October 31, 2017
To Olhao
I was up before dawn, which happened about 6:30 with the time changes. I packed up, and rolled my bike over to the picnic area to have a bite to eat, and then left. I had prepaid last night, since reception isn't open until 8 am. I had to get the guard to let me out of the gate.
I had decided to try to ride the Eurovelo 1 to the town of Tavira (the campground was on the outskirts) and see some of the beach towns. Yesterday I had taken the main road ES125, which wasn't bad, but missed some scenery. EV1 was reputedly a rough ride, and the bits of it I'd seen were not great, but, hey, I'd like to try it.
Just outside of the campground there were some confusing signs for the Ecovia bike route, which is EV1. I was trying to figure out which set of arrows to follow, when someone asked me where I wanted to go. She gave me very clear instructions on how to follow the trail to the dedicated bike bridge.
Ack. The bridge was truly out and I didn't see any crossing on the map other than ES125. So I backtracked, past the campground and up the hill to the road. In retrospect, those confusing signs were indicating a detour. I stayed on the road for the rest of the ride.
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It was a relatively short and direct ride. I stopped at a gas station, and used the rest room. For some reason that wasn't clear to me, they gave me the key to the men's room. Maybe all bike riders are men. But the gas stations have a little cafe and a seating area, a big improvement over the Spanish gas stations. And the coffee and pastry was good!
In Olhao, I went right to the tourist office and asked about finding an apartment for a few days. The woman there was very nice, but said they have a policy of not helping with booking, and that the only apartment available now was a bit out of town. I wanted to be close to the city center, so I booked into a local guesthouse that is in the pedestrian area of the city. My room has a shower and sink, but the toilet is shared. There is a kitchen available for guests to use, so it's almost like an apartment.
Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 572 km (355 miles)
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