September 30, 2013
Figueira da Foz: Warm and dry in an Ibis hotel
The weather forecast today was shocking. It was raining a bit when we woke and by the time Ken went to get the bikes it was torrential. We decided to delay a bit and seriously considered staying for another day. However it was only about 40km to Figueiro da Foz by the route we intended to take. Things eased off so off we went. We were on absolutely beautiful cycle trails, the rain had stopped and it was magnificent riding things were great, we certainly felt we had made a good decision on we went. Then we came to the end of the cycle trail. Never mind there seemed to be a connecting road so we took it. It was somewhat of a shock when after 20km of cycling to get back to the start. Then we saw the road we should have taken, it did have a notice on it saying that the surface was deformed. Off we went. The road was terrible. It had once been a cobbled road but stones had washed out of it leaving massive pot holes some of which had been ‘mended ‘by pouring mounds of concrete into them – this made things worse. It was still relatively fine. After some time we came to a sign 25km to Figueira da Foz. This was reassuring. About this time the rain started again, it was fairly light to start with. The route was taking us straight through forest, scrappy pine trees, there was not a single settlement along the way.
The rain was getting heavier but eventually we got to Quiaios and found a bar. That coffee tasted good. The men sitting outside said ‘only 10km to Fig da Foz, straight ahead‘. So that was what we did. Bad mistake they had directed us onto the IC1. It was uphill, as the weather was still deteriorating the visibility was down to almost nothing and the traffic awful. We walked for a while then when the downhill came rode, it was the worst bit of riding I think we have ever done (we were on a hard shoulder as far over as possible). Then we saw an off in the direction of the beaches We took it and when we got to a suitable stopping place stopped to work out what to do next. We decided to put a hotel into it. Usually we like to stay in a local hotel with some sort of character but this time I put in Ibis – it sounded safe and comforting. Like a miracle we were directed here, we have showered and have put on warm dry clothes, we even have BBC World on the TV. With a similar forecast tomorrow we will stay put and probably leave the bikes here and take the train to Coimbra for the day.
Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 3,200 km (1,987 miles)
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