…by hills!!

We have ridden ourselves into a corner of great big hills. The planning department will need to be spoken to about this!

Knowing now that our time in France will be excluded from the Schengen Visa zone, due to a 1947 post war agreement between France and New Zealand being still in force, we decided to take the time to bike east to Madrid.

Heading out along the Rio Douro seemed like an obvious choice. The pictures I’d seen of this route were very enticing.

And it was! The river views were stunning as was the day. Quiet, green, and undulating (to start with).

It seemed kinda magical, like looking out to sea and being just there, in the moment, looking at the horizon. The river was innately calming, being at one with my surroundings.

We passed the Barragem de Crestuna-Lever, a 470m long concrete gravity dam, completed in 1985 after 9 years construction. The lock on the right hand side can manage ships up to 83m long and 11.4m on the beam. It was amazing to think it could handle the long river cruise boats heading up river.

The first note of alarm should have been the long descent into Campidouro in Meda, mixed in with some awkward steep cobblestones streets.

The camp ground was very quiet and we found a spot right at the bottom next to the river.

Set up, we watched the river boats pass, taking Porto tourists further up river. Possibly a more luxurious way to travel than our option.

We meet a lovely couple from Switzerland, who were concerned about how cold it would be overnight and lent us a their large outdoor mat to put under our tent. So generous!

Back up the hill the next day we continued to follow the river but not as close as we had been.

The views continued to be spectacular.

With Komoot trying to keep us off the main road, which although was narrow at times wasn’t a concern, we rode more steep windy cobblestones streets.

Our fully laden bikes weigh in at about 50 kilos each, with Greg taking the lion’s share (of course)!

Add in that the traction on the cobblestones just isn’t as good as on tarseal and then add in steep cobblestoned streets. It’s just plain hard work. Tiring!

Arriving in the small village of Abragão was very welcome, as was the lovely private rural home we stayed in.

A short walk back into the village for a drink in a local bar and then a beautiful dinner in a local restaurant.

Restored with delicious food and comfortable surroundings to rest our already weary bodies (and this was only day 2 back on the bikes after nearly couple of weeks), we were ready for the next day.

With another hilly day and more cobblestones, and resorting to push our bikes in a few places when the gradient was just too much (and this is an absolute last resort), it was an absolute delight to find a cycleway next to the river for the last 5kms heading into Amarante.

I thought I was doing well but the cycleway came to an abrupt end, (the river was up and covering the path), just as we got to town.

Back on the cobblestones and a street too steep to ride, I was suddenly drained of all energy.

Surely it can’t be always like this!

Making our way to the campground and setting up, I was tired and not sure I could ride on. I’m not sure what hitting the wall is like, but maybe this was it??

Grateful for Greg’s calmness… let’s sleep on it and review the maps and routes in the morning. Perfect.

A beautiful morning was spent in the campground café pouring over maps, routes and elevations.

The planning department was consulted (me), and it was clear, we were surrounded by hills!!

I knew there was to be lots of hills and climbing but just how many and how hard it was to be wasn’t something I had foreseen.

No matter which way we tried to plan the hills are there and bigger than where we have come from.

There was no way out that didn’t require even more climbing than we had done. I struggled with this. We were here to ride, was I a failure??

But I knew I couldn’t ride the hills. I didn’t seem to have the capacity, wondering if walking the Camino had taken more energy than I had realised.

Taking a train also ended in dead ends. Where ever the train ended, the hills were still there.

Then the lightbulb… let’s just bus into Spain. Get totally out of the hills and start again.

Or maybe we could just stay in Amarante, looks very lovely and there are choices – walk in ready or a project!

Benavente in Spain was to be the answer. The riding from there looked fine, relatively flat. And we could bus there from Amarante.

The bus was a couple of days away so an enforced rest day it was.

A lovely view as we walked the couple of kilometres into town.

It was Sunday and apart from the church, tourist spots were closed, giving us space to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of Amarante.

The beautiful Rio Tâmega ran through the town adding to it’s peaceful setting.

In town we came across a wedding outside the Amarante church. Everyone was immaculately dressed. Now I understand the need for fancy dress shops I’ve been seeing. The dresses were beautiful!

The small streets with independent stores were mixed with disused buildings and some intriguing artworks.

Complete with a beautiful frog in residence.

We met the same Swiss couple, that we had met in Meda, in town and joined them at their place in the campground for an evening coffee/tea and delicious chocolate biscuits. We were grateful for their small amount of English as our Swiss was well….!

Having got some cardboard and plastic wrap from the local supermarket, we were set to make the bikes bus ready tomorrow.

Greg did an amazing job… front wheel off, pedals off, front pannier racks off, handlebars turned sideways, strategically placed cardboard and ready for wrapping – a great way finish packing bikes.

Bus ready!!

Spain we are on our way!

Biked: 87 kms (Total 460 kms)