Category: Photography (page 8 of 8)

Today finished pretty much how its started, slow and uneventful. Left last nights campsite at 11.30am and hit the road to Sines. On arrival I found that the whole place is an oil / petrol refinery of sorts and nothing much to say other than don’t bother going there unless you work for a petrol company and find that sort of thing interesting.

Did have an interesting meeting with a bird who joined me for my morning coffee and saw an interesting sand rock formation on a deserted beach and a deserted beach. Enjoy the pictures.. See ya .

Today started wet, what’s new. So started late making the most of my cheap hotel room. Hit the road at 11am and it was still raining. I got lost at the start due to the fact that in Almada there is a lot of motorways which bikes can not use so ended up going round in circles for a bit. Finally hit the N10 which is the road to Setubal. There are nicer roads but it was wet and I wanted to push on. The thing that stuck out today was meeting really nice people. It started with a Brazilian couple who had just opened their restaurant. Viviane kindly let me used their WiFi and made me two very nice coffees. Good luck with the restaurant.. Then I met Joist from the Netherlands who is also a fellow bike rider and we rode for about two hours together until our paths went different ways. Joist is a pilot and was telling me how he navigates using the sun. So today I learnt some very useful information. Then I met two old guys who looked after the plants in Setubal park. We chatted for a while about where I was going etc and then I met Jorge at a petrol station cafe. He was on a mountain bike and was out for a days cycling. He also love Bond movies. Really knew a lot about the films. So all in all a good days ride. Also I’m in a really nice camping site by the sea. Might stay for a day if the weather is good.

How did we manage before mobile phones, GPS and internet / Wifi. Not being able to contact people when you want makes me feel a little isolated and that is only a day or so. Also not have electricity on demand takes getting used to. I am constantly working out my power needs. As I write this I’m thinking about people that don’t have any of the above. Riding thru rural villages even in Portugal there are places that don’t have electricity let alone internet. So why do I get frustrated when the campsite doesn’t have WiFi. Why not.. Are you mad.. I say.. Just look at me with all my techno gadgets, power hungry internet dependant Londoner on a bike. Image if I was riding thru Asia or Africa.

I had a rough plan in my head to get to Lisbon today and on the way I found Sinatra. All I can say is wow.. Its a stunning place and reminds me of Madeira with its coble stone roads and super steep hills. As I entered the old part of town I noticed a train station, so I quickly asked inside if it went to Lisbon which it did. Now in Sinatra there is castle at the top of a mountain. I knew it would be a battle to get to the top with a 45 kilo bike but with a rewarding train ride to Lisbon afterwards I took on the challenge. This was one of the hardest three hours ever, going up 1/11 gradients. As the buses loaded with tourist past me going up they must of looked at me as a complete madman. At one point I nearly gave up but I had to finish what I started. When I finally got to the top it was a 15.00 Euros to enter the castle and there was no where to secure the bike and to tell you the truth I was knacker by the ride up. There was some Spanish teenagers that had seen me riding up and wanted to know if the bike was heavy. One of them was a little full of himself so I let him have a go on the bike.  The look on his face was priceless when he tried to move the bike. He just got off the bike and shook my hand saying respect. After resting for a while I comeback down and admired the views on the way in the knowledge that I had a nice train ride into Lisbon.

The train ride started off with only me on it but quickly it started filling up. Stop after stop more and more people got on and here I was in a packed train with a fully loaded touring bike and smelling like I been in the gym all day long. I arrived in Lisbon about an hour later and quickly found a coffee bar in order to take stock. Drinking my coffee I asked the guy if he knew of any reasonable places to stay. They places he suggested were full so I rode around looking at the sites at the same time looking for a place to stay for a few days. Now Portugal’s capital is a big place. Most of the roads are cobbles and very hilly. Now I am sure this is not a problem when on foot with a bike with all the gear makes it a total different story.  That day I had ridden up a hill to end all hills and now I was riding up more hill lined with cobbles. Then it decided to rain, frustrated and tired I made the choice to get out of Lisbon. As I boarded the ferry to Almada I thought to myself, capitals are best explored with someone. Its nice to see it but its nicer to share the experience with someone. Its a really strange feeling going round a capital with so many people and not speaking to anyone.

So where am I now.. Hello Costa da Caparica.. Here are some photos.

So I’ve rain, winds, hills and a combination of all three. To add the list is vineyard gravel trails, dirt paths and now sand dunes. I thought it would be a great idea to miss out a big part of today’s journey by take a local short cut, as told to me by a group of local mountain bike riders. They did look at me a bit weird thou. So the first part was a hill. Then a dirt path along the top of a cliff. This then turned in to gravel path which farmers use to water their grape vines and not forgetting pushing a 45 kilo bike thru 200 metres of sand dunes. So much for short cuts. To top it all the last 2 miles into Ericeira was pure punishment of hills. I’m still smiling..

Over looking the sea this morning at 6.30am