We were down for brekkie at the hotel in Pomferrada by 8am and were gone by 9:30. The sun was up and the temp on the bike said 21 degrees. We had a short commute on the motorway - which felt more like 15 degrees as opposed to 21 - to get to our planned start of the TET which was at Pobladura de las Regueras. As we approached the small town of Podlabura there was a trials bike park on the outskirts of the town and apparently an amazing mural on a house wall which we went into the town to find (see pics)
From here we then hit our first TET trail of the trip ..... and with a slight bit of trepidation I might add, only because we were on big bikes, fully loaded and absolutely did not know what to expect. So, lets suck it and see ...... and off we went, into the unknown.
It wasn't long before we were heading up the side of a mountain. Not too tough of a trail but loose and rocky and quite steep. Jase was ahead of me and as we approached a left hand switch-back Jase spooked a couple of baby deer that were hiding in the scrub and they bolted and jumped directly into the side of me/ my bike - the deer was literally on my lap!. It absolutely startled me and nearly knocked me off my bike but I just about managed to stay upright. Onwards we headed amd as we crested the ridge wow, what a sight to the peaks beyond and the valleys below. Amazing.
I stopped to take a picture meaning I was then at the back. I was playing catch-up to the group and came around a corner and saw Marc's bike laying on the floor. It was very large loose rocks and not easy terrain. We got the bike up and got him away again with my instructions being to keep the revs up so as not too stall and lose balance. At the next hairpin corner he was bucked off again so I helped him up again and set him on his way. I walked back to my bike and set off then shortly after I hear Marc on the intercom in trouble shouting that his ankle was in pain so my thinking was that he'd fallen off again and the bike was on top of him. I raced up the trail - which was a difficult section with lots of really large loose rocks and gulleys from the water/ rain. I went past three switchbacks thinking to myself "he couldn't have come this far" and before I knew it I was at the top where the rest of the guys were waiting. I didn't stop, pulled a U-turn shouting at the guys that Marc had had an off but I didn't know where he was. I raced back down the trail passing two of the switchbacks but couldn't see him anywhere nor was he answering the intercom.......where the fk was he?!?!? On the third switchback I happened to look up to my left and there on the steep bank was Marc amd his bike. OMG. My immediate thoughts were, "I hope he's okay" and "how the fk are we gunna recover his bike". I parked my bike amd ran up to the ledge where Marc had obviously gone over. He was okay if a bit shaken. The rest of the guys arrived with heckles of "How the fk did you get down there?" and the classic, "you can't park there!!" Ha ha
We got Marc up and sat him down so he could recover whilst we set about recovering the bike. Down was deemed best/ easiest as we'd never lift it up the 6 feet or so to the top of the ridge. We dragged the bike down, got it upright then spun it around and all but rode it out. Awesome work chaps
Onwards to the top where we stopped to take stock of the situation. Marc and Taff decided that after descending this trail they'd take a road burn to a location town to meet us whilst the four of us countinued along the TET route. We said our temporary goodbyes and the four of us set off on another trail taking us even higher across the mountain ranges. OMG the scenery was phenomenal, and the trails were really easy compared to the first trail of the day that saw Marcs tumble which was a shame as it would have been great to keep the group together.
We continued east along the trail and across several mountain passes, both on and off road breing absolutely blown away by the scenery.
We stopped at the end of the trail closest to the destination of the town where we'd sent Marc and Taff but they thought the town was less than best so they'd carried on further east to Potes. The group was definitely now split for the night so we set about sorting digs for us four. We found a whole house on Booking.com in a little town called Pola de Lena which seemed perfect so we booked it. We made the short commute (15mins) and arrived out our quaint abode which was perfect.
Showered and dressed we headed out for a lovely tapas dinner. We were all absolutely stuffed - 2 beers each, a large charcuterie platter to start, bread, and six large tapas dishes all for 97. Amazing value for money!!!
A quick stop in the mini market for a beer for the house and some snacks for our bags (no brekkie included here) then it was home and to bed in readiness for another days trail riding tomorrow. Bring it on.
