October 1, 2016

The start of the day is an action replay of yesterday with us taking a ferry across a river.  Just as we reach the quayside to board the boat, Ken suffers a puncture, the first of the trip.  It is not at all surprising given the roadsides around Lisbon have all been lined with broken glass.  We have noticed that this is more and more common in any city area.

We replace the inner tube on the quayside, where, whilst Ken is reinflating the tyre, I spot the largest jellyfish I have every seen swimming alongside the quay.  They were about two foot in diameter.  Looks like the sign asking the public to keep the water clean to protect the wildlife is working.

The road is flat and straight along a spit of sand lined with pine trees and blue sea either side, giving us a great run before lunch.  Further on we reach mudflats where we watch the waders for a while.

This is rice growing terrain which is always good for birdlife.

The afternoon run is slightly undulating but still nice going.  So much so that we arrive at the end point of the stage too early to stop and for the first time on the tour decide to travel on further.  Just up the road, tell tale signs of recent roadworks appear, “I hope they haven’t built a motorway” I joked – a ludicrous idea given we are on a tiny backroad just big enough for two cars to pass.  Not so ludicrous, apparently, as there is the board stating that it is the new A26 motorway and showing the sign for no pedestrians, no bikes, no horses and no tractors.  We asked a local about an alternative road, she told us that the motorway had opened only a few days previously utilising the old road and there was no alternative road for bikes.  This part of the Eurovelo 1 route only opened in July this year – you would have thought they would have known about the planned motorway.

We have no choice but to turn inland and make a detour, the road turning upwards along the vine lined slopes to Santiago do Cacém.  I’ll need to research how to get back on track tomorrow.  Hopefully, we’ll have internet access at our hotel tonight.