Archive for March, 2007
Friday, March 30th, 2007
90km Monte Gordo to Almancil
Today we saw a naked cyclist.
Now that we’ve got your attention we’ll admit the truth: he wasn’t entirely naked. But even half-naked cyclists are quite a sight to remember! At first glance this man wasn’t naked at all but wearing the racing cyclist’s typical top and lycra shorts. Obviously it was his favourite outfit though because as he zipped by us on the road to Faro we got a full view of his pale backside; betrayed by lycra that had worn too thin. We had a good laugh as we watched his bottom speed away and then vowed to replace our shorts regularly. Let that be a lesson to the rest of you on the road!
Our day continued to be adventure-filled. Rally cars flew by us on the back roads, en route to the next stage in the Portugal rally, and when we weren’t car spotting we breathed in the scent of orange trees in bloom all around us. Lemon and avocado trees also filled the fields. Around lunchtime we arrived in Moncarapacho, a small town we’d visited a few years ago during our first trip to Portugal. We remembered a good local restaurant so we tracked it down again and tucked into a lunch of bread and olives to start, followed by fish and pizza and two beers to wash everything down. Grand total €12 – we like this country!
Not long afterwards we rolled into the seaside resort of Vale do Lobo. It was time to find our friends Rich and Paula, who had invited us to join them for a few days in a home Rich’s brother owns nearby. A luxury treat for us, but first we had to find it! As we write this on Sunday morning, a few days after the event, we are still teasing each other about who was at fault, Rich’s directions or our inability to read a map. The end result was the same. We spent over two hours going up and down hills and around in circles for about 20km without ever finding the house or even the area it was supposed to be in. A lack of any payphones in the area made the situation more difficult. We were luddites without mobile phones in an area filled with golf courses and luxury homes. After backtracking out of the resort we finally found a payphone and called Rich who came to the rescue. A few beers later and we sunk into bed, a very nice change from the tent.
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Portugal by andrew
Thursday, March 29th, 2007
110km Almonte to Monte Gordo
Are we there yet?? That was Friedel’s most asked question of the day as we cruised towards Portugal. We’d set ourselves an ambitious goal of getting just inside Portgual by sunset to make our last day to Rich’s house on the coast, south of Faro, a relatively easy ride. Despite having a hefty number of kilometers in front of us we started out slowly, first stopping for coffee, then briefly to do some tasks online and finally for a good long lunch break. Finally in the afternoon we started to really push on, although we did find ourselves in a bar just outside the industrial city of Huelva, beers in hand. Beer and coffee are the two treats we allow ourselves after a night of wild camping. If you can’t have a shower….. After more pedalling through groves of orange trees and plastic-covered strawberry fields we reached the ferry port in the town of Ayamonte. There is a bridge to Portugal but it is part of the motorway and off bounds for us. No matter, the ferry was a nice change of scene and not very expensive at all. Soon we had our tent set up and were enjoying supper in the municipal campground of Monte Gorde, home for the night before we roll on towards Faro tomorrow.
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Spain by friedel
Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
101km Nuevo Rocio to Almonte
With the pressure on to get to Portugal to meet some friends, we cycled nearly until the sun had set through acres of Spanish countryside and part of the Donana natural park. When we first started this journey we thought our days would be completely free of pressures to meet deadlines like we’d experienced during “normal” working life. Instead we have been surprised at how often we end up cycling against the clock to get to a meeting point. We miss sights along the way and find ourselves feeling stressed, since in many ways how far we get is out of our hands. The wind, the terrain and even the queue in the supermarket all change how many kilometers we cover and on a bike we don’t have the luxury of driving late into the night as you could in a car. All that aside, it is wonderful to meet people from home and the anticipation of seeing familiar faces keeps us going when things get slightly difficult. Our journey today was a challenge not only in its length, but also in terms of finding our way during the morning. All around us were vast fields with just tracks running between the squares of land and no road signs. Of course it wasn’t long before we wondered which way to go. A few kilometers later we were at the end of a path with no option but to turn around and try another direction. Finally we got back to the main road and to the ferry which took us across the river, just south of Seville. The afternoon was much easier navigating, although we did have a couple rain showers to contend with. Our disappointment of the last half of the day was cycling 5km down a road, following signs to a campground, only to find it closed and gated off. We reversed course for the second time in a day and instead found a track leading to a tree-filled field where we pitched our tent for the night.
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Spain by friedel
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007
59km Sanlucar de Barrameda – Nuevo Rocio
The morning started looking a bit gray, yet we knew today would be a later start than normal and we were glad to see the skies lighten up as the day went on. Walking around Sanlucar tracking down a coffee and something for breakfast we went by some of the sherry bodegas, hoping for a later tasting. After meeting up with Yves and Ingrid we went to have a tour of a bodega but found out that the tour had been cancelled. This was a disappointment and we looked at a few other places for a tour but luck just wasn’t on our side today. Instead we ended up getting a last minute coffee and discussed our plans for the day. Originally we had the idea to travel up a fairly main road but as we were leaving Sanlucar we made the decision to alter our course and follow the river towards Seville. Marked on our map is a small crossing of the Guadalquivir River in the town of La Senuela, yet we were a bit surprised when we got there. It looked like a small ghost town. The only sign of life was some laundry out to dry behind a distant house. Soon afterwards we found a tree laden flat patch of ground which wasn’t fenced off, so this looked like the best place to set up for the night. Relaxing and cooking our dinner before setting up the tent is a change to the normal run of events each night. It’s only possible to do this now that the clocks have gone back and we have more light in the evenings. The wildlife along this stretch is plentiful. Next to the river we hear fish jumping catching their dinner. It makes us think, wouldn’t it be nice to have a grilled fish for a second course??
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Spain by friedel
Monday, March 26th, 2007
15km Chipiona to Sanlucar
We crawled out of our tent to a very cloudy day. It looked ominous and before long rain was pouring from the sky so we dashed back inside and discussed our options for the day. Rain and bicycles don’t go so well together. Even though we have wonderful rain gear that keeps us dry, we always feel slightly cold and miserable on days like this. We had friends to meet in Sanlucar – Yves and Ingrid, who were on holiday in the region from their home in France – so we packed everything up inside the tent and waited for the rain to stop. Before long there was a break in the clouds and we did a mad dash to get everything on the bikes and get on the road while it was relatively dry. The rain held off until we arrived in Sanlucar, a town famous for its Manzanilla sherry, and then it started to pour again with a new vengance, this time with a bit of wind added in. Our decision was clear, find a hotel and wait it out. Amazingly we found a clean room in a little pension for just €30 and then ran off to join our friends for lunch. Several sherries later and after a lovely lunch in a tapas bar (when in Spain…) we tried to research the options for crossing the Guadalquivir river, our main obstacle for reaching Seville. We’d been told it was possible to cross at Sanlucar and then follow cycle paths through the protected Donana national park. It turned out this was only partially true. Yes, there was a ferry to take us across the river but the “cycle paths” apparently do not exist. Several people told us that if you want to cycle you have to use the beach and a look on Google maps confirmed this. Biking on sand might work for unloaded mountain bikes, but for us with all our luggage we would sink into the sand and sit there. Thirty two kilometers of pushing did not appeal to us (the distance to the first town via the park) so our only option is to head north towards Seville and cross further upstream.
