A stunning day! La Vuelta part dos in full!

The tone of our entry into Spain may have been subdued, so today was exactly what we needed. We left Pamplona, and made inroads to Logrono, the only reason being was that it was on the way to Madrid. However, when leaving Pamplona, we saw the La Vuelta team trucks and coaches at the filling station and were a little perplexed as to why, as they had left Pamplona the day before. So Clare turned my phone on as I had the app for La Vuelta. By an odd quirk and with no planning, Logrono was the host town for the race today, and to top it off, it started in Logrono, finished in Logrono, and lapped 8 times.Thanks to team Paul Colling for the updates on this! 

The immediate problem though was that we had no idea about the route, so we entered the town and parked up on a free bit of space by a dual carriageway. As luck would have it, we had parked for free, about 400m from the start. Even better was that the race came past the 'our home'. Lunch was consumed quickly and we sat on a bench by Hugo, and shortly after the last crumbs were wolfed down, the motorbikes came, and then the wheesh of wheels and air as the cyclists motored past. So lap one down, van locked, and we mooched (we are highly accomplished moochers now) into the main hum of things. Strolling past the start/finish line we were right in the heart of the action, tv stations, music, banners, fences for as far as the eye could see. Lap 2, and they came again. A guy in green (team Canondale I think) led by 4 mins or so. We changed places numerous times as the event went on and the speed wound up. Each time we banged the hoardings, bashed our boom whackers, shouted "Go Chris!", and even felt "safe enough" to risk waving our Union Flag!

After several laps, and several hundred photos and videos, we found ourselves 50m after the finish in the throng of it all where the guys come in. See Clare's photo below of the winners coming in...

She also managed to get a photo of Alberto Contador, the Spanish leader of the race. That'll be the guy riding with no hands! Show off!

We finished up with a clear view of the podium and the celebrations. A super day, and a great 'stumble upon'. We are now on a campsite just out of Logrono for one night. It's an amazing setting. Nestled on a vast stretch of land surrounded by mountains on either side. For a naive traveller like me, I kept saying "wow" as we approached. The mountains lit up by the setting sun were stunning. I'm easily pleased that way. A little stroll with the kids and the camera were a lovely way to end what has been a stunning day. Just what we needed. I'd just like to thank the Team Sky driver (of a support vehicle registration E10 SKY) who pipped his horn at the kids 8 times as he went round and they proudly waved the Union flag!

Ed