posted by: Martin Criminale

Here is the picture.

Not much left to report. We had to get up at 4:30 to catch a taxi at 5 to make our 7:30 AM flight. I will say that checking the bike box with KLM was a freaking dream compared to when we left Seattle and had to deal with Delta… We simply walked up to the counter, told them we needed to check our bike and they charged us 55 Euro. Compare that to the $500 we paid going the other way; doesn't it just make you sick? Why the airlines can't pull their collective heads out is a mystery to me.

This ride will forever be a part of me. Having ridden the route twice I am amazed at how much I remembered from the first time. Almost every day we would ride past some small feature and I would blurt out, "I remember this from the race!" You can't do something like this and not be changed forever. Judging by Shelley's lunch selection in the Schiphol airport on our way home that goes for her as well. 

Bread, meat paste and beer. Sometimes it's the simple things.

If anyone reading this is considering doing this tour for the first time here is what I learned.

• Take a CamelBak. You will need it. Not just for the water bladder (don't get a cute little small one!) but also to carry some spare clothes and tools and food.
• Bring spare parts for everything. We brought along a spare tire, one chain, a complete set of chainrings and spare cycling shoes. It was not enough. I also needed a cassette and should have brought spare cleats and spokes and more tools. I also brought spare derailleur cables and a spare rear derailleur but luckily did not need them. Bring an extra derailleur hanger if your bike uses one.
• Disk brakes – you will need them. Any rim brake (cantilever or V-brake) will be inadequate and you will go through several sets of brake pads. Hydraulic is better but disk is required.
• In the NW tubeless tires with sealant are not so crucial. In Portugal they are. Each day you will ride through thistles, thorns and sharp stones not to mention all the glass and bits and pieces of crap and metal on the farm roads. The best (and messiest) sealant is Slime. Second best is Magik Seal. We used straight latex but were told it does not seal in extreme heat. Luckily it never got too hot.
• Pack lots of oil for your chain. And some rags to clean it with. Pouring on the lube will only accelerate the demise of your drivetrain as it collects dirt and sand.
• Bring a real pump. CO2 is fun and racy but what will you do when you need to just top off your tires? Or when you get your fourth flat because you did not bring tubeless tires with sealant?
• Two words: chamois cream. Bring enough.
• Get a real mount for your GPS and forget about the plastic one you can buy in cycling stores. Touratech is the only way to go. Then ask Antonio for the adaptor so you can attach this mount to your handlebars.
• Use rechargeable batteries and bring a charger – it's the green thing to do.
• A pre-paid SIM card that works in Portugal might be nice. All the staff carry mobile phones and if you are alone and have a problem what are you going to do? At least bring an international phone and be prepared to pay the long distance fees if you need to. Oh yeah, don't forget to put it in your CamelBak each day!
• Sun block – need I say more? I love the sun, had a base and was needing to coat myself in SPF 15 for the first several days.
• Bring a camera and put it in an easy to reach spot. Ours was in the back of my CamelBak and I wish it had been in the front. When you are tired it's amazing how difficult it is to just get your camera out. A water-resistant camera is also a huge bonus; when it rained we did not take any pictures…
• Do yourself and everyone around you a favor and bring along some Sport-Wash. We did and it really works. If you do laundry every night you can survive on two sets of cycling clothes. We still brought three just in case.
• Bring some of your favorite ride food. We did not thinking we could subsist purely on what we packed at breakfast and purchased at cafes and it would have been nice to have more for variety and emergencies.
• Leave your attitude and expectations at home. Long rides will usually mean that you encounter some sort of adversity along the way and if you can't deal with it you are done.

This was an amazing journey. Thanks to Shelley and CICLONATUR for making it possible.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.

Ah… the day-after blues, the physical relief and the drive back to the big city.

After sleeping in I boxed up the bike. We don't have any pictures or movies of this but as I was trying to box it up outside of the hotel the wind was really blowing. After thrice retrieving objects from the underground parking garage where the wind was blowing them Shelley suggested we just move down to the garage… Genius. Once down there we were able to finish up without interruption.

Breakfast was yet another example of how the organizers go all out to make your experience special. By now most of the clients had left. They invited those few clients that remained INTO THEIR HOTEL ROOM where we had bread, butter, jam, cheese, cold cuts, cereal, yogurt, juice, tea and coffee. I mean c'mon, where else can you get this kind of service? Nowhere, that was rhetorical.

Then we loaded up the van (which had the seats installed again now that all the duffel bags were gone) and headed north.

A car ride is a car ride for the most part. Sure the scenery was nice but Antonio did us a huge favor and instead of taking the freeway all the way to Lisbon he stayed on the coast and we took a ferry over to Setubal on the mainland. Beautiful! The ferry connected an idyllic, sandy peninsula (obviously a wildly popular vacation and summer fun spot) with the main land mass. They had passenger only ferries and car ferries – all of which were painted a very high-visibility green. 

Once back on the road we drove across a massive, 16 km bridge on the A12.  

I felt like I was on the set of one of those build it bigger shows.

Kevin and Lesley Anne were getting dropped off at the airport so we took advantage of the 'left luggage' office and paid them to store our boxed bike. That was the best 8 Euro ever spent. From here it was back to Hotel Barcelona and then off to the market below the bull fighting arena for beer and breakfast food.

Finally we indulged in what has become a Lisbon tradition for us (if you can call doing something two times in four years a tradition); we went to the Pizza Hut next door to the hotel and ordered a large pie. Armed with this and our beer we watched television in bed and relaxed. Truly, there was nothing I would rather have been doing at the time.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.

Today was all about sticking together, savoring the moment and taking pictures. Usually there were more or less two groups and even though people might start with one everyone kinda rode at their own tempo but today we regrouped several times and no one was pushing the pace.

There was a mechanical this morning but it was not us! Thank goodness. And it was resolved relatively quickly.

In fairly short order we finally got see the Atlantic ocean.  
 
The route skirted the edge of a plateau above the water and several times we would descend to a beach and then climb back up to the top of the plateau.

The top of the plateau was littered with boardwalks so tourists could enjoy the view. Many times you could just ride right out to the view platform.  
 

One of the times we descended to the beach the path the tour used to take had been washed away by the winter rains so we had to walk along the sand for about 800 m. It must have seemed strange to the people at the surfing contest we interrupted to see all these people pushing bicycles…  
 

How easy is it to push your bike through soft sand? Not very. You can see how much our feet sunk into the sand.  
 

At the end of the beach we finally got to back onto a firmer surface.

And were immediately faced with the hardest climb of the day.
 

As luck would have it, this hardest climb was soon followed by the hardest descent. Only a handful of people even attempted to ride this and of that handful not everyone made it down. One person that did ride the whole thing was Louize Hill. Way to go.

This descent was followed by a climb (of course) and then we came to the G-String descent so named because it runs along a spine with significant exposure on both sides. As we approached the descent I was about to warn Shelley that it was coming up and she replied, "I got it, go go go!" She was filming!

Here I am scouting out the descent.

We were not able to ride the beginning as there were some fall-away corners with only inches of trail and the back of the tandem would have slipped off but we did ride most of it. At Shelley's insistence! Nice.

The cafe at the bottom was where we all regrouped for lunch. It was a tiny surf community and i bet this establishment rarely gets as busy as when we all rolled in.

After lunch the final climb was on pavement and then we all rolled to the finish together as a group.

It was really fun to finally ride with everyone and we finally got the chance to let someone else take our picture.

The dirt road was covered in washboards and littered with potholes. On a tandem it's crucial that the captain and stoker communicate – here is what we said on that section of road.

Just before descending to the finish we stopped for the obligatory group shot.
 

Then we rode over the last few rocks, down a short section of road and finally down a wood ramp right to the beach. We were done!

The Atlantic is not exactly a tropical body of water but this far south it was warm enough to jump in and I did exactly that. After tons of well wishes, hugs and thanks we eventually worked our way back up the hill to the hotel. I washed my ride clothes one last time, hung them up and then we all (all that clients that hung around that is) went to dinner for our final group meal and the awards ceremony.

Dinner was a traditional sort of seafood gumbo with rice, tomato and three different kinds of fish and prawns all in one big pot. Yum.

I think we drank a little more wine tonight than usual…

Antonio goes all out for his clients. Not only did everyone get a certificate of completion, he also had a special t-shirt made up for each person that rode all 14 days.

To quote him, "We could have written the words on this shirt in English but they have greater meaning in Portuguese." I like that.

Everyone got called up and recognized. It felt so good to get a hug, my certificate and to know that Shelley and I had completed this together!

I'm pretty sure Shelley was very proud of herself as well. This smile looks very genuine.

At the awards diner everyone was saying that I was a hero for riding a tandem over all these roads and over all these hills. If there is a hero in this story it's Shelley for the entire ride with me. She usually could not see what was coming up, she was sitting on the less comfortable end of the bike and she has never done anything like this or this hard before. I am so grateful for her company, her encouragement throughout the ride and her tenacity and will to finish what we started. Amazing.

When it was finally time to leave the restaurant we got a final shot of the 15 clients that rode all 15 days.

Thank you Antonio, Berta and all the staff at CICLONATUR; we had a wonderful time.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.

Today we transitioned away from the interior and rode to the coast. We started with a roaring descent on paved roads from the hotel (as they always seem to be located on the top of a hill) and then it was dirt, pavement, dirt, pavement all the time with more and more white sand on the ground the closer we got to the ocean.

Today we climbed the hardest rideable hill on the tour – up to Portela da Brejeira. Since there was not much in the way of cafes on the route today the staff met us at the base of the climb so we could top off our CamelBaks.

The climb is about 3 km total, averages something like 20 percent but the beginning is wicked steep with a loose surface thrown in for good measure. As you ascend the grade eases just slightly but the surface deteriorates with more and larger stones. We actually rode most of the first part but then the fatigue became overwhelming and we had to dismount. Under ideal conditions this climb is rideable for sure – even on a tandem. In this case ideal would mean fresh and not so tired. :)

At the top it's more up and down and up and down and I think we made more wrong turns today than all the other days combined. :( The surface was fun and the riding was okay but after a while having to backtrack – even just 100 m sections – was getting really old. It was tough to choose the right path! You would arrive at five-way (or more) intersections and have to select the correct route on the fly.

As we got closer to the beach we rode along an irrigation canal for about 8 km. This was a nice reward for all the climbing earlier in the day for sure. 

I love stuff like this! Not only is it pretty, it makes you concentrate. One wrong turn and you are in the drink. As this warning sign seems to imply. 

Tonight at dinner I confirmed that Martin loves sardine and tuna pate. A couple of times the hotel has served it along with the bread and butter and it's darn tasty. 

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.

In the morning we spent a lot of time riding through orchards. It was pretty easy going except for the parts where the earth was soft and had been turned up from the farm machinery and our tires sunk in. Kind of like riding in sand only not quite as bad. Thankfully these sections did not last long.

What did last long was the following section through wide open plains. Aside from the grass there was almost zero vegetation!

Note the trail – at times we were riding along a path that was not visible from 10' away. We would come up to an intersection, see the main path go right and invariably we would turn left.

The next section was along this highway-to-be which on this day consisted of a huge, wide road covered in white gravel. It was fast riding but also a little boring. You could see the road waaaay up ahead so you knew exactly what was coming up. Not so exciting.

What is more exciting is the Portuguese fascination with bovine-themed cycling clothing. On this tour we had two different clubs show up both with jerseys designed to look like cows. Today we were on the road with one. 

Cycling clubs are cool. And members of both of these clubs were super nice.

Towards the end of the stage we stopped at a cafe across the street from a German hippie camp. Seriously. Why German hippies decided to settle in this specific spot and why in Portugal I have no idea. As we were buying Cokes a woman with three children emerged from the camp's driveway speaking German and went into the cafe to get something. What exactly does it mean to be a hippie in 2010? I'm not sure but from our vantage point it appears they like onions. 

The last part of the ride today was brutal. It was up and down these insanely steep sections of dirt road that are probably only travelled by logging industry bulldozers as they are too steep for regular vehicles. It was through another eucalyptus forest and after the last, steepest descent we finally emerged on a massive dyke (dam?) that spanned a body of water. We rode across this to the hotel. 

ASIDE – prior to this tour I kept telling Shelley that our brakes were actually too strong. Never again.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 66 km
Moving time – 3:46
Stopped time – 1:47
Moving avg – 17.6 kph
Overall avg – 11.9 kph
Total ascent – 2460 feet

I rolled the bike out of the hotel to oil the chains, that much went fine. When I spun the rear wheel to see if it needed truing I discovered two more broken spokes! Crap. Time to again remove the cassette, remove the brake rotor, replace the spokes and kinda, sorta true the wheel. This is getting a little discouraging. We have four more rides to go and I really want to finish! Thanks to Shelley for being so patient and helpful and supportive while I was frustrated.

We were treated to a spectacular view from a new bridge that spanned the river. Under this automobile bridge you could see the old train bridge that this tour used to use to cross this river.

It was another super fast stage today. Mostly flat with just a handful of hills requiring the little chainring. And today was all about sunflowers and wheat. We rode through field after field of both. 
  
  
Several times there were sunflowers on our left and wheat on our right. Once we even saw a solitary sunflower in the middle of a wheat field… Alone, proud, apart from the crowd.

Normally there is one cafe that we all tacitly agree to stop at for lunch and some days we are just on our own but today Antonio had officially reserved a café at the halfway point for everyone. They served up a traditional Portuguese veggie soup, grilled sardines, grilled mackerel (both crusted in salt) and bread. 
  
  
We ate off these old, stone tables that used to be the stands for the city market where the vendors would display their goods; very cool. 

Of course nothing like a big meal to make you want to get back on your bike in the blazing sun... my legs were so toast.

ASIDE – it seems that on this tour starting back up after just about any stop was a monumental effort. My legs always felt like someone had poured lead into them. After warming up they were always much better. Note to self – bring a personal masseuse along next time.

Lately one strategy I have been employing to deal with the heat is to soak my cotton cycling cap in cold water right before starting out again and it works great – for about five minutes. Then my cap is bone dry. Oh well.

We rode past another reservoir today and had to cross a spillway. This involved carrying our bikes down an embankment, across the concrete spillway and then climbing back up the other side. 
  

Just another day on the Travessia! :)

The last town we rode through had what appeared to be a group of locals (gypsies?) on horse-drawn wagons cruising down the middle of the main road. We tried to pass courteously but I think they took offense and we were treated to what I'm sure was some choice phrases in Portuguese as we finally edged past. Maybe they were worried we were going to spook the horses or something, not really sure… 

This cafe in this town was MUCH needed. I also stopped at the town tap to fill my CamelBak because I was drinking so much. Even though I am not dehydrated it seems like I can't get enough to drink. And water seems insufficient – I want juice, sports drinks, Coke, beer, anything at all. It feels that way minutes after we roll out each morning and lasts until dinner or I get a beer. If only there was some way to keep the liquid in my CamelBak cold, I might fill it with beer…

At the end of the day all that mattered was that the hotel room was spacious, there was a spot in the sun to dry our laundry, the swimming pool was large and refreshments were available. 

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 77 km
Moving time – 3:37
Stopped time – 39 min
Moving avg – 21.2 kph
Overall avg – 17.9 kph
Total ascent – 2248 feet

FAST, that's what today was. We started by descending Monseraz (65 kph!) and then blasting down 20 km of paved road. Most of today was on pavement and what wasn't was almost all on very firm, wide dirt roads. And it was flat; meaning we never had to use the small chainring.

The first notable feature of today was a road that descended a valley to a river. Sounds normal enough but in this case you are flying down what appears to be a modern, well maintained asphalt road when suddenly the pavement ends and you are in the dirt. Just 20 m later the road disappears into the river! On the other side the process reverses itself and you start on dirt and then climb out of the valley on asphalt. It's like a civil engineering project that never quite got completed. 
  

At the cafe the water tap had a pump! 

Much of today was spent riding through field after field of sunflowers. 

Today we only stopped once to grab a bite on the trail, once at a café for an ice cream and then rode all the way to the hotel. Where there was a crystal clear delicious swimming pool! 

It did not matter that it was tiny. Oh man did that feel good... soaking the legs is wonderful. I tried to hit the lounge chairs after but the sun was too intense so about 10 of us walked a block to the local bar and had snacks while watching Portugal play in the World Cup.

As mentioned previously a really popular appetizer here is boiled snails. Just like the big ones of French origin, these little ones taste like whatever you cook them in which seems like salty water. Add some fresh bread, beers and you have a really good way to tide yourself over until dinner.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 104 km

At this point you will notice that I sometimes ran out of energy to download the GPS data every day after our ride was complete… The ride profiles are mostly correct so they will have to suffice.

Today we met Mario Silva for the first time. He planned on riding the last few days of the tour entirely on his unicycle! Just like tandeming, the unicycle community is a niche group and they have all kinds of stuff no one has heard about; like hubs with internal gears. Mario was riding on his 29" bike with a two-speed hub to facilitate going faster on the flats and on pavement. And to his credit he flew! He got maybe a 20 minute head start on us in the morning and it took us almost two hours to catch him.

Okay, let's just get this out of the way. After the cleat on Shelley's other shoe would not release from her pedal (it had also worked its way loose apparently) we fixed it by removing the wedges and cinching down the bolts again. Then we noticed that one of the springs on her left pedal was busted. Not a crisis, the pedals are double-sided, but it's just one more thing to add to the list. I'm really glad we didn't break any more spokes!

Before the lunch stop that is. As we pulled in for food I decided to check the rear tire and wheel (for some reason it had become habit by now) and what do you know… there was another broken spoke. Riding around with one spoke missing is usually no big deal. Especially if your wheels are well built which ours hopefully were since I built them myself. But two…? And on a tandem bike that is getting hammered all day long? Plus, whenever you break more than one spoke it's a safe bet that the rest are not far behind so reluctantly I sat down and commenced some much needed bike maintenance. Here I am wallowing in my own misery. 

And here I am after realizing that Shelley is taking my picture. 

Today was a long haul. And hot. The sky was pretty blue all day and at the last café stop about 25 km from the hotel I had some cherries, an orange, a sandwich, loads of water, two juices and an ice cream. I was depleted. It saved my bacon. And no, it did not stop me from the usual post-ride snack, beers and a huge dinner and yes, I still devoured all my sandwiches we had made at breakfast.

Towards the end there was an option to take a paved road instead of a 10 km stretch of brutal stone road so we opted for the asphalt and I think it was a good call. We still had to climb the hill to the hotel at Monseraz which was wicked steep but at least it was only about 1.5 km to the top. By then we were both feeling our spirits lift just a little and Shelley even suggested we take a cobble detour instead of riding the asphalt road all the way to the top. We almost made it. :)

Thanks to Shelley still wanting to go for it after such a long ride and for boosting my spirits all day long and during the bike maintenance. Oh yeah, and who got me a Coke while I was replacing spokes? Shelley.

On this hill the cobble streets were contoured just like the underlying granite. At times they did not even cover the granite.

As we walked around the town at the top of the hill and explored the castle the battery in my camera expired. Rats. The castle included a mini bull fighting arena inside the castle walls! Amazing. And our cafe was perched on a wall with a fabulous view out over the valley below.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 87 km
Moving time – 5:43
Stopped time – 2:32
Moving avg – 15.2 kph
Overall avg – 10.5 kph
Total ascent – 4026 feet

Leaving the hotel today you immediately climb up a big hill on a looong cobble road. At least it's 'new' cobles and not Roman cobbles but we still had to walk a significant portion. It was just too steep and too early in the day.

ASIDE – on steep climbs with a hard surface our 6" (150 mm) fork makes the front end kind of floppy and it's hard to maintain a straight line. Add in the jarring of the cobbles and we have to walk a few more climbs than you would on a single I'm learning.

The nice thing about long climbs is they are usually followed by long descents. Today was luckily not an exception to this rule and we were able to reel most of the bunch back in. 

"Tandem Power!" as the local clients seemed to like to say. :)

There were plenty of rollers and rocks today and all that bouncing around puts some serious pressure on your bladder. What can you do but take a nature break? 

The last descent from this first hill was quite steep and pretty bumpy; one client even put on elbow pads before descending as a precaution. To her credit Shelley was game for riding it and our brakes did a sterling job.

Today the route took us next to some reservoirs. Because of the phenomenally wet winter Portugal had experienced, these were full to the brim. So full in fact that our intended route disappeared underwater twice. 

Thanks to the miracle of GPS technology we were able to construct a detour around the vanishing track and impromptu lakes and get back on course. Not before we accidentally ambushed a family picnic though; these people had settled down by the new lake shore and were getting ready for a feast when suddenly 25 cyclists showed up. 

I was convinced that today was going to be a day free from mechanicals. I mean, what else could go wrong, right? Lots. With (thankfully) less than 10 km to go Shelley asked me to pull over so we could look at our rear tire and wouldn't you know it, the thing had failed just like the first one. 

Somehow air was getting in between the inner casing and the tread and the pressure was causing the tire to bulge. Seems like a manufacturer's defect to me but no doubt being on a tandem and on really rocky roads was contributing to the problem. Still, it sucks. And we broke a spoke in our rear wheel too. The support van met us with a new tire and sealant and shortly we were back on the road. Replacing the spoke did not seem critical as the wheel was looking pretty fair.

At this point I'm trying to notice things that still ARE working on our bike... The problem is as I look around in search of these things I see all kinds of stuff that is about to blow up.
- The cleats on my shoes have had it. The shoes that I am wearing are so worn out the sole does not protrude far enough so I am walking directly on my cleats and I'm worried they won't last the rest of the trip. I don't have any spares.
- Both our front and rear derailleur cables are frayed – just beyond the clamp but still. It's making me nervous.
- Will our new small chainring last until the end of the ride? I will NEVER buy another aluminum inner ring for the tandem... steel is the only way to go.
- Will the new rear tire last? I am so hoping the Kenda Nevegal is just a cheap ass tire and what we have now (IRC) is better.
- Will both of our chains last?
Tandems are hard on equipment! Especially when you ride them in extreme or long events.

Once safely at the hotel with clothes washed and bike stowed we finally had the energy to walk around town. There was a beautiful square complete with fountain, playground for kids and of course the ubiquitous cafe. You know what the locals eat as a snack? Boiled snails. 

We joined our fellow riders and ordered beers. Then I had to open my big mouth and comment on how small the beers were here in Portugal. Before you could say, "What's on tap?" we were being presented with larger ones. 

Now I could not help feel like the big American that has to have his big beer. :( Oh well, it's the price you have to pay and today the cost was not so arduous.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 97 km
Moving time – 6:19
Stopped time – 1:46
Moving avg – 15.3 kph
Overall avg – 11.0 kph
Total ascent – 4769 feet

I thought Today was very close to an actual stage from the TransPortugal race, stage three to be exact. Then I was reminded by a current client on the tour who was also a former staff person on the race that we had managed to add about 50 km to this day. Time heals all wounds and all that.

The first 25 km or so were fast. It was pavement and hard dirt road and a net loss in elevation. Some time after the first cafe stop (and some hills and bridges) we rolled through this village and the locals were grilling sardines; and they offered us some! 

Not only did they offer us sardines, the also had sweet rice. 
 
And wine! I passed on that though. Amazing how good salty fish can taste on a long, hot day. Did it matter that we had recently had lunch? Nope, I was ready to eat again.

After gorging we had a couple of moderate climbs, rode along a river and then came the steepest climb of the entire trip. It was up a dirt double track, about 1 km long and we were told it was 30 percent. I believe it. Even if you wanted to try and ride it (we were told only two people had ever done so) there was a stream crossing right at the bottom and then you had to ride over some boulders so there was absolutely no opportunity to get any momentum. This climb was tough. 

So tough we did not even bother to try and walk together. 

At the top was more eucalyptus forest, some trails over big granite slabs, the usual route finding on a path that was so overgrown no one would have found it if not for the GPS, a bit of pavement and then the surface turned to cobles as we started the last climb up to Castelo de Vide.

I had forgotten how hard this ascent was... It just goes up and up and gets steeper and steeper. Then near the top you have to ride UP some stairs. In spite of a valiant effort at the beginning our tandem could not handle this so it was another hike.

The hotel for today is in one of the prettiest villages of the entire tour. It's at the base of the hill occupied by the castle.

ASIDE – that's right, the route took us to the top of the hill and then we descended to the hotel instead of just riding directly to it. The Travessia is about the journey, not about getting there as fast or efficiently as possible.

It also reportedly contains one of the best bakeries in all of Portugal. Unfortunately we were too bushed to go for a stroll and enjoy any baked goods and after cleaning the bike and doing laundry I restricted myself to the hotel bar.

The owner of this hotel LOVES Antonio and really goes all out to support the clients of his tour and race. They let us put our bikes in one of their carpeted meeting rooms and actually spread out freshly laundered white sheets to put our bikes on so they would not get the carpet dirty…! 

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 77 km
Moving time – 5:31
Stopped time – 1:54
Moving avg – 13.9 kph
Overall avg – 10.3 kph
Total ascent – 3798 feet

Just one hill of note today at roughly half way through but JESUS was it tough... Oh yeah, our fist mechanical of the day was a failed rear tire. 

WTF?! I guess the inner casing of the Kenda Nevegal we were using had failed allowing air to get between the lining and the rubber tread. Not very useful. Fortunately I brought along a spare. Our second mechanical for the day was after replacing the chain yesterday we could no longer use the small chainring at all. Yesterday it was chain suck and today it was chain skip, like mad. Crap. How long was I a professional bicycle mechanic again? 15 years? I guess wishful thinking got the better of me last night. Needless to say 32x34 is NOT low enough for these monsters. Why didn't I replace the small ring again? Because I forgot the tool to remove the crank arm; I'm an idiot. Oh sure, the organizers had plenty of tools but my old-school, square-taper cranks were not something they had counted on.

We started out on mellow rollers and except for one or two were able to ride up them in the middle ring. We also came to a stream crossing within like 2 km of the start so the shoes that I had tried so hard to dry last night were soaking wet again. Nice. But it was a peaceful start – not too hard and quite rideable. That's a good thing to get the legs warmed up for sure. Much of the route yesterday and this morning took us through eucalyptus tree plantations. You would think you were in a wild forest but then you would notice that all the trees are equidistant and planted in neat rows. We rode through grove after clear-cut after grove after clear-cut.

The 'hill' today was Monsanto and is cone shaped. It's a massive granite mound with a castle on top and houses on all sides. The houses have been built in, on and under the granite rock and if not for the whitewashed walls or the windows it would absolutely resemble a bunch of caves. I have no idea how they run water and electricity up to all these homes but I did see lights on in one dining room. Under the cobbled streets perhaps? I saw no conduit or anything on the sides of buildings.

About 15 km from said hill you can see it. 

There isn't really any other hill like it or as tall in the vicinity so you have the pleasure of watching it get closer and closer as you wind your way through the fields on the approach. And when I say wind I of course mean that at times we went in every direction except towards the hill… Finally you ride through a 'suburb' of the town on the hill, cross the last asphalt road and hit the climb.

At first the surface is modern cobbles as you ride in and out of the last houses at the base of the hill and it was JUST doable in the middle ring, but only just. Then the path flattens a bit, changes to Roman cobbles and begins to literally spiral around the hill as it climbs. At first you can ride it no problem, in fact there are plenty of sandy sections that smooth out the surface but then the path gets steeper and steeper and bumpier and bumpier and if you make it this far you suddenly get to a couple of switchbacks that will bring anyone to their knees. Or feet in this case. 

We had to walk about 1 km until finally the path joins the paved road. Mind you, it does not get any less steep here, but the surface does improve. It's Little Princess all the way to the top from here. About 1 km further up the road is a lookout and a café that is tucked into the rock on what must be a 15 degree slope. Somehow a massive tour bus was parked in the lookout parking lot – these drivers must go to some secret advanced Euro driving school... We pulled over, had some sandwiches and a Coke and then had to walk a couple of blocks when we decided to get going again because the paved road looked too steep to ride! Once we got back on it was one more switchback and the surface turned to modern cobbles again.

Everything is carved out of or into the granite here, even the public WC. 

As you get closer to the castle the houses get smaller and smaller and the 'road' gets narrower and narrower and steeper and steeper until you are riding/walking by one and two-room 'homes' that have been not so much hewn out of the rock as just strategically placed under outcroppings and boulders with the gaps filled in using smaller stones and mortar. Finally, about 100 m below the castle the trail turns to stone stairs. On the way up to the castle are dozens of what look like stone pens for animals? And then finally you are at the top. Wow, the view... and it's 360 degrees. Here we are walking the tandem up the last bit of road before it turns to a total footpath.

How do you get down? Well, on paths and roads very similar to what you came up on of course. It was actually too steep to walk down in our cycling shoes (not enough tread and too slippery) so knowing the tandem has phenomenal brakes we got on and road down. Did I mention if was steep...!? What's really hard is navigating a tight corner when you are tipped down the hill and your suspension fork is completely compressed. After about 1 km of this you transition to another Roman cobble road and for the next 1.5 km you are bouncing down the hill.  It's rideable for sure but some sections are VERY exciting as the gaps can be big and there are some small drop-offs. We could not ride it all. Finally you get to the bottom and transition to the valley floor via dirt roads.

On the way to the hotel we hit a 10 km section of road with one wicked descent where we must have topped 60 kph again. Knobby tires sure are loud at those speeds, almost as loud as the plane that buzzed Shelley today.

Tonight the hotel was only 20 km from a town with a bike shop so Ricardo (one of the staff) was nice enough to drive me and the tandem frame (it would not fit in the van with the wheels on) to the shop so they could remove the right drive crank so I could replace the small chainring. I was stressing and Ricardo was so calm and the guy in the shop was so nice and on the way back we stopped for an ice cream. The whole experience really turned my day around. I was psyched for tomorrow.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 87 km
Moving time – 7:05
Stopped time – 1:03
Moving avg – 12.2 kph
Total ascent – 4886 feet

Five river crossings!

We rolled out of the hotel at 8:30 (earlier than normal) which meant we had to eat at 7 and of course get up at 6. Not so fun. But the day went well and aside from one mechanical problem (of course) we both did the best we have so far on this trip.

The beginning was a very nice rolling road with a hard dirt surface. Around 4 km in we got to the big climb of the day but the dirt part was not so bad and once it got steeper and the grades were more sustained it turned to pavement. We climbed up, up, up into the mist towards the ridgeline that was dotted with windmills. The fog was so dense that at times you could only see part of the windmills (for power generation) and I absolutely felt like we had stumbled on some technology left behind by more advanced aliens thousands of years ago as we saw the massive rotors sweep around and around and heard the hum of motors and transformers from the base. It was very surreal.

Descending from the ridge was a kick in the shorts! This was also new pavement and there were zero cars – super safe. We got the tandem up over 60 kph, on knobby tires!

From here we skirted the border between Portugal and Spain for several hours. The surface was red earth with tons of shale rock. You were constantly climbing or descending and when the clouds cleared the views down into Spain were spectacular. We rode everything except for one steep/loose kicker and one massive climb that might have been doable but would have completely torched our legs. Today was the day that I had resolved not to die or bonk or get dehydrated and so our pace was more controlled, I drank a lot and I brought along FIVE cheese and jam sandwiches and with Shelley's help ate at very regular intervals. And it worked! Thanks Shelley. 
  

We finally descended from this ridge and rode through a wildlife preserve that is normally not open to the public. Antonio had called ahead and a ranger was waiting at the gate to let us through.

ASIDE – this is just one example of the lengths the organizers go to in order to ensure we are able to ride on the most remote roads possible.

This took us down to a river that is a natural border between Spain and Portugal and we followed the river for quite a while. This was a super road. At times fairly overgrown but it stayed pretty true to the contour line so did not rise or fall much and instead just hugged the ridge. Anytime we came to an adjoining valley or tributary the road would simply turn away from the river, follow it in and then all the way back out so as to maintain our elevation. It made it imminently rideable.

Finally we came to the first river crossing (into Spain).

ASIDE – prior to this river we had to carry the bike across three 'streams' and under two fallen trees. It was adventure cycling for sure. Not to mention that the trail completely disappeared once and had it not been for the GPS we would have had absolutely no idea where it was... 
  

Along the way we also encountered a herd of black sheep.

The trail simple went to the river and stopped. Luckily this one was not so deep and I was able to carry the bike across myself. 

But only because Shelley scouted the path. 

And after we got the low-down from a local. 

After 7 more km of dirt road we came to the second crossing (back into Portugal). This one was up over my waist! Shelley and I had to lift the tandem overhead while negotiating the slippery river rock. A couple of times I thought one of us might get dunked but we made it thank goodness. Then I made another trip for our CamelBaks as they would have gotten dipped in the water if we had left them on while carrying the bike.

The hotel was less than 1 km from the last crossing so even though we were now soaked and had soggy chamois it was okay. And the water in ALL the streams and rivers had been very comfortable – not cold at all.

About 40 or 50 km from the end today we shifted to the small chainring and instantly got chain suck. It soon became apparent that with the amount of wear we had on the inner ring and the chain that this was simply not avoidable so from here on we were limited to the middle ring. Luckily there were not so many grueling climbs and we managed most of them. The rest we simply had to walk. We also threw off our timing chain twice! The first time was because it was too loose. I had noticed it earlier in the day but figured it would be okay. Not so. The second time I have no idea why it came off... At least it was easy to put on both times and I tightened it up in the process.

Our hotel is in a geothermal area and there is a spa and hot pools and the 'rooms' (suites rather) consist of four rooms, TWO bathrooms (each with a shower!) and I feel like I am in some Euro resort. Which I guess I am. :)

Tonight I performed some serious bike maintenance. I had brought along three spare chainrings but not the tool to remove my crank arm. D'oh…! So I had to settle for installing a new drive chain and new middle and outer rings and checking to ensure our timing chain was not getting loose again. 

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 54 km
Moving time – 3:04
Stopped time – 43:16
Moving avg – 16.9 kph
Overall avg – 13.7 kph
Total ascent – 1561 feet

"This stage can be hard or it can be easy..." was how Antonio began the briefing last night. Today was the shortest and flattest stage so everyone was urged to take it easy and 'recover' as there would not be another stage like this again.  Oh yeah, and tomorrow was hard.

Easy today meant a wind out of the north and relatively dry conditions so you would be blown along the firm, sandy roads; hard meant a wind out of the south and something other than dry conditions. As I woke up around 7 the wind was howling (out of the south) and the sky was incredibly dark. At 7:30 it was pouring rain. So much for easy.

Since today was short and since there would not be much to do at our destination the start time was pushed back to 11 AM for the less fast group and 12 PM for the faster group. This would hopefully give the rain a chance to blow over and let everyone enjoy the town and castle we were in. There was only one problem, it kept raining.

But not all was for naught, we had time for a very leisurely breakfast which was a real treat. And if there is one thing a five star hotel knows how to do it's serve up a fantastic breakfast. We had ham (hot and cold), eggs, rolls, bread, croissants, butter, preserves, fresh fruit, various cereals, coffee, tea, milk, fruit juices, cake, three different kinds of cheese, yogurt and an amazing old school toaster oven to heat anything you wanted. I think I went back for thirds; but was able to take my time for a change. :)

As we loaded the bags into the van and prepped our bikes the clouds looked like they might just blow over and the rain abated. Then five minutes prior to roll out it got really dark and everyone started pulling raincoats out of CamelBaks... Not 200 m from the castle gate the rain started to fall. And it kept up for the next 25 km. But it least it was not cold!

The sandy roads that should have been nice and firm were now a sandy beach and our tandem would float back and forth anytime the road surface got more than an inch or two deep. Exciting stuff! There were also some sections in super tall grass so you could hardly see the intended trail and the rain had turned the ruts into treacherous trenches. Because of the rain on my glasses and the overgrown path it was frequently an act of faith piloting our bike. Props to Shelley for not complaining and helping us power through all the mud bogs.

Lunch was at Café Suiss; a tribute to the throw-back truck stop. Guys in their twenties and thirties were chilling, smoking and flicking the ashes on the floor of the dinner. Ashtrays were on every table but the squash soup was super and we each devoured a big bowl along with two of our sandwiches that we had made from the breakfast buffet. 

For once everyone seemed in a huge rush to leave the lunch spot... I think it was because of the wet. 
  

I had to keep my coat on when we left even though the rain had stopped as the wind was chilling.

Luckily after about 5 km the sun started to poke through the clouds and it was warm enough to stop and shed the coat and arm warmers. And then the road firmed up a bit too so we could roll the big chainring most of the time! Nice. Today we rode along the 'smuggler's road' which had been used to smuggle tobacco between Spain and Portugal. It's about 4-5 km interior of the main paved road and at times it's as if the road is a corridor through the forest as the greenery is very dense on both sides. It's extremely pretty. We also saw some cows, sheep and goats. TONS of goats... And whenever you could not actually see the sheep or goats you could see plenty of evidence of their existence – almost every meter of road today was littered with poop (droppings?). At times I was a bit worried about drinking from my CamelBak bite valve which along with my coat (and legs and feet) had been spackled with all the crap (literally and figuratively) from the road.

Oh yeah, we can't forget the dogs. It seems Portugal has cornered the market on stray dogs. Speaking with someone that has lived here it seems like spaying and neutering is a totally foreign concept and it shows. Some were herding animals, some were just giving us company but some were loud and kinda scary and got a little too close to the bike for comfort.

The last few kilometers were a lot of fun. First because we were not exhausted and second because it was just great mountain biking! We rode over more granite slabs, through tunnels of green and across stone bridges. 
  

Finally with about 1 km to go we could see our destination. Tonight the hotel rooms are truly microscopic; it's like a doll house room. But there is a hose for cleaning bikes and an outdoor clothes line! It's amazing how handy that is.

As I sit in the hotel bar supplementing my 20 cl Sagres (what is it with that size?!) with a more traditionally sized Super Bock as backup it has been a very good day. 

Sure we had some rain but it was relatively warm and fun. This trip continues to amaze.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 74 km
Moving time – 5:44
stopped time – 2:23
Moving avg – 12.9 kph
Overall avg – 9.1 kph
Total ascent – 5030 feet

After installing a new cassette we rolled out and right away the road went straight up. First the paved street steepens and steepens and then you turn left onto a gravel road and it really pitches up. Ouch! Not the ideal warm-up. The next bit was okay, quite scenic actually. We rolled around a plateau for a while and stopped at a scenic vulture feeding site (no shit!).

After another hard dirt climb came a dream paved descent. The road was narrow, only one car could have fit on it at a time – obviously there was no center line – and we FELL down the valley. Oh yeah, no guardrails either.

Next came the most famous Roman road of the ride. Back in the day when this road was essentially carved out of the cliff it was the only way to provision the village at the top of the plateau. Not only was it steep it was all stone. The only bummer was it had been sprinkling and the stones were ultra slick in the wet and the tandem could not negotiate many of the switchbacks. But we tried and I think we did better than anyone expected us to by riding about 25 percent!

Then it was off to lunch in the next town (hot soup) and the hardest climb of the day. OMG was this a killer... With honest pitchers of 18-20 percent you had little time to recover. About 3 km up the hill I shifted from the middle ring to the small and sucked the chain insanely hard. It was jammed in from the bottom and from the top because I tried to catch it by back pedaling. 10 minutes later and thanks to Antonio we were rolling again but I was seriously thinking we were going to have to remove the right crank. And of course I had no tools with me to do that...

Once we topped the steepest section came a part of the ride that I really like. You are in this high country that is desolate but beautiful at the same time. It's all grassy fields, big slabs of granite and the occasional massive rock plopped right in the middle of nowhere. Shelley did a phenomenal job on the climb and we only dabbed once when I steered us off the trail and into a bush. Not hard when you are going 2-3 mph.

Lunch (second lunch?) was in a café at the top of a hill at Castelo Rodrigo.

This hill was steep enough to keep us in our 22x30 most of the way and we had to resort to the 34 near the summit. At least it was paved. Nothing satisfies after a hard ride like dark beer and toasted cheese sandwiches. 
  

From here it should have been relatively easy to get to the finish but I ran out of energy with 20 km to go and my last cheese and jam sandwich that I frantically crammed into my mouth did not get assimilated quite fast enough to be of much assistance. After the initial descent from the castle you are on a red dirt road that is just slightly downhill so you can fly – that was a blast.

Needless to say it was very nice to finally arrive at the hotel. Which was AMAZING. Two words: five stars. It's built inside of a castle (on top of a hill of course) and you can walk the old castle walls and ramparts. Too cool.

Once we got cleaned up I spent some time walking around the castle walls and the town next to the castle.

That night we discovered a wonderful Portuguese tradition – the fried (baked?) appetizer platter. 

Ours had fish balls, sausage-shaped things and the largest item I did not try. In the center are olives and on the right are slices of cheese. Yes!

And don't forget the dessert… 

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 67 km
Moving time – 4:44
Stopped time – 1:42
Moving avg – 14.2 kph
Overall avg – 10.4 kph
Total ascent – 3664 feet

A relatively easy day today and after yesterday it was most welcome. We started out on dirt roads that rolled very gently for about 15 km and then came our first major obstacle. A Roman coble road. And by 'road' I mean the Roman's kind of pilled massive stones up along the route and called it good. It was a climb and so as we were still pretty much all together everyone prepped by shifting to their small ring and gave it a go. We lasted about 80 m? The total length was 800 m. Then our rear tire spun and we dabbed. I did not know a tandem could spin the rear tire so easily... Everyone lined up to give this stretch a try, it was like the skills test of the trip. And some did pretty well, it was fun to cheer each other on. 

And it wouldn't be a day in Portugal without some major mechanical. Soon after the cobbles our shifting really went to hell and then suddenly on another climb the chain totally jammed up. We got off and I looked back and our third largest cog had been utterly destroyed! There were only about six teeth left and the rest of the cog had been torn off of the spider. Damn. So from here on in we had to exercise EXTREME caution when shifting past the gap. Thank goodness it worked though so as long as we could anticipate the need for the large cogs all was good.

As soon as we got that figured out we experienced some massive chain suck... I pulled over to oil the chain and realized I had left the lube in my duffel bag! Crap. Luckily Antonio (the organizer) rides sweep and carries everything, he had both wet and dry lube. He asked me which I would like by saying, "The wet will make everything really dirty and the dry will keep it clean..." You can guess which one I picked. And you know what? It worked very well. SO much about mountain biking is knowing the local conditions and what works. All the lube you you to use in the NW is wet. Wet lube in Portugal equals oiling your chain every hour because it attracts so much dust and dirt and suddenly you need to start over. While I was oiling the chain this kid came by herding some cows – on a bicycle. Nice.

The main natural obstacle today was an 18-20 percent climb that was fortunately on modern cobbles and not dirt. We did have to shift to the smallest gear for sure but made it up okay. One section of the trail today was over these massive slabs of granite and wicked fun. It was almost like riding in Moab on the sandstone. 

Towards the end we plummeted down this phenomenally steep paved descent. More fun! The very end was another brutally steep climb up to the town square on a cobbled street. Less fun but it was the finish.

Today began what I would later realize was a daily ritual – the cafe stop. What do you buy at a cafe when you are tired, hot and hungry? Usually it was something like this. 

Of course we also ate our sandwiches that we had made in the morning. Shelley realized too late that she had overdone the quince jelly just a tad. 

That was some fierce fruit leather!

Some of the water taps in towns were really beautiful. 

Another ritual we eagerly adopted was the post-ride beer and snacks. 

The beans in this photo are delicious and remind me of Edamame. Boiled, salty and oh so satisfying.

The routine upon arriving at the destination went something like hit the shower, do your laundry, hit the cash machine, hit the café, hit the grocery store for ride food and more beer, join the party at the local restaurant for dinner and then hit the bed in our hotel room. I could get used to this in a hurry.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.
Here is the ride profile.
Here is the official newsletter.
Distance – 80 km
Moving time – 6:18
Stopped time – 1:44
Moving avg – 12.8 kph
Overall avg – 10.0 kph
Total ascent – 5765 feet

The passenger van that carried us to the start was now converted to the luggage van. Out came the seats and in went the duffel bags. 

The stage today was supposed to be 77 km but it turned out to be more like 80... Those last three km are kind of heartbreaking when you are really, really, really ready to see the finish. Day 1 will do that to you.

The first half of the ride had the longer climbs and went pretty well but the second half of the day had some shorter, wicked steep climbs which we had to walk. It was also a day of crazy mechanicals, accidents and biblical plagues.

First I went to put on my shoes in the hotel before the start and there was no buckle on my right shoe. I could not get the buckle off my spare shoes so had to switch my cleats out and wear one 'new' (read: pretty darn old) shoe and one old (read: ancient) shoe. Then during the ride our cassette started coming loose. At first it just rattled but soon our shifting was affected and I had to occasionally overshift to grab a gear. I have never had a cassette lockring work its way loose and so the cause of this was a mystery to me.

As we approached one of those steep climbs in the second half I bailed off the bike pretty suddenly causing Shelley to fell on her left side. She scraped her elbow and when we tried to start riding again we discovered that her left cleat was still in the pedal! Try as we might we could not fix the shoe because the threaded insert was stripped and the screws would not hold. So with about 30 km to go Shelley could only clip one foot in.

Then we noticed some latex oozing from our rear tire – yep, puncture. On the up side the sealant was doing a super job! We lost maybe 5 lb of pressure and that was it.

With about 10 km to go we stopped to walk and Shelley could not get her right foot out of the pedal... Turns out this cleat had also worked itself loose and now those threads were stripped too. Luckily this time I was able to flip the threaded insert and use the other two holes. So with 10 km to go Shelley was not only not clipped in with one foot, she was also experiencing the frustration of rapid-fire mechanicals, scraped up, super exhausted and getting roasted by the sun. Welcome to day 1.

Did I mention biblical plagues? The flies...! Every time we stopped or even slowed today we were getting absolutely swarmed! I swear it was like we were a pile of dung and it was feeding time. Totally crazy. It was so bad we had to constantly swat or wave our arms at any speed under about 10-15 kph. Not so easy to exceed when you are climbing or walking!

Oh yeah, the mount for our GPS is now cracked too. No idea when that happened. So far our unit has not gone sailing off the bike so here's hoping that trend will continue.

I was feeling stellar for the first half but faded in the second. I had four cheese and jam sandwiches with me, ate three of them at fairly regular intervals but it was not enough. By the time I realized I should have eaten the fourth it was too late. I also went through TWO 100 oz bladders in my CamelBak and was still experiencing a net loss of fluids. Thank goodness for local water taps. 

I was already sweating like a faucet on the first couple of climbs and this continued throughout the day. To top it off my sun block was making me feel like I was wrapped in cellophane for some reason.

With about 20 km to go we hit a café and had a Coke and ice cream. It was delicious but those were still 20 hard km... While I ate and drank my eyes drifted across the street where the local male population was gathered playing what looked like some variation of horseshoes or Bocce but with rocks. 

They would take a swig of beer, huck a rock, walk over to see where it landed and then have more beer. Repeat. Must be a local thing. There was obvious technique involved in the throw but the goal of the game escaped me.

At one point today we descended an old Roman cobbled road that was really overgrown so you were constantly getting slapped from both sides by foliage and on occasion from above as well. Not to mention that it was very rocky (hello, Roman cobles!) and kinda tricky to ride. This was understandably pretty nerve wracking for Shelley and unfortunately corresponded with when we both were starting to feel a little bonked and when the flies were starting to mass. We had to walk the rest of the descent and most of the ascent all the time waving our arms like crazy people.

Fortunately, and it was one of the reasons we came here, all the little villages we rode through were amazing. It's like a time warp/youth suck. All the architecture is traditional, each building seems like it is about 1000 years old, all the streets are cobbled and you see VERY few young people. Everywhere it's folks who are 40 and up, actually mostly 50, 60 (70, 80?) and up. Today is Sunday and so every town square is full of the 'men' shooting the shit and having beers. Or just sitting in a doorway saying nothing. The countryside is pretty too but we sort of stopped looking around as much during the last 30 km.

After finishing today one local client commented that he was glad it had not been hot today. Yikes!

At the end of the day we were pooped. I washed the bike, put it in the hotel garage and while we were waiting for dinner got to witness a dramatic pigeon rescue. That's right, seems a pigeon had gotten itself stuck in the roof tiles of the local church and someone had the bright idea to set it free. The local male decided to make a huge production out of the rescue and got a ladder, hauled it up to part of the roof, hauled another ladder up, joined them together, climbed up and then got scared and couldn't continue. Finally it was up to one of the clients on our tour to climb up on the roof and rescue the pigeon. 

The entire town square was filled with people (read: there were about 50 locals milling about) and he got an enormous cheer.

Dinner was in our hotel and we were served by the owner who was an incredible hostess and famous for her quince jelly as it turns out. We had it for dessert and for breakfast.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Here are all the pictures.

We got picked up by the event organizers at 9:00 AM, went to pick up some other clients and then headed out for the five hour drive from Lisbon to Braganca where the ride was going to start. Two coffee stops and a lunch stop (let the daily ice cream routine begin now!) later we arrived at the hotel and all the clients got to unpacking and building bikes.

Everyone was kind of giving our bike the eye and I must say, it looked great! Here it is in all it's pre-ride glory. 

As usual there were all kinds of fancy bikes in attendance. One of the staff had a single speed, one of the clients had carbon wheels and the Antonio (the organizer) had a Rohloff hub with 14 speeds. Nice. 

Build it, test ride it, attend the briefing about tomorrow's stage and hit the sheets.

posted by: Martin Criminale

Where should I begin? How about with some links.

The Event: http://www.travessiadeportugal.com/indexEng.htm
The Organizers: CICLONATUR

And how about with some terminology.

Little Princess – Granny Gear
Flat – To quote the organizer there is 'flat' and there is 'Portuguese flat', we rarely encountered the former.
Roman Cobbles – Here in America a cobble stone is essentially a brick. In modern Portuguese streets a cobble is about half that size. Back in the Roman days a cobble was a f'n huge block of granite that was roughly hewn so that it almost appeared to be flat if viewed from a very great distance. We rode on several (and walked on several more out of necessity) Roman cobbled roads.
Breakfast – Bread, butter, cheese, cold slices of ham and jam, 200 mg yogurts, fruit, fruit juice and coffee. Can't forget the coffee. Sometimes we were treated to eggs, sausages and various other forms of warm ham.
Lunch – Sandwiches made with above bread, butter, cheese, ham and jam. Often supplemented by more sandwiches from cafes, ice cream, Coke, ice tea, fruit and pastries.
Dinner – Bread and olives (and sometimes cheese) followed by vegetable soup followed by pasta and meat. Sometimes we were treated to boiled vegetables or fish and sometimes we also got rice and salad and we always had wine; several times we had both red and white.
Salad – Green lettuce ornately arranged in a silver metal dish covered in slices of tomato and onion all drenched in olive oil. In all 14 days the standard salad that got served with dinner never once deviated from these four basic ingredients.
Salad Dressing – Olive oil and vinegar; is there anything else…?
Dessert – Custard, sweet rice pudding, fruit, chocolate mouse, cheese cakes, cream cakes, biscuit cakes, chocolate cakes, cookies, flan. OMG there was a lot of good stuff…
Kenda Nevegal – Shit tire. Oops… that comes later.
Mild – Hot.
Hot – Really, really hot.

Back in 2007 I competed in TransPortugal which is a race that more or less covers the same route as this tour. As soon as I had completed the race I began to fantasize about the tour and how much fun it would be to ride these same roads and trails without the pressure of a competition. Two years later Shelley and I purchased an Ellsworth Witness MTB tandem and started talking about doing just this. There were times when we waffled and times when we wondered if we would be able to prepare properly but we kept taking the bike out into the woods, riding our road tandem and eventually we had plane tickets and there was no backing out. So it begins.

Here are all the pictures.

About two months prior to arriving at the airport I had called Delta Airlines and asked 1) if we could fly our tandem to Lisbon and 2) how much it would cost. After speaking with what was in hindsight a totally clueless representative I was quoted $200 one way. Kind of expensive I thought to myself but hey, it's only about twice as much as a single bike so it almost seems fair. As we hurried to load the car in front of our garage I realized at the last minute that I had forgotten my folding multi-tool so quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into my carry-on bag.

Until we arrived at the airport I had NO idea how much our bike box weighed. Under the completely aghast stare of the woman behind the Delta counter I hefted the box on the scale and saw in disbelief as the numbers rose into the triple digits. Over 100 lb. Needless to say the person helping us had never seen a box this big, this heavy and had no idea how much to charge us.

She called over her co-worker and the longer they talked the higher the price went. Soon I was paying the bike fee plus an oversize fee plus an overweight fee. The total? Something like $625! Even they could not believe it so one of them called over a manager to escalate the situation. Thank goodness too because this woman was very kind and actually tried to help us. She explained that a bike is already by definition oversized so that was one surcharge we did not have to pay. Still, the total came to $500; what could we do? Our flight was leaving in less than two hours. We lumped it and paid. To top it all off the Delta (Seattle to Amsterdam) people could not guarantee that KLM (Amsterdam to Lisbon) would take our bike on the plane. Again, what could we do? We crossed our fingers and headed off to boarding.

As my bag got x-rayed the TSA guy behind the metal detector asked me if I had anything sharp in my bag. I'm like, "Of course not." So he pulls me aside and opens my bag and extracts my multi-tool. Turns out one of the widgets is a tiny serrated blade…! "What's this then?" he asks and all I can do is murmur something about a bike tool and how we're going on a cycling trip and how I really need it. And you know what? He hands it back to me, gives me a wink and tells me to please check it next time. Yes sir, I sure will and thankyouverymuch.

The Schiphol airport in Amsterdam isn't so bad. There is lots to eat, several nice bars and some reclining chairs at the gates. 
  

Once in Lisbon we wasted no time in getting to our hotel and then to the local supermarket that is under a bull fighting arena. 

Here we get some dinner and snacks for the drive to the start the next day.

posted by: Martin Criminale

These days it seems to me that most governments are quite hamstrung and even if they really wanted to do something significant they would almost be incapable of effecting any significant kind of change due to all the red tape, checks and balances and whatnot.

Well here is an example of one government getting down and dirty.

Turns out Hungary has a lot of domains and like most cases of sprawl, lots of their web content is totally out of date and much of it is not even needed. So what did they decide to do? Clean it up of course. Check it out:

http://fvm.gov.hu/

And just in case the site gets cleaned before you view this, here is the English version:

And in case you are wondering, the OMG does in fact link to the Wikipedia definition. Too funny.

Way to go Hungary – it's a start anyway.