Dodie made a startling request last night, for a track from our present position onto EV1. I fired up RWGPS and put in the request. The answer was that we needed to cross the river, pass the castle, and carry on from there. Dodie said "Waa, look at that hill to start", but I said it's just the scale of the chart, actually no big deal. But Dodie did a technique she also applies to weather forecasts: forget the computer screen and just go look outside! In our case that was well put, because we have a patio, with a view of the castle. That is, a view up to the castle!
That was just the beginning of the rot. We extended the RWGPS track and it came up next with 30 unpaved km, on EV 1. Hmm. Then we opened the EV 1 web site, where they proudly displayed someone on the route, admittedly with a touring set up, but anyway on a little dirt track on the cliffs. That sealed it. We deleted the climb to the castle, the 30 km of dirt, and so forth, and resolved to set off along the highway!
Jacquie GaudetI’m thinking it looks great, but I’d want more dirt-oriented tires. Of course, my current touring bikes are designed for such surfaces (and I have original, if not fully intact, knees). Reply to this comment 1 year ago
Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Jacquie GaudetThis was never Dodie's idea of a fun ride, even with good knees. We are resorting to filtering for routes consisting of paved roads only, and she is much happier. Traffic on a paved road is better than a dirt track any day, says she. It really does take all kinds.... Reply to this comment 1 year ago
Looking back toward the part of Aljezur near where we stayed. The key features are being stacked on a hill, and being comprised 100 % of whitewashed houses with red roofs.
Our ride today qualifies as having offered the most varied and exciting topography of any in Portugal so far, and some roadside wild gardens that were just out of this world. It began as we found ourselves in a wild feeling mountainous region that gave way to dunes and then crashing surf, ending with flat "steppes" of grass meadows.
Off to the east, before Bordeira, the land is very hilly and rough, with deep gorges.
After Bordeira the character of the land changed. To be fair, we also had turned west and were headed for the coast. Now instead of wooded mountains we had dunes, and a road that climbed them.
We ran into a Finnish couple who had been in our hotel at Milfontes. Then they had asked about our trip, but we had not been aware that they too were on bikes. Their trip is a little different, because though they seem to be in the same hotels as us, their gear is being trucked from place to place and their ebikes are supplied by the company.
From up on the headland, the views of the coast and the beach were terrific. So too were the roadside plants, which were as well arranged as in a planned garden, and seemed much different from ones we had seen on the coast further north.
The Finnish lady seemed to think part of this sand was from the Sahara.
Out by the coast we came to a little restaurant, and thought lunch could be a good idea. I (Steve) had come down with Dodie's cold in the night (though she is now over it) and something like hot soup or stew would have hit the spot. But they only seemed to have fish, unless you like octopus or clams!
We escaped this because it was only 11:45 - not open yet!
One hillside was adorned with attractive cattle, while another had yellow flowers (not lupins this time). Another adornment was hills and valleys filled with a variety of pine that we started to call "mushroom pine", for their unique shape.
The hills, with pine, now devolved into flat and grassy plains. Here for some of the first times we found wind turbines, big ones, made by Vestas. (Vestas has turbines that are commonly 2MW, but can be up to 4MW. The Danish company has been bought by China, and is losing billions annually. We have no idea why such a desirable company has run into hard times.)
Now we got suckered out along EV 1 toward Sagres on a dirt road, with no redeeming value at all. We often had to push on the rough surface. In hindsight N268 would have whisked us into Sagres with no hassle!
Finally, the road gave us a break and turned into one paved lane. This was great, until a car would happen along. In all cases Dodie managed to force them onto the gravel!
Our hotel in Sagres is called the Mareta View, which styles itself a boutique B&B. The Booking took care to warn that the double room is small, and this was certainly the case. But still it works. However, as in most cases there is no usable desk (in this case, no desk) , and also in this case no chair, making it hard to even use the bed as a desk. But we did find a sort of stool, so this blog is in business!
Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles) Total: 847 km (526 miles)
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Scott FenwickGlad you made it back out the coast today. It really is spectacular. And YES = EV1 is not your friend on this route. When we rode this area we often rode out to the coast and along for a short spell and went back in land.
Choose your next rides beyond Sagres carefully as the main highway is busy and boring but there are some nice backroads in this area too. There is some great riding around Sagres! We are enjoying following along and reliving our ride too. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
