La Vuelta

This week La Vuelta (cycle tour of Spain) came to the sierra espuna. What a spectacle!
This section Murcia to Caravaca de la Cruz is the half way point of the race. The riders set off from  Murcia city, en route to climb the Collado Bermejo which, with its 17 kilometers and 5.3% average gradient, is the most important mountain pass in the whole of the Murcia Region. The region has hosted La Vuelta on 25 previous occasions, but this is only the second time Caravaca de la Cruz has staged the finish.
We set of an hour before they were due to arrive to make for what we thought would be a good place to watch, a resturante…….bit of cake and a drink while we wait! Great idea……you’d think, only this is Spain and in very Spanish style, on a day when more people than normal, surely,  would be in the national park to see the riders thunder by, the resturante was, yes you guessed it CLOSED! Still, it did not dampen our spirits and we hiked on up the mountain road a little further to get a better view.
I’ve never been to a cycle race before, so was amazed to see just how many cars and people it took to support the 200 or so riders. As we waited we must have seen at least 20 Guarda Civil (police) vehicles pass, all with at least 3 officers in (most had 4!) . Another dozen or so Civil motorbikes. One ambulance and 10 or so race sponsor/official cars……and all this before the riders had passed.
Then they came first were 2 breakaway groups, the second of these was just 2 cyclists who were chatting to each other like they were on a Sunday afternoon club ride! Then came the peleton some 2/3 minutes behind. They passed like a snake trying to escape after you’ve lifted a rock he was hiding under. They were being chased by another mass of cars and motorbikes. Police, ambulances, team cars. Before you knew it, it was all over for Murcia for another year at least.
As we made our way back down the mountain road to the car we kept our eyes open for souvenir water bottles which may have been discarded……….but no luck there. Later in the after noon we watched the stage finish on the TV, the 2 breakaways had been caught by the peleton and the stage was finally won by Tyler Farrar (team Garmin) in 5: 11:10.
For more info on La vuelta visit www.lavuelta.com or check out my view of the peleton at   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKEFoDJec8o