April 28, 2017
April 28, 2017 - Santarem to Alenquer: The tailwinds were a driving force making for happy wheels
Hotel: Al Embaixador
WIND. You love it or you hate it. Especially when on two wheels. Today was a day full of love.
As the sun came up, the wind began to howl outside. The trees were whipping around and anywhere near the windows you could feel the cold from outside. It was 10 C out there. Yikes.
Breakfast was the standard fare of bread, cheese, meat, yogurt, coffee, tea, oranges and cereal. In short, lots of carbs for cycling. As we loaded up the bikes, the workers asked if they could take some photos to post onto their FB page to which we agreed.
The first bit was straight into the wind which was really difficult. But then the route swung southwest which meant a direct 30 to 40 km/h tailwind. I never did check the speed on the GPS, but it must have been somewhere between 20 and 30 km/h. Not bad for loaded bikes. Interesting that I remember the same thing happening in 2003 when I was cycling along the coast to Lisboa and had a huge tailwind. Love it.
We were on the N3 which seemed to be a fairly major road. There were a number of huge distribution warehouses with dozens of trucks waiting to load up or unload. There was a constant stream of truck traffic mixed with cars and minivans. Even when the route swung west to this town it was crazy busy. I was not at all sorry to get off the road when we got to town.
It had been about at the halfway point that I noticed a broken spoke on the rear wheel (of course) of the Cannondale. Hoping it would not get worse, that is, breaking another, I left it alone and kept my eyes open for a bicycle repair shop. I did not see anything. That is, until about 20 m from this hotel. There was an open old-style bike shop piled with dozens of bikes, bike parts, wheels, tools, and just stuff.
The fellow in the shop was a gray-haired oldish fellow who spoke not a word of English. I pointed out the spoke to which he pointed to his hooks and chains to hang the bike. Off came the wheel, then he shuffled to the back muttering away happily in Portuguese. I followed to watch and learn. With a bunch of home made ancient tools, a few boxes of red wine on the shelves, he proceeded to remove the old spoke, replace it with a new one, then even asked if I wanted the spoke painted black to match the others, which I declined. Like watching anyone who is a pro, I watched him in awe. I think he could have done the job in his sleep. I only wish we could have communicated better since I am certain he would have had stories to tell. He popped the tire back on, pumped it up, put the wheel onto the bike and it was good to go. All for 5€. Wow.
As I had said, our hotel was a few doors down so now it was a matter of getting into the place. To make a long story short, we called the people who sent employees, then were told the bikes would have to stay off-premises in an outdoor parking lot. The owners would not let them in here, or their office building and would not even come down to talk with us. They happily took our money, though. Grrrrr. Not to be rude, but, no bikes, no bike trip.
Just the same, at their mercy we could not carry on to another town without knowing where to go, so just locked them together and headed back to the room. Lunch was down the road at a recommended place for beef stroganoff like I have never had before, with sweet potato wedges. Delicious.
The remainder of the day was wandering the centre of this pretty little town, stopping for dessert at one store, wine at an outdoor cafe by the river, then snacks for later this evening.
- Alenquer, Portugal
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Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 269 km (167 miles)
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