May 7, 2013

We have a lot to do before setting off, it nearly as bad as setting out from Colmenar.  Chris is packing his stuff into his camper van to head down south, we have to pack the bikes from scratch because everything has been taken out of the bags over the last week and we have to sort out the house, clearing out food and trying to remember to turn off water, electric etc.  We’ve planned a short run today as we anticipated starting off late,  we expect to feel unfit and Ken’s back is not quite back to normal, so he needs to make sure he doesn’t do any more damage. I’m worried that I’ll forget something vital that we need on the bikes or I’ll forget to do something vital before leaving the house. When we eventually do set off we have that horrible wobbly feeling again as we try to adapt to the weight on the bikes.

We pick up the road we went along a couple of days ago. It is a succession of gradual climbs and gradual descents and we soon get into our stride. The sky is full of dark clouds threatening rain, but there is a slight breeze behind us and it is warm, quite good cycling weather in fact. The landscape is one of remote moorland. We hit a really good stretch of flat road on a plateau for a few kilometres, before running downhill for a few more and then the inevitable long, slow uphill.  The rain is still holding off.  We seem to be travelling through an area particularly supportive of cycle tourists, people wave, toot their horns or shout ‘bon voyage’ as we pass by and when we stop for a picnic lunch we are joined by a little old lady dressed in black who shook our hands and then talked non-stop for half-an-hour even though we haven’t a clue what she was saying.

The new route we have taken has the benefit of heading towards a place we know called Almeida, which is a fortified village (nearly all the villages on the Portuguese side of the frontier with Spain are fortified and many are the scenes of battles which took place in the Peninsula Wars).  It has a Pousada (equivalent of a Parador in Spain) within the walls of the fort, which is an up-market hotel in an historic setting – usually a converted castle. This was another reason for changing our route because struggling to find accommodation can lead to long cycling days, which we don’t want on this first run after a break.  At the top of the long hill we reach the village, enter the fort through the gatehouse and check-in to the Pousada with no problems.  The Pousada has huge rooms in a classical old style but with new style technology like WiFi, giving me the opportunity to make contact with the outside world for the first time in a week.  Our house in Urgueira is a real get-away-from-it-all place where you can’t get a signal for your ‘phone or TV nor WiFi.  Nice for a while, but sends you a bit bonkers after that.

The receptionist tells me that it’s going to rain tomorrow and the TV weather forecast says the same thing.  Maybe we’ll be lucky again and it won’t materialize.