November 3, 2017
Just past Albufeira: Caught in the rain
The owner of the guesthouse in Olhao seemed to think that the predicted rain would not happen. It did rain last night. The first time it was sort of like someone dumped a big glass of water. There was a lot, and it all came in an instant, and then it stopped. It rained off and on through the night. With the metal outside window covers and with my ear plugs in, I didn't really notice it much, but everything was really wet when I left in the morning.
To keep the record complete, I was at the pension Bicuar. The owner is new. He has only been there 4 months. The place has a lot of charm and I enjoyed staying there, but felt a little taken advantage of. I did not book the room, but rang the bell and asked for one. He offered me a double room at the going rate for a double for 2 people, and I took it. Later when I checked on line, the rate for one person in a double room was the same as a single. My last night I negotiated down to the booking rate, but then saw it had dropped even lower. Oh, well. He also asked for cash and did not provide an invoice. Repeating myself, though, it was a nice place in a great location and I appreciated the kitchen and the roof top patio.
Back to today. I left early, initially following the Ecovia out of town. With the wet sand, it wasn't great riding and I worried about it turning to mud, so I abandoned it pretty quickly. I rode the national road for a short while and then detoured north. My navigation tools, the Garmin and maps.me were expanded with Osmand and HereWeGo, and they were all giving different routes. I've given up on Google maps as it doesn't do bike routes in Portugal. At any rate, the smaller roads made for a nice ride. I skirted north of Faro, wanting to avoid the city. In Almencil I spotted a bike shop and stopped to add air to my tires. I asked about a bike jersey, but he only had men's sizes and they clearly wouldn't fit.
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I stopped in Quatiera, another beach town. It's pretty, but seems to have a lot of newer tall beachfront buildings. I didn't see any old city.
As I got close to Albufeira I was suffering in the heat, and started worrying about the clouds building up overhead. I stopped at a gas station for a cold drink, and went on line and reserved a room for tonight. I chose a place I'd heard of in some other journals and which had good reviews on-line. It's the Lost and Found Hostel, and although it is a hostel with a dorm, I booked a private room. It's actually a few miles past Albufeira, and I regretted the extra distance almost as soon as I had done it, because it started raining. It drizzled off and on. I stopped at a supermarket, and it was raining hard when I came out. I put on my wind breaker, but not my rain jacket and pedaled on through the rain. My windbreaker wetted out immediately. There was a really big hill leaving Albufeira, and I'll admit to walking part of it.
The hostel is pretty nice, with a well equipped kitchen. The hostel restaurant as well as the restaurant down the street are closed for the season, but there are 2 supermarkets and a pasteleria close by.
It's raining again. I hope my laundry dries overnight.
Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 628 km (390 miles)
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