April 11, 2012
Across the Rio Sil to Monforte
to the end of the OU-0605 and beyond
The bread is homemade. So is the jam, both strawberry and recurrent - the latter a particularly nice one.
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It's a lovely place, but after I'd paid up there's just 20 euros left in my wallet and the nearest bank is in Monforte. Certainly leaving the comfort of Reitoral de Chandrexa is a wrench, especially so since drizzle has been persistently falling all morning, but just after 11:30 - the correct time - I'm off, clad in my PVC jacket.
Once on the road, the weather becomes less of an issue than yesterday's.
There were no cars on the route and one short climb gets me to a ridge at the 12 km mark, where the village of A Teixeira is perched. So much for the big dot on the tourist map - it's just a handful of homes.
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The end of the OU-0607 comes after 18 km. there's a left turn to make at an intersection onto the OU - or LU (signs vary) - 903 - where a sign says it's another 20 km to go to Monforte de Lemos.
A couple of minutes descending brings me to a village and my body is chilled, I stop to get a cup of hot chocolate in a bar. It's nice to take off the clammy jacket and my arm-warmers, which have got wet with condensation, and I sit inside for around 20 minutes, listening to tracks on a 1980s Brit Pop compilation CD.
The road continues downwards to a bridge, one made of concrete, which spans the Sil.
The 903 or whatever it is immediately doubles back on the other side and rises - according to a sign - for the next 4 km. It feels more like 6 or 7 to me by the time the actual crest comes into view.
My odometer reads 34 km for the day so far.
It'as tough ascent, but thankfully the rain holds off and I pedal away in my merino wool top, a Descente garment that's been falling to pieces since I bought it due to shoddy seams, but which nevertheless proves to be a good piece of clothing in these weather conditions, retaining my body heat even though damp.
The final 8 or 9 kilometres into Monforte are all easy and my speed is a decent 30-45 km/hr... bless gravity!
With a place name like that, I've gritted my teeth anticipating a climb to a hilltop fortress of a town, yet it's spread out on a relatively flat piece of countryside. Compact, it doesn't take long to locate a cheap place to stay - Puente Romano - right beside the small river running though its centre.
Dinner is cheap: a kebab. It seems a bit strange the cafe isn't run by a Turk, but a young guy from Pakistan. How's that?... me a Brit eating Turkish food in Spain made by someone from Pakistan.
As the hotel Wi-fi won't work, later in the evening I walk around the corner and find a bar that has a good connection to cyberspace. This is, oddly enough, the first time I've been in a tapas bar since arriving in Spain.
Today's ride: 44 km (27 miles)
Total: 1,937 km (1,203 miles)
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