September 21, 2016

If every day were like today I would never get on a bike to tour again.  You may have gathered that it hasn’t gone well.

It didn’t even start well when we wasted our first 10 kilometres, passing the same spot three times, just trying to get out of a small industrial port town on the outskirts of Aveiro.  The problem was motorways encircling the town blocking all outgoing routes to bicycles.  The only Eurovelo sign we encountered appeared to be sending us east when we wanted south, but we went anyway thinking there must be a turn-off somewhere to get us in the right direction.  There wasn’t.  A combination of map, compass, the sun and Google maps on the phone finally released us from the labyrinth.

Being on the right road was a relief, but the road itself was a pretty dreary affair.  It was flanked for kilometre after kilometre with houses -the most diverse range of styles you could imagine, colonial mansions, modern glass cubes, 1950s monstrosities covered in coloured tiles, Swiss chalets, log cabins……but interspaced with half finished projects and derelict ruins.  All a bit depressing.

Still, we have the final part of the ride to look forward to which is shown on the route as a dead straight road running through a nature reserve of dunes.  Another 12 kilometres of wasted riding later we find the right road and wish we hadn’t.  The surface is flint cobbles set in concrete but completely covered in potholes.  It is worse to ride than a dirt track, much worse.  I coming crashing off my bike at one stage, I’ve not done that in a while.  We have 30 kilometres of this to endure with no alternative.  This has not been a good day.