Day Forty-Six - Carvoeira

I passed a pond while pondering how to identify the location of the leak in my airbed. I thought - 'what the hell, not too many options'. Whilst trying to avoid falling in (brings back memories of an early dunking as a small child - I remember looking up from below the water and seeing everyone) I submerged every part section by section but to no avail. However, it did deflate a lot - perhaps due to the cold water causing the air inside to become denser? I will try the airbed again tonight. If still a problem then I will get a new one. A trouble free night's sleeps is important when you are riding for six hours a day. Still 90km from Lisbon. Grrh. I have commited to getting there tomorrow as I am splitting accomodation costs with the French guys. Hot and hilly today. I am staying in an old abandoned house - inside the main room. Looks to have been abandoned five to ten years ago.

Day Forty-Five - Atouguia da Baleia

Last night went well. No problems at all. The tent was a little damp though and my airbed has definetely got a leak.

I was delayed setting off as one of the tent pegs was missing. I don't really need twelve of them but I always diligently count them every morning.

An enormous search was carried out but to no avail. I eventually just had to give up. It is possible that a criminal raided my camp and stole one though. Maybe they will put it up for sale on ebay.

I guess it is a big risk losing one when pitching on sand. It is possible to tie string to them so maybe I should give that a try.

I had a good days riding - mainly with the wind behnd me. However there was quite a bit of climbing. Nothing especially untoward but I have gotten used to the flat the past few days. My legs do seem to have a little bit of extra power after five hours - wierd.

I had a bloody good wash in a basin in the car porch of an empty house. I feel great tonight - all fresh. I also washed tomorrow's clothes. Will they be dry though? I am stayinging on the concrete verandah of a failed housing development. Not tried this before.

Day Forty-Four - Polvoeira

I set off at 11am after a slow start to the day waiting for the rain to clear, packing and chatting with my hosts through Google Translate.

It started raining withn a few minutes but eventually cleared. I took a long break in a tran station while adjusting the brake pads and cleaning the chain. I found a spring sticking out of my TRP levers - will have to figure that one out.

I joined a bike lane than continued through the dunes/pine forest for 50km. Amazing. Mister Sun came for a visit.

Unfortunately there were very few trees. Looks llike they all got burnt to a crisp about 10 - 15 years ago.

Tongiht I wildcamp near the beach - pics below.

Day Forty-Three - Carrascal

There was light occasional rain overnight rather than the promised thunderstorm. I packed quickly so I could catch the 930am ferry. The next one after that wasn't until 11:40am.

After the ferry there was a great cycleway and then the main feature of the day - The Pineda. It was a 30km ride on a dead straight road through a pine forest. Unfortunately all the pine trees have been cut down and not replaced so I instead saw a throughly denuded landscape. Boring!

The last one km did have trees and was filled with the twittering of birds. After a short lunch break for a sandwich I saw a fantastic very long beach and headed into Figueira de Foz. After a stop at Lidl I was eagier to leave - the instore announncements were in english!

Then on to another boring 22km on a drainage access road with heavy rain left me eager to call it a day.

I checked into a small BnB and started to dry off.

Day Forty - Porto

Overnight moisture left the tents drenched in water and they took a while to dry. A herd of goats came over for a visit.

We then had lots of riding on rough cobbles. This was a big problem. We were always looking for alternative routes to avoid the rough stuff but this led us several times to dead-ends.

It was a relief to arrive in Porto and make my way to an albergue.