Internet Café, Torre del Mar 27-10-2006
A different sort of coast
Peniche to Olhão
(7 cycle days; 3 rest days; 480km; 3726m)
Peniche to Ericeira (62km; 718m)
Ericeira to Lisbon (51km; 635m)
Lisbon to Setubal (51km; 358m)
Setubal to Porto Covo (96km; 490m)
Porto Covo to Lagos (116km; 911m)
Lagos to Armação de Pêra (42km; 263m)
Armação de Pêra to Olhão (62km; 351m)
Moments of madness
Peniche to Ericeira (62km; 718m) was a hell's day of riding. I could have
handled the steepness of the hills, the gale force headwinds
or even the arrogant, road-greedy truck drivers that
continually pushed us off the side or drove so close
that you got sucked along in their stream. Very scary stuff
indeed. But when it began to pour with rain going up
the 12%, hill just before reaching our destination, I
had had it! I screamed as loud and as hard as I could.
I let everything out and it's these times that you begin wondering
what the dickens you are doing...
Tip of the month: feed the
ants don't kill them
Want to be sure that the ants
won't raid your tent? Then give them something
to eat too. A couple of sugar lumps (or
anything sweet really) placed at a distance
from the tent will keep the neighbourhood
ants occupied for the length of your stay.
Ziplock bags are also pretty good for
keeping pests out of your food supplies
too. Though not completely full-proof, you can also hang your sugary food items from the middle of a washing line in a sealed plastic bag. Similarly placing the jar or opened packet of sweet food in a lid or pan full of water will also stop ants from attacking.
Peniche (Portugal) - Granada (Spain)
Kilometres: 1306 kilometers and 380 metres
Riding days: 17
Alti meters: 9371 metres
Weather: on and off sun, rain, wind,
sun, more rain, drizzle.
Best accommodation: Camping Olhão,
equipped with really good facilities, friendly
staff and local prices.
Special thanks to:
Tiago in Lisbon for welding Ali's bike (for
free)! • Paul at DataEME in Benfica Lisbon for the free
service on our computer so that we can now wifi
where we like • Jan & Meta for the exchange of travel stories
and a drink in El Rocio • Piet-Hein & Sarah for the bar of delicious
chocolate and interesting conversation in El Rocio • Ruiz-Herrera in El Peurto de Santa Maria for
replacing the bottom bracket with such short notice
and for the amazing price of 20 euros • Thanks yet again to the Dutch Taxation Office for supporting us this month • Friedrich in Luxembourg for the timely e-mails
with reassuring advise. (Nietzsche - Those in search of pure water,
have to swim upstream) ! • EuroSRS for hosting this site!
Breakdowns:
01: derailler cable (Son)
19: flat tyre 10kms (Son)
19: flat tyre 15kms (Son)
19: back tyre replaced (Son)
20: bottom bracket replaced (Son)
25: Ortlieb bag ripped after fall (Ali)
26: back tyre replaced (Ali)
