April 22, 2023
Day 51: Coimbra to Almaca
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Having been in Coimbra two whole days, we now feel expert on where everything is and how to get around! This impression is enhanced by the fact that to carry on with our trek north we needed to retrace our tracks from when we we came in. That meant that we would pass back through the riverside park, and then use the bikeways to pass the spaghetti roads near the southern bridge (Ponte Rainha Santa Isabel). Finally we hopped on the long bikeway that parallels the N117, until finally landing at the roundabout where we two days ago came off the narrow and somewhat dangerous continuation of N117.
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It turned out that not only was there no need for concern about the road, but we had happened on to a really interesting route that followed the Montego River in a gorge, with the road carved into one side. On the road and also up on the surrounding hills there were small towns, with buildings that sometimes seemed to be just barely hanging on.
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We finally reached Penacova, a spot where at one point we had considered staying. Dodie looked up at some of the perched buildings and felt glad that we were not going to have to climb to one of them.
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Just beyond Penacova we came to a bit of the river where stone cliffs bordered the water. It's hard to see in the photo, but the cliffs are comprised of sedimentary layers that have come to be vertical. It was obvious to spot this and try a photo, but very soon our observation was confirmed by a roadside panel that gave a name for the spot: The Livraria de Mondego, or Mondego bookshelf. The sign gave the age of the formation as 400 million years, and said that remains of a sandy beach can be found among the rocks. There was also discussion of the plants and animals in this area, with photos that included the rather fancy looking Common Kingfisher.
If we could have shut the day down right there, it would have been quit super, with the bikeways out of Coimbra and the shelf road and villages, but no. First, just to set the scene, it started to rain. This was our first rain in a month. t ok, we dug our some rain gear and were ready to carry on. One thing about rain, it confuses the GPS, which thinks it is being tapped on. The Google Assistant also keeps waking up and asking if we need help. I said "Tell me a joke". What we got was so lame that I won't even reproduce it here. Dodie, however, reverted to saying rude things to the thing. This was ok once I realized she was not talking to me!
But things got worse from there, lots worse. We had been following a rather pleasant green line on the road, meant to designate a bike route. This died, as our road banged in to the IP3 major autoroute. There was a sign directing bicycles away, down an impossibly steep loose gravel track. At first Dodie was reluctant to go that way, but the signage on the IP3 was so clear about no bikes there seemed to be no option.
I walked my bike down and then Dodie's, while she got out her walking stick. In parts, only by inching down, with the strong grip on the brakes, could I get down to flatter ground.
The thing about the gravel track that really concerned us was that we could see it on the GPS, and the GPS clearly showed it as a dead end. So we had every expectation of having to push back up the thing, and then what? Then we would have to go on the IP3. The other confusing bit about this, was that our "official" N2 track showed us on the IP3, which is more or less impossible.
We persevered to the end of the gravel track and were glad to find that it came out at a real road. But that real road was not going to do us any good, because it was not heading anywhere near our hotel, beyond Almaca. And specifically, we needed to be on the other side of the Mondego.
To solve this, we found a way onto the IP3 bridge over the river, and it was fortunate that the bridge had a sidewalk, because semi-trailers were blasting by, with little or no shoulder.
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At the other side of the bridge there was an off ramp, which we gratefully took. Only thing, the off ramp led only to an on ramp, so here we were on the IP3 for real. We tried to watch the mirrors, to spot the rampaging trucks, so that we could stop and hang on. I took care to leave enough distance from me to Dodie up ahead, to make sure I did not bump into her when she might suddenly stop, having spotted an approaching truck.
At least one cyclist has written that the N2 here parallels the IP3. Sorry, no. Look at the zoom in from our own map above - N2 and IP3 are the same thing here, and there are no other roads.
Fortunately, after a bit we found another off ramp, and this, yes, did lead to another on ramp. But before it could do this, Bingo!, our hotel.
We had read in the reviews of this hotel, the Monte Rio Aguieria, that it is in the middle of nowhere, but great if you happen to need a hotel. We did. I lifted our bikes up the dozen or more front steps and we rolled, dripping, into the lobby. With a possible rain forecast for tomorrow, we considered sticking at this hotel for an extra day. It was weird, though. Today we are clearly the only clients in this huge place. We know this because the parking lot is completely empty, and the only way "normal" people could get out here is via the IP3, for which you need a car or bus. But they told us the place is fully booked for tomorrow. Fully booked! Did they put us on a blacklist because we dripped on their floor?
Anyway, we're not afraid of a big bad rain, and we're not afraid of distance or hills (we are telling ourselves), so tomorrow we'll head for Viseu!
Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 2,228 km (1,384 miles)
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