PeterLambTravels: março 2014

Dear all,

Yesterday night, right after updating the blog I went to the tent to a deserved night of rest. Do you remember that I wrote that I was packing in a rush and did not forget loads of things? Well, a warm pijama was one of the things :)

As soon as I reached the tent, it started to rain quite intense together with some strong winds, lead me to fall asleep in less than 5 minutes!

What was not so nice was the fact that my air matress has a tiny hole somewhere, so the inflation was lost somehow and I woke up at 4h30AM, really cold and on a really stiff floor (well, you gotta love the camping feeling!)

Waking up with the sound of birds instead of alarm clock is a wonderful break on the daily life!

Breakfast was huge: hot chocolate, ham&cheese sandwich and 2 donuts ( great to know that soon all of that would be burnt)!

My palace with nice view and my ride resting in the back

As I wrote yesterday, this camping is quite nice. Looking forward to return again in better weather.

Camping's pool

Although I was not in a rush, it was time to pack everything and go back on the road as more than 85 km were waiting for me.

All set and ready to go

The views on this road just after the camping were quite nice, close to the water.

PeterLamb's bike

Not too much of a change from yesterday's weather. Overcast and rain showers from time to time.

Peter Lamb on his way

Winter views on the countryside

Funny sometimes the name of the places that you pass through:

Cansado means tired in Portuguese

The flora that you can see the most in this route is this:

The most common tree on this route

I have been told that this type of tree is a sort of plague, as it replaces the local fauna and it grows quite fast, but to be honest, I don't know nothing about it.

Close to Ponte de Sor i noticed that someone likes a different type of decoration on their garden:

A different type of decoration

Ponte de Sor is a nice place and has a park close to the river with pools, playground for children and some tracks for people to go for a walk / workout.

Peter Lamb and his bike in Ponte de Sor

Peter Lamb's ride

There was not much time for a break, as some hills were waiting for me!

Ponte de Sor's kindergarden

Tunnel

The next destination would be Nisa.

On the way to Nisa

When I was planning this trip I knew that there was a nice downhill close to the final destination, but I was not expecting that the hills would start even before Nisa.

A relative of mine :)

Free as a Lamb ;)

Peter Lamb finding some relatives on the way

I was right in the middle of nowhere. I found a restaurant, had a snack and then I asked: "Do you have internet?" She replyed: "Sorry Sir, we just have regional food!" :)

Nisa's entrance to old town

Nisa's old town

The weather started to get worse and I had not much time to enjoy a decent meal in Nisa.it is a shame, as food in this Alentejo region is really good! Moreover I was wet like a fish, so a nice stop in a warm place sounded very appealing. One next time.

The route from Nisa to Vila Velha de Rodao is really hilly. I had a quite nice downhill for a start, but for sure that the uphill would eventually come sooner or later. Downhill with the trailer is not scarry at all. The top speed was a bit over 50km/h!

Downhill completed, uphill waiting!

Oh Lord, what an uphill! It is long and after yesterday's 100km, plus the 70km at this point, it was not something I was willing for! But, when you have no other choice, you take whatever is on your way!

Hills to overcome

Middle of nowhere

The weather was getting really bad and some fog showed up as well:

Still far from the top. Fog :)

Unfortunatly the fog did not disappear on the viewpoints, which was a pity, because I have been here before and the views to River Tejo are quite nice. The possible pictures:

River Tejo

Vila Velha de Rodao is a small village, really close to river Tejo. There is a viewpoint called Portas do Rodao that is a really beautiful place, but the uphill is quite huge and as the weather was not that good, I left it for other time.

Portas de Rodao is the viewpoint on the right hill

Peter Lamb @ Vila Velha de Rodao

The river Tejo

I needed to wait for about 50 minutes for the train back to Lisbon.

Train station - Vila Velha de Rodao

I seized the train ride to write most of this post.

The great news were that my father and sister insisted to pick me up at the train station and take me home, that was just perfect, as I needed to cycle more 10 km.

Unbelievable is that they brought some soup for my dinner. Thanks a lot guys! Cheers :)

He details of today's trip can be seen here:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/454317783

The numbers of this trip:

Distance: 188,12 km
Time: 9h48m13s
Average speed: 19,2 km/h
Top Speed: 52,7 km/h

Well, I am very tired, but happy!

That's all for now folks!

Best,

Peter

Postado com o Blogsy

Dear all,

I was feeling for quite a while now that I wanted to be back on the road and have a cycling trip.

I have bought recently a road bike and in order to be able to make the cycling trips I bought as well a trailer from Extrawheel.

I thought that would be possible to have Monday off, and that would allow me to visit my good friend Luis Gonçalves that lives in Fundao, but due to workload, it is not possible to have then Monday off. Nevertheless, I decided to make a 2 days trip following the same route but coming back to Lisbon from Vila Velha de Rodao, by train.

I planned to take the 8:00 or 9:00 boat from Terreiro do Paço to Montijo, but due to the lack of sleep on the previous days (work is killing me!) and the fact I went to Alfama to a Fado's house to celebrate my cousin's birthday, I totally overslept! I simply did not hear any noise from the alarm clock and I woke up at 9h30! Well, there was a boat at 11h, but I still had some things to pack.

Everything was done in a rush, but I did not forget loads of things, and I was able to catch the 11h00 boat.

In the boat to Montijo

Funny the fact that having a trailer attached to your bike makes more people to come to have a chat with you! I was still feeling too sleepy to think about pictures at that time.

As soon as I reached Montijo it was time to start cycling, as the Montargil Camping is slightly over 90km away.

The first few km close to Montijo

Peter Lamb back on the road!

The weather was rather dull, totally overcast, some rain showers from time to time but not too serious. I was lucky enough not to have the wind against me.

After about 30km, i found a good spot for a break and have some canned tuna.

Bike and tuna waiting for me

A close up

After the break there was just time for some more pictures:

Peter Lamb needing haircut :)

With the new trailer

As the weather was just horrible (really made me think why I just haven't stayed at home! Eheheh), there was not much mood for pictures. I switched the radio on and had enough time to disconnect from the world and just enjoy cycling. The pace was looking pretty good ( there is a huge difference for the touring bike).

Another break, and I seized the chance to call my parents and tell them that I am still alive!!

Peter Lamb having a break

Sometimes the views were quite nice:

On the way to Coruche

Peter Lamb on the road

I was feeling more and more in the middle of nowhere:

Middle of nowhere saluts you!

I was quite lucky to find a snack bar with free wifi and stayed there for a while. It was raining quite a lot at that time, I was still about 23 km away from the camping and legs were starting to hurt :)