November 11, 2017
Almograve
It was cold last night! My room was cold when I checked in, and I was given an extra blanket. When I got up this morning, my Garmin said it was 54 deg F in the room! That's 12 deg Celsius. There was no one at reception when I left. I had been given the key to the reception room to extract my bike. There was another key on the ring with it, and when I had trouble with my door lock, I found out that the other key I had was a master key.
I got going at about 8:30. I stopped after about 15 minutes and removed my wind breaker, but kept the fleece on for about an hour. It was another day of ups and downs, with a fair bit of cumulative climbing that took it's toll.
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I stayed on the main road, but was then tempted closer to the coast with a paved branch. A short distance later on bad pavement and I spotted some other touring cyclists. They were a couple from Spain. The guy assured me that the road was good all the way to Milfontes, where he was heading. Encouraged, I continued on, and then hit a very steep section of cobbles going down to a beach. The beach was beautiful, but the road was not. There was a snack bar at the beach, and I stopped for a cold drink. The Spanish couple went past, and the woman walked her bike down the hill. I lost sight of them there, which was unfortunate because I got very confused about how to get out. My Garmin showed what appeared to be a paved road, but my position was on a bike path. Maps.me showed me on the only road, which was a path. I pushed up the hill, looking for the Garmin paved road, rolled back down and could only see a sandy foot path, and pushed back up. Aghh.
After a few kilometers of Sandy gravel, I arrived at Zambujeira do Mar, one of my options for stopping for the day. The tourist office was open, so I sent in and asked which routes were paved. I got clear directions to Almograve and decided to push on. Unfortunately, by that times the afternoon wind had picked up, and it became a real slog.
In Almograve, I passed up the option of camping, put off by how cold it had been last night. I checked into the youth hostel, the Pousada De Juventude for the night. It's a big place, and is pretty quiet. I was hoping they would spread people out, but there are at least 2 other women in my 4 person dorm room. I expect we'll be 4 before the night is over. It's only 11 euros and includes breakfast. Breakfast doesn't start until 8:30. I have my laundry hanging up outside, and would be happier if it were closer to the room.
Today's ride: 53 km (33 miles)
Total: 847 km (526 miles)
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