Montargil - Vila Velha de Rodao

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