Sol Classic Car Club

Classic challenge for Cudeca

Club members found driving more of a challenge than usual when they took to the road in March to help raise funds for the cancer charity Cudeca. The route had been chosen by John Greenwood last autumn – when we were still enjoying that seemingly never-ending warmth and sun, before the recent torrential rains!

The cars gathered in bright March sunshine at the Taberna de Urbaneja just outside Monda and then headed up through Alora towards El Torcal. They then turned off into the mountains on what had been a newly laid and resurfaced road, winding across to La Joya and Villlaneuva de la Concepcion. Here things got a little more interesting!

Drivers had been told that the road was still passable (the route was checked the week before) but to keep a wary eye out for cones and barriers where there had been rain damage. Sadly the beautiful new road had been ravaged with mud slides and in several places the pristine tarmac with bright white lines was lying in large chunks down the hillside.

Undaunted, our intrepid classic drivers negotiated lumps and bumps, avoided potholes and skirted round rocks until they arrived at the motorway for coffee near Puerta de las Pedrizas. The local people in the small pueblos en route had all come out to cheer and wave as the cars passed by – at a more sedate pace than usual!

The scenery made up for the road conditions, with incredible vistas across swathes of emerald green grass (more reminiscent of Ireland than Andalucia thanks to the excessive rainfall) and hills dotted with late almond blossom.

The second leg of the route crossed into Axarquia, past Alfarnate and then into the pretty valley leading to Villa Nueva del Trabuco. Here the road was very wet in places but the surface was intact and both drivers and passengers could appreciate signs of spring in the flowers and trees. A shorter drive ended in the lunch stop at Venta la Cortijuelo where Spanish classic enthusiasts joined SOL members for lunch. Among the guests was Paco Tovar, President of the Seat 600 Club of Malaga, who invited SOL Classic Car Club to a joint event in Colmenar in December.

All in all the day was a memorable one and members raised 670 Euros for Cudeca.