Our Longest Day So Far, and The Steepest: "Oh Mama Mia", Do We Have to Climb That Sucker? - A tour of France, and Portugal - CycleBlaze

October 5, 2014

Our Longest Day So Far, and The Steepest: "Oh Mama Mia", Do We Have to Climb That Sucker?

Today's total ascent was 1090m.

Today was pretty much a get from A to B, kind of day. It started off with some downhill and "Portuguese" flat for the first part of the day, and then the torture began. We had some of the usual 15% grade! and one long hill of over 8km with an average of 9%. When we stopped for our last break of the day, we were looking up at a "oh Mama Mia", hill. This sucker was STEEP.

We passed through a large area of eucalyptus trees, which was a pleasant scent, to help with the hill climbing. The day ended near Castelo de Bode Dam, which is a concrete arch-gravity dan on the Zezere River, a tributary of the Tagus River, located southwest of Tomar. It is one of the tallest structures in Portugal. It is used for water supply to Lisbon, power generation, defence against floods and recreation activities.

It was a very tiring day, but it also had a good feeling of accomplishment. Our hotel for the night is very lovely with a beautiful view if the river.

Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 1,436 miles (2,311 km)

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