April 5, 2012
Vila do Conde
up the coast after a quick stop in Porto
The stink has become too much. Even though it's unlikely they'd dry overnight, while showering, I used my small nail brush to scrub my sandals clean. Cosmetically they've become to look really scuzzy and the pong is so overwhelming that I perch them out on the window ledge each night. Being wet, they feel cold when I slip them on.
Wearing my thin yellow jacket, it feels quite chilly cruising back towards Entre-os-Rios at 30 km/hr. The sign on its western edge says there are 38 more to Porto and the 108 is as before: no shoulder and drivers hell bent on getting somewhere ASAP.
It's an uneventful and forgettable ride and one o'clock when I get to Porto, relieved that there's no more busy road. My plan now is to go up the coastline, heading north. First, however, I have to negotiate the city.
The steep, narrow and busy street heading towards its centre is cobbled and it has me pushing my bike. Half way up I stop at a café for a drink and a bite to eat, which gives me a chance to collect my thoughts: Should I stay a night and do some touristy stuff?
No.
Once in the city's core, I find a tourism office and get a map and simple directions, then cruise down a wide avenue to the seafront and follow a path out of the city.
I've only been here an hour total.
Jeez. Relentless climbs - now there's a gale-force wind blowing in my face. It's a battle pedalling along and when I arrive at another tourism office, quite by chance, it's a blow to see that on my map I've hardly gone anywhere... I'm in Matosinhos, which is basically a Porto suburb.
The assistant lets me use the office Wi-fi and I sit at a table for a while and she tells me about a camp site not far north, at a place named Lavra, around 10 kilometres away. That's my goal now. My tent and camping stuff will get used again at long last.
The chill of the wind hits me when I step outside. To the east, a blanket of dark clouds looks like it'll soon be dumping a whole lot of rain and the wind along the sea front is horrendous - it's hard to ride along the bicycle path and some wooden walkways.
Eventually the camp site is signposted and the woman at reception is very helpful. The fee is, as I'd anticipated, just over 10 euros. What puts me off staying is that the forecast for the next day is for rain, and if it pours down later, as seems highly likely, I'll be stuck with wet gear and not much to do. So, I follow the woman's suggestion and ride on to Vila do Conde, about a dozen more kilometres north, where she says there are some hotels and cheap B&Bs.
My rear LED gets dug out and clipped to the back of my cotton cycling hat, as the sky is so dim.
After bouncing along for five kilometres on cobbles, the country road intersects a busy artery, but - unbelievably - the wind dies and my speed picks up to around 30 km/hr. It isn't quality cycle touring, but that's something I've become accustomed to in Portugal.
Today's ride: 88 km (55 miles)
Total: 1,565 km (972 miles)
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