October 19, 2021
Trancoso to Viseu
Seeing Trancoso in the morning light was a fantastic way to start the day. We walked on the walls and climbed the castle tower where we admired the views in the clear blue sky -looking north east where we had been yesterday and to the south west, where we were heading today.
After a quick breakfast and the 5km joyride downhill, it was time to get in gear for the real beginning of today's ride. Before us was an intense climb to another ridge of windmills which Steve felt would go much better with a fresh oil added to our chains. One hour in and we are already up 200 meters. The ride off the remote backside of this mountain was exhilarating. How to explain to you what it was like to be flying at the same level as the eagle beside us catching the air currents. Yes we were flying and feeling alive!
Many, many ups and downs later we ate our picnic lunch in the town of Valagotes (alas, no goats to be seen) picking fresh figs from our shade tree for dessert.
We tried to capture the essence of the villages we cycled through with our pictures to give you a sense of the beauty in the narrow cobblestone alleyways, stone walls, windows, roof lines and peeling paint. Impossible to capture.
By 4 pm it was 27C in the sun, we were parched and worn out from climbs when we found a shady bench and cafe in Penalva do Castelo where we downed water and shots of coffee before continuing on the last 20 km.
Earlier in the day, Steve had mused how navigating with a GPS app allows us to travel on roads and through areas that he could not imagine finding with traditional maps, but it was slightly disconcerting to be somewhat blindly following a machine that tells you when to turn. We are so grateful for the technology that has brought us on these stunning rides. But, one must be careful with a powerful tool! Case in point: late in the day GPS routed us onto a dirt track for 900m to cut over a ridge. Bumping down a steep hill through vineyards and admiring the views, we didn't hear the instruction to turn onto a less obvious track until we were way down the hill. Not wanting to push back up, we plotted an alternative route that was a bit longer but still looked reasonable and was downhill to the pavement. What looked like roads on the GPS map deteriorated into lanes through orchards but by then we were so far in the bottom of the valley and daylight was fading, that we had to press on. Eventually the "road" came to the river, which we crossed using a series of stepping stones as a bridge. Yes, GPS led us out of the orchard and back to the road, but would we have got there using a map?
The detour through the orchard had cost us precious time on what was already a long day, which meant a frantic climb over the ridge in twilight and a scary, final 10km into Viseu with suburban traffic in the dark. By 9pm we were showered, in our best clothes and fashionably on time to be sitting on a terrace looking over the cathedral square ordering dinner. Ahh, the ups and downs of life on tour!
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2 years ago
Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 1,750 km (1,087 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
2 years ago
I see you had a great trip on the Via Rhona this fall too. Living in France 🇫🇷. Lucky!
2 years ago
It was a super day. Every day is an adventure as well you know but this day was particularly sweet! One for the memory book!
2 years ago
2 years ago