April 29, 2017 - Alenquer to Malveira: Rolling hills to a beautiful village casa - A Dabble of the Douro then Leaning to Lisbon (Tour 17) - 2017 🇵🇹

April 29, 2017

April 29, 2017 - Alenquer to Malveira: Rolling hills to a beautiful village casa

Hotel: TBD

I GUESS we can honestly say that we are now 'leaning to Lisbon'. Upon arrival at the parking lot, when the gate was finally opened by the cleaning lady, I zipped in, and there they were. The bikes were safe and sound. One of the staff had even covered the bikes to hide and protect them.

It was Saturday morning so none of the cafes were yet open, so we climbed the huge hill out of town. Up, up and up it went. The views overlooking the rolling hills were awesome. It was a bit cool but not bad. We stopped at the first cafe for a snack then continued along the rolling hills.

Yesterday's wind helped us along but today the wind was in our faces at times or at our sides. Not bad, but what I thought would be a quick day still took enough time. All the while, as in all of the other days, racing cyclists came by, in ones, twos or larger groups. And they did not struggle. Rather, they zipped up hills effortlessly. The last bit was particularly hilly, and the place was a bit tricky to find, but find it we did.

When I went up to the door and knocked, out came a cheery and friendly fellow. He originally is from the Netherlands and has lived in Portugal for 35 years. He quickly ushered us down to the back of the house and showed a fabulous suite. The only issue was that the internet was not working though he tried a number of times to get it to work properly. Not a big deal, but it is hard to update things online without internet. And harder still to book anything further afield.

The owner offered to drive us to a nearby restaurant where we had fava beans with pork, garlic-laden olives, and red wine. Though it only looked 'ok' it tasted fabulous. A hit once again. The walk back was a good thing after so much food, then I decided to read my book outside by the pool. In sight of their cages of birds, roosters, cats and a dog. Sheep were in the adjacent fields.

A bit later into the evening another guest came. A Danish man in his 60s, he was very pleasant to chat with. He even used his own data and device and set up a hotspot for us to check tomorrow's weather. At this point, it showed less than 1 mm in the morning, then clearing by afternoon. But, headwinds gusting to 45 km/h.

So, with visions of raindrops dancing in my head, I blocked it out and read my book instead.

Seeing as Alenquer straddles a river, it follows that either your route will follow the river, and be kind of flat... or, it might climb straight up the hill away from the river, then continue to climg and descend each and every valley til the destination. You decide which this is.
- Alenquer, Portugal

Challenging riding, but beautiful as the route approaches the Atlantic through rolling hills of vineyards and charming villages.
- Alenquer, Portugal

Though the country has many new turbines on many of the hilltops, it was many years ago that the Iberian peninsula took advantage of wind power.
- between Alenquer and Malveira, Portugal

At times the route was on tiny roads that literally went past the front doors of homes, former estates, or walled gardens. Beautiful cycling in these here parts!
- between Alenquer and Malveira, Portugal

Sometimes the 'couvert' includes olives and bread, and sometimes also cheese. This cheese was sublime. Mind you, I was so hungry by this point that anything might have tasted sublime!
Cozinha Saloia, Malveira, Portugal

Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 305 km (189 miles)

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