Team Robb Abroad: Day Eight: Back on the Bikes 8th

We did not have to be ready today until 1000 so were all able to sleep in and take things a bit easy. Poor Charlie was not at all well so his family would not be joining us on the bikes today. The remainder of the group met up with new guide, Andy, and Stewart to collect helmets and assist with the loading of the bikes and then we hit the road.

Today’s ride was largely in the Ordino Valley, almost directly across from the route of our first day’s biking experience. We drove up to the closed ski resort at El Castellar at some 1870 metres above sea level. Fortunately, Abbey and I managed to find some open loos before we spent time getting to know our bikes again in the large parking area.

Our opening ride today was down and along an old road with a mixture of tarmac and gravel. Zac and Abbey both made it to the bottom safely with only Harriet taking a tumble. This threw her already shaky confidence and she chose to travel the rest of the stretch in the support car, which followed us down.

Waiting at the top of the path

And safely down the bottom!

Abbey opted out on the next section, which began with a steep road descent of 100 yards or so then off road for a few kilometers of very steep track, which also was quite rocky and muddy. It was an exhilarating descent with the river pumping along beside us. Zac did an amazing job handling his bike in the tricky conditions and was soon well out of sight ahead of me! Abbey and Harriet drove ahead with Stewart to met us and the three of them amused themselves by jumping out and scaring us as we reached the end of this stage.

As the next stage of our journey was to be on the road, Zac decided to travel in the support vehicle. This was a good move as it was quite a steep descent with some traffic to contend with, not much fun when navigating the many switch-backs along the way. We met up again next to a fish farm and both kids were raring to go. Abbey rode half the section then, as the way got a bit trickier, was picked up by Stewart. Zac, on the other hand, must have only missed one or two of the puddles and made it to the bottom with a huge smile and covered head to toe in mud. His Dad didn’t look much better!

We were now near the village of Llorts having descended around 450 metres already. Our next challenge was to ride along Andorra’s Iron Route following the sites of Andorra's historic mining and iron working industries that were active in the 17th–19th centuries. It is said that the mountains of Andorra have iron hearts. For centuries, the country's economy was dependent on the extraction of ore, its processing, its marketing and all the other activities this involved (charcoal-burners, waggoners, etc.). Conditions in Andorra were ideal for the development of the technological principles of the Catalan forge, and the country's forges produced iron in huge quantities, with the added advantage of a reputation for excellent quality. The section we would be riding today was scattered with contemporary sculptures inspired by ancient trades related to iron production – it was also more rocky downhill riding fun!

Andy insisted Nathan and I ride ahead and leave Abbey in his care. It was lovely to hear later how impressed he was with her technique (and boy, does she love this word now!) as well as being amazed by her sheer determination to get the job done. Zac continued to simply zip down the hills with barely an issue discovering more mud and a bigger smile.

Along the way we stopped to take in the various monuments and sculptures all designed around the theme of iron. Luckily, many of the information points were also translated into English so I have done my best to put things in some form of order.

This sculpture “Iron Wagon and Pick” is ‘Intended to signify and represent the union of two elements deeply rooted and intimately related with the world of metallurgy and mining’. The pick is a key and essential tool in extracting the iron from the veins of the mine; symbolic as carrying all the force that it represents. The wagon represents the efforts of transport, symbolic of the road itself. The wagon carries the iron to the smithy to be worked and transformed

Just loved this translation of the artist’s thoughts with regards his sculpture:

The question in the answer: “Art, fortunately, is not reasonable.”

This was my answer some years back to the question “what is art?”

I believe that my bridge, with these men rolling a heavy stone towards the river, is a good example of this “fortunately not reasonable.” On the other hand, even so, it is not yet art. But after all what is art?

Clear things up a bit!

This sculpture was probably my favourite and I like the idea of making up their story yourself, as translated…

“Every year at Christmas time seven people meet in Andorra. Even though they come from different places in the world, they all belong to the JORDINO family. What are they…brothers, sisters, cousins?

These figures are castings of urban soil from moulds, made in different cities of the world. I call them the “extra-terrestrial” because they are extracted “from earth”. Jeanne comes from Saint Petersburg, Aeyko from Tokyo, Felipe from Mexico, Richard from London, Izis from Cairo, Jean-Baptiste from Monaco and Titi from Paris. These seven characters are linked by a story. I invite you to give free reign to your imagination and invent this story yourself. As the poet said, “Everything begins here below and ends elsewhere.”

Just a few members of the family

We stopped for a picnic lunch besides the riu Valira del Nord, which was fairly pumping along. Nathan and Zac did their best to change the course of the waters to no avail! We also had time to take in some more ‘iron route’ sculptures before it was time to hit the road again.

Lunch with Kerry and Harriet

Inside “A Casa Da Terra e do Fogo” (sorry the English translation got a little lost!)

After lunch we had a two-stage ride down to an old mill. Abbey rode the first section with Andy, again with great success then sat out the second which was far steeper and much more rugged. Zac, however, had a fantastic time careening down the hill with never a worry!

Zac and Michael compare ‘warries’ whilst waiting for the rest of the group

It was back onto the main roads now for the final descent into the small town of Ordino, which lies on the foot hills of Casamanya mountain (at 1298 meters). Both kids wisely decided to sit this one out as we once again sped down hill and negotiated sharp switchbacks. We met up again in town and were given about 45 minutes to rest and take a look around. Naturally it was straight to the ice cream parlour, on in this case a local bar! We spent time with Harriet and Kerry whilst soaking up the sun. We even had a chance to soak up a little bit of culture taking a look at the 12^th century Romanesque Sant Corneli and Sant Cebrià church and belltower.

Stopping for ice creams on the pedestrian street with views back towards Casamanya

Inside the 12^th century Romanesque Sant Corneli and Sant Cebrià church

Our Lady of Meritxell (depicting an apparition of the Virgin Mary) is the patron saint of Andorra. It is said that in the late 12^th century, on January 6, a wild rose in bloom was found by villagers from Meritxell going to Mass in Canillo. It was out of season and at its base was found a statue of the Virgin and Child. The statue was placed in the Canillo church. However, the statue was found under the same wild rose the next day. The statue was taken to the church of Encamp. However, as before, the statue was found under the same wild rose the next day. As in similar legends elsewhere, the villagers of Meritxell took this as a sign and decided to build a new chapel in their town after they found an open space miraculously untouched by the winter snows.

The next trick up our guides’ sleeves was to drive us all to the top of a really steep hill then set us loose on the 8km off road descent into Encamp. We would start at Collada de Beixalis with an altitude of 1975 meters and finish up at 1250 meters (just a slight slope then!). As always, we were given strict safety instructions and the support vehicle would be available to pick up any reluctant riders.

Abbey and I survey our finishing point!

Everyone set off along the paved road that would turn to dirt after about 3 kilometres. Zac disappeared from view quite early on whilst Nathan and I kept a closer eye on Abbey. Despite the steepness of the descent and the many twists and turns, Abbey completed the road section in brilliant form. She decided at this point to stop and wait for Stewart feeling that perhaps she had had enough riding for one day. She was joined in the support car by Kerry and Harriet.

Abbey keeps a look out for Stewart so that she could hitch a ride

After waiting some time for Kerry and Harriet, with Stewart hot on their heels, and handing over Abbey, Nathan and I took off for the remainder of our journey. As I rode, at times with the wheels of my bike sliding out beneath me, I have expected to come across Zac sprawled bleeding on the side of the road. This was not to be the case as he had done a remarkable job making it to the bottom at speed only stopping to wait for us before attempting to navigate through town to the rendezvous point. Unlike Zac, I was more than a little nervous in sections and I also could not quite emulate the kamikaze attitude of Nathan who would push on ahead then stop to wait for me to catch up.

Nathan takes on the slopes – and tries not to be distracted by the views!

I follow at a far steadier pace

We had been instructed to meet up just past the statue of a man with a scythe (who did look a bit like the grim reaper from some angles!). We found Abbey having a ball with Harriet and Michael using the two way radios of the guides and just had time to catch our breaths before we were packed up and heading back to the hotel. Zac and Michael rode with Andy but kept in close contact via the radios with Harriet and Abbey riding with us. It was very amusing to hear them all trying to decipher each other’s accents (Harriet is from Kent and sounds like an Essex girl whilst Michael, though from London, prefers to talk at times like he is from Jamaica, all mixed with the Wiltshire accents of our two).

Sadly, it was time to start packing tonight with a 0700 start back to Toulouse the next morning. Abbey did find time for some wild flower picking and a little drawing with Nick’s daughters and we all enjoyed either Salmon or Turkey for dinner. After dinner we stayed a little longer in the bar saying goodbye to our guides who had helped make this such a successful week.