April 28: Day 1, Aljezur-Castro Verde
After the problems yesterday, I was seriously keen to have an uncomplicated day that finished on time, with no drama. So I planned out a route that went directly to the destination: it went on no major roads, visited a few towns, passed through some forested areas; looks good!
Early on, the route took a gravel road up a hill so steep I had to get off and push. Gravel is no good when it’s steep: in the lowest gear the power can unstick the back wheel or lift the front, and on a loose untrustworthy surface, that’s no fun. At the top it flattened out, and turned into a very pleasant ride!
From left to right: the best breakfast I could find; ordinarily I would not approve but these are strange days. The bike, ready to set out: check out the blue rack bag for water. Aljezur has a lot of steep streets, this is a mild example, and this photo does not do it justice. Open road: making it all worthwhile.
Shortly after starting the route tried to take me up a very steep gravel climb. It was probably possible; but the map showed that a nearby road went to the same place, so I didn’t even try. I did not want to slog through kilometers of steep gravel climbs. Again.
From left to right: this is the hill I refused; looks innocent enough in photos. A random town; they all have this style and it’s quite nice. Lastly the bridge into Odemira which was colorful and interesting enough to get a photo. Got lunch here: and it was 28C.
I shared the road with some slow traffic to begin with, but once the route turned inland there was almost nobody else.
From left to right: A pretty common view on the road. The route took a jaunty left turn up a narrow singletrack, with wild flowers on each side; it was so steep I was pushing the bike and carefully threading my way through them so I didn’t get a photo except this one at the start - I did do a route check though! It then joined a neglected gravel road past a neglected house. After that it came to a chain barrier blocking the road.
Was it saying I should turn back? I checked the other side (see last photo!) and it was saying don’t go onto the route I was just leaving! Ooops. But I’m happy to oblige.
I was pretty far away from civilization at this point, so I was surprised to find a tunnel!
On the other side the gravel road was so steep I had to get off and push - this is happening quite a lot today. I’ll spare you the details of the rest of the gravel tracks; they go up and down but they’re smooth enough to make good progress.
From left to right: the final stretch was another old road parallel to the new motorway; it ran past a solar farm hence the picture. Last is the chocolate mousse I had that night.
In all, a pretty good day out: arrived on time, with no dramas. Much better than yesterday. If this is what the rest of the trip is like, I will be happy.
What I’m listening to: Take 5 by Dave Brubeck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DHuW1h1wHw
It’s the best-selling jazz song of all time so you’ve heard it. It’s been remixed, covered and if I’d heard any especially good versions I’d link them. I suppose sooner or later there’ll be a hiphop remix, or something like that… when that happens it’s all over.
