November 27, 2021
Epilogue
We are a little slow getting up our final entry....
It’s been over a week since arriving home. We have been connecting with family and friends, sharing stories and taking time to reflect on our trip - three countries, ten weeks, with many highlights and very few low points. We feel that our first European cycle trip in retirement was an unqualified success. We have been asked what was our best city/town, best beach, best cycle day, best campsite, best meal, best accommodation, etc. It's so hard to say what was "best" on an extended trip when every day brought new and different superlatives. However, since this is a cycle blog, we feel we would like to at least share what were were some of our best cycling days, by country: France 1). Redortiere to Angouleme 2). Pouliac to Carcans. Spain 3). Hondarribia to San Sebastián 4). Zaurartz to Leiketia and the next day Leiketia to Mutaka. Portugal 5). Ciudad Rodrigo to Castelo Rodrigo and the next day Castelo Rodrigo to Transcoso 6). Porto to Torraria 7). Sintra to Lisbon.
Other bests are hard to choose. We were very lucky to have brilliant blue sunshine for most of the ten weeks. Even our last week in Lisbon was one continuous spell of incredible sunny weather. Residents of Lisbon couldn’t believe the weather either, as November is their rainiest month of the year. What a cornucopia of exceptional scenery: verdant vineyards, cascading rivers, spectacular beaches, rugged coast lines, high desert plateau, tucked-away nature reserves, isolated ethereal villages, vibrant cities, ancient hilltop castles with embedded lived-in towns and lots and lots of HILLS!
What do we love about touring on our bikes? The freedom, living most days (and many nights) outside, having no fixed schedule, the serendipity of getting lost and then finding ourselves in some surprisingly interesting or beautiful place, the wonderful people we meet, the delicious food, fresh fish, picnics (both food and vistas), and the pure adventure of it all! Every day is a new unknown experience and an adrenaline high. That is, once your body is over the first week of aches from riding a bicycle every day and sleeping in a tent! By the end we were feeling so good, we decided to come back and ride some more. Now we have to figure out how to keep active during the winter months before we ride again!
Thank you to all of you who have followed along and as well those of you who wrote comments or offered suggestions of what to see and do. We really feel part of a great community and writing the blog was easier knowing you were joining us on our journey.Fabulous weather which really made the trip extra special. Here is the weather for our last days in Lisbon.
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ann and steve maher-wearyIt makes it easier to do knowing you are following along. Thank you for your comments and support. I love reading yours as well!
2 years ago
2 years ago
Scott FenwickWow what an amazing trip! Thank you for all your posts. You really captured the wonderful experience of being a cycle tourist. Often a challenge and always so rewarding.
I see that you will be heading south out of Lisbon on your next chapter. Pat and I just returned from a quick ride down the coast from Lisbon. It is a wonderful ride. The coastal scenes are really spectacular. Unfortunately, this was just a short 3-week trip for us so we did not create a blog. Since you may be doing some route planning, we can offer a couple of observations.
1) We took a regional train out of Lisbon to Coina to begin our ride and this may have taken out some of the busier roads close to Lisbon.
2) Be aware that the lower coastal road before Setubal is closed until February 28 2022. Fortunately, we rode on N379 but we met 3 cyclists that found out the hard way that the road was closed and had a huge uphill ride to get back. The construction may be completed when you arrive but it is worth a check. The upper road (N379) is quite nice too.
3) We took our time going down the coast as the towns are really great and the scenery even better. We rode to many of the beaches on route usually averaging only 50Kms a day. Our routings can be found at https://ridewithgps.com/users/1419013 starting November 9th.
4) We found that November was a great month as the weather was still warm and few cars on the road. As there is a fair bit of secondary highway riding along the coast, we thought that during peak season it would not be great. Spring will likely be much less busy as well.
5) Lagos is worth a few days in our opinion. Beautiful area and town.
Looking forward to reading about your next adventure.
2 years ago
I see that you will be heading south out of Lisbon on your next chapter. Pat and I just returned from a quick ride down the coast from Lisbon. It is a wonderful ride. The coastal scenes are really spectacular. Unfortunately, this was just a short 3-week trip for us so we did not create a blog. Since you may be doing some route planning, we can offer a couple of observations.
1) We took a regional train out of Lisbon to Coina to begin our ride and this may have taken out some of the busier roads close to Lisbon.
2) Be aware that the lower coastal road before Setubal is closed until February 28 2022. Fortunately, we rode on N379 but we met 3 cyclists that found out the hard way that the road was closed and had a huge uphill ride to get back. The construction may be completed when you arrive but it is worth a check. The upper road (N379) is quite nice too.
3) We took our time going down the coast as the towns are really great and the scenery even better. We rode to many of the beaches on route usually averaging only 50Kms a day. Our routings can be found at https://ridewithgps.com/users/1419013 starting November 9th.
4) We found that November was a great month as the weather was still warm and few cars on the road. As there is a fair bit of secondary highway riding along the coast, we thought that during peak season it would not be great. Spring will likely be much less busy as well.
5) Lagos is worth a few days in our opinion. Beautiful area and town.
Looking forward to reading about your next adventure.
2 years ago
ann and steve maher-wearyHello Scott and Pat
Thanks for your info. We are going to appreciate having your routing maps in the spring. Thank you! It seems we probably overlapped a day or so on Lisbon. It would have been great to meet you in person. Hopefully our paths will cross on the trails in Europe soon.
I am glad the weather held for you. As we left on the 9th the forecast was showing another week of sunshine. Sun and no crowds is a terrific combination. Are you mulling over another trip in 2022? Cheers Ann
2 years ago
Thanks for your info. We are going to appreciate having your routing maps in the spring. Thank you! It seems we probably overlapped a day or so on Lisbon. It would have been great to meet you in person. Hopefully our paths will cross on the trails in Europe soon.
I am glad the weather held for you. As we left on the 9th the forecast was showing another week of sunshine. Sun and no crowds is a terrific combination. Are you mulling over another trip in 2022? Cheers Ann
2 years ago
Eva WaltersTo Scott FenwickHi Scott,
Didn't you guys just return from Vienna in October? I enjoyed reading your journal from that tour, and was interested to read here that you must have braved another airplane trip to Europe in November. You certainly picked a good time to take another break from BC.
2 years ago
Didn't you guys just return from Vienna in October? I enjoyed reading your journal from that tour, and was interested to read here that you must have braved another airplane trip to Europe in November. You certainly picked a good time to take another break from BC.
2 years ago
Scott FenwickTo Eva WaltersHi Eva,
That is correct. We are making up for lost time! We had a very good tour in October and when we arrived back home the rain seemed to be relentless. After a fall yard clean up, we began looking for ways to get back to the sun. Portugal's weather looked great and we had previously planned a ride down the coast years ago but Scott injured his knee so we didn't complete the ride. We just dusted off the old ride plan, checked on the local covid situation and the vaccination requirements and arranged the travel. The Bike Fridays were still in their cases! It was a really nice ride just not very long and the weather was great. We hope to organize another ride in May or June. But with the new travel restrictions getting more and more difficult each day, who knows........
2 years ago
That is correct. We are making up for lost time! We had a very good tour in October and when we arrived back home the rain seemed to be relentless. After a fall yard clean up, we began looking for ways to get back to the sun. Portugal's weather looked great and we had previously planned a ride down the coast years ago but Scott injured his knee so we didn't complete the ride. We just dusted off the old ride plan, checked on the local covid situation and the vaccination requirements and arranged the travel. The Bike Fridays were still in their cases! It was a really nice ride just not very long and the weather was great. We hope to organize another ride in May or June. But with the new travel restrictions getting more and more difficult each day, who knows........
2 years ago
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