October 2, 2016

First task of the day is to stock up our dwindling supplies.  The next task is to continue climbing to reach the top of the climb to top of the hill/mountain that Santiago is situated on.  It is a nice climb on a lovely, quiet road, which is lined with cork oaks.  It is just like our favourite regular cycling route at home.  We’re running along the ridge of the serra with far-reaching views on either side.  Woods to the horizon on the left and, in the distance, views of coast on the right.  It looks like we didn’t miss anything by bypassing Sines on the coast- from what we can see it is surrounded by a mass of pylons and the chimneys of an oil refinery and a power station.  The road undulates through the trees for about 20 kilometres before we join a busier road.

It takes us 40 kilometres to get back to the offical route after our detour yesterday. I calculate the overall distance and find that the detour inland has not taken any more kilometres than the offical route through Sines. As we cycled an extra 30 kilometres yesterday, we arrive at the offical end point of today’s stage after only 2 hours of riding.  We carry on and aim to get to within about 20 kilometres of the end of the next stage.  By tomorrow we will have pulled in a full extra stage, giving us time to take an extra day off if we want.

The second half of the day becomes considerably slower when we turn off a nice surface onto rough roads and dirt tracks, but we are passing though a picturesque area, so we don’t mind.

At one point, we pass through fields of crops that we don’t recognise. Another one for the internet unless someone out there can tell me what they are.

As we near Odeceixe, our overnight stop for today, we climb a hill to be faced with grazing antelope, ostriches and other wildlife of the Serengeti.  Nearly as strange as a motorway in the middle of nowhere.  It is not a zoo and there are no signs of it being a tourist attraction.  So, we shrug and cycle onwards – just another normal day in Portugal.