit like that cheese rolling race they hold somewhere in the north of England. I rejoined the race miraculously unscathed and for one mad moment I felt like lucky Lance Armstrong in the 2003 Tour de France when he took that short cut across a field. That moment soon passed when the grim reality of the first big climb set in.
Slipped into my run-walk groove and managed to maintain a constant rhythm. I lost a few places as the run-runners overtook me but kept enough in reserve for a quick descent. The problem was that it was quite wet and slippy and I found it difficult to keep my feet. Maybe I should buy some new shoes. On the firmer, stony tracks I was fine and I was flying but then I turned an ankle (the right one this time!) and had to ease off.
The final section was along a narrow, muddy path through some woods. In fact I now realized that I’d done most of this circuit 3 weeks ago in the opposite direction and here I picked off a few runners with the advantage of knowing that we were near the end. My finishing time was just over 2 hours which was ahead of several runners who always thrash me on the road so I was quite pleased with myself. The ankle was swollen on Monday morning and I might have to miss the Truchillas race as a result.
In conclusion, an excellent new race with a smart t-shirt in the goodie bag along with a pair of socks and an apple. My only misgiving, and this might be considered nit-picking, was that it was all a bit flash and noisy for a mountain race in such a secluded and isolated spot. The organizers were from a local gym and there were a lot of people who don’t normally stray onto these paths and it showed. Electro-pop boomed from loud speakers at the finish line which was at the entrance of the picturesque village of Peñalba. The ghost of Saint Genadio in his cave-hermitage across the Valley of Silence must have wondered what was going on.
Sounds like you ran a great race - 'sfunny but I was only today watching a doco on the 2003 Tour de France where Armstrong took that cross-country short cut. I don't think it's a good idea to push your luck like that too often, but at least you have something in common with the great Lance (except he stayed upright ).
The all new training diary.
and that the museums of Europe had filled their exhibition rooms using similar methods for centuries 
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.
But we know better, I guess. I suspect it's one of those events that you'll never forget.
).