Dear all,
I couldn't wait to be back on the road, so no matter what I would have to make a small trip this weekend.
The weather did not look that nice yesterday morning, being overcast and some loght rain, but nothing was going to change my mind. You could even send some hail storm, tropical rain or thunderstorm, I would be on the road again on 31st May! Luckly Saint Peter decided to present me with a nice "summer" day :)
I woke up late, with some last minute packing to be done and some music for the rode still to ne transferred to the ipod. Well, switching on the old computer is almost a drama and understanding the itunes should be way easier.
So, quite later than i planned, it was time to hit the road and cycle till Terreiro do Paço to board the 11h00 boat bound to Montijo.
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| Peter Lamb's ride for the day |
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| The cruise ship bound for Montijo |
| My ride waiting to start the trip |
The boat ride is quite fast, so soon I was able to start cycling!
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| Peter Lamb at the start of cycling day! |
I really do not know when it was the last time I have been in Montijo city center, so this tome I decided to do it.
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| Colourful house in Montijo |
I had no idea where I was heading but luckly I have found a street market, where I seized to buy some fruits and tomato for the day.
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| The market in Montijo |
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| How can you resist to that? |
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| Montijo downtown |
I could not find by myself the directions I was looking for so I asked some guys who helped me with navigation. Soon I was able to be on the route I wanted towards Poceirao.
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| On the way to Poceirao, close to the vineyards |
This road (N5) is quite narrow but there was not much traffic. Moreover it jas no curves for a long long time (i guess 8km, but I am not really sure)!
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| Straight ahead |
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| Peter Lamb cycling! |
I was cycling already for a long time, so I had a small break close to a N5 milestone.
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| My ride and extrawheel having a break |
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| Peter Lamb and the N5 milestone |
I had a longer break at Poceirao, as I was already running out of water. In fact it was a quite hot day for cycling.
After Poceirao, the road to Aguas de Moura is similar to the previous one, so not much more to say about it.
At Aguas de Moura I wanted to avoid the main road towards the Algarve, so I turned left and found a small road that despite being longer was definatly more scenic and less crowded.
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| Peter Lamb enjoying the scenic road |
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| Peter Lamb |
The road is really quiet but it was really hot and I started to feel weaker and weaker after km40 (plus 9 from Alges to Terreiro do Paco).
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| Peter Lamb cycling on quiet road |
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| Despite the hard day, happy mode on! |
More or less at this point I run out of water. The situation got a bit more serious when I was feeling lost as for some km I did not find the small village that should be on my way. Luckly I bought that fruits in Montijo, it tasted gooooooood :)
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| Countryside, Portugal |
When I reached a slightly wider road, I thought that would be easier to find a village or a house where I coild ask for some water, but there were only abandoned houses, so I had no other choice than reduce the pace and wait for better news.
The place eventually came and believe me, it looked like an oasis!
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| The oasis! :) |
I was already feeling very tired at this point, and there was still about 15km to go.
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| Peter Lamb's shadow cycling |
At this point the uphills were overcome at a pace that I am even ashamed of it, but I managed it!
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| You can't call this flat, but it is not tha hilly also! |
The hardest part is really on the main road towards Algarve, where the last hill was done at a average pace of 8km/h! I even run faster than that, ahahah!
Finally I reached the destination of the day!
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| Peter Lamb at Alcacer do Sal |
I was so tired that I decided to leave the visit to the city center for the next day and I headed directly to the camping!
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| Unpacking! |
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| Assembling the palace! :) |
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| My palace! :) |
The camping is quite nice, rather small but cosy.
It has a swimming pool, but unfortunatly it is only open after 15th June!
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| Reception and living room |
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| Alcacer camping |
After a visit to the supermarket to buy some supplies for dinner, finally a well deserved shower and I could look a bit more decent again!
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| Peter Lamb very very tired! |
In total I cycled 93 km today, so I do have a reason to be tired, as extrawheel was quite loaded!
Tomorrow will be a easier ride towards Troia, something like 50 km away from here!
As usual, the details of the rides can be found here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/510636326 (Alges - Terreiro do Paco)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/511033386 (Montijo - Alcacer do Sal)
Top speed of the day 50,7 km/h, it feels good!
Well, that's all for now folks!
Best,
Peter
Postado com o Blogsy
