Cycling is imo a fab way to see a Country. You get to go to small towns and villages that you would never be able to go to on a coach, and are unlikely to visit in a car. Meeting some of the locals, staying in small hotels and bed & breakfasts, tasting the local food 🌽 😘 sampling local wine🍷 (be rude not to really 😊) Seeing the wildlife 🦅 and cycling through different environments is all part of the experience. You never know what's going to happen or when! 😁.
I've just arrived in Porto and about to start my 4th Cycle trip with Peak Tours and would highly recommend them. Having all the hotels, food, coffee stops, GPX files, bike transportation and luggage sorted, with someone else worrying about the details makes life so much easier. All I and my 24 fellow travellers need to do is rock up and ride our bikes - what's not to like!
Porto is a lovely city & seems to have a very relaxed vibe, even in mid October the climate is warm and the cafe culture very much alive & kicking. There is a huge amount of building work going on with very large cranes!
The coffee is strong, the gelato 🍨 delicious, the Portuguese pastries Pastel da nata 🥮 a delight. I think I'll need to watched the pounds with so many sweet things around.
We start cycling tomorrow from the Paradela Dam a couple of hours outside of Porto. We have 620 miles (1000 km) approx & some 46,000 feet (14,000 metres) to cover over the next 11 days. Thank you for being on this adventure and journey with me 😊 I'll update my blog daily as I go along, I hope you enjoy reading the daily updates 😁🚴♀️👍
Well this morning dawned grey, dull, misty & wet ..... Garmin says we cycled 54.7 miles (89 km) with 3800 ft of ascent and 7 climbs, I'm not sure where Garmin gets its figures from, but it felt like more than that & it also classifies an average of 9% for 776 metres as "Easy".😵💫
44 miles (70 km), 3967 ft (1210m) of ascent, a total of 9 climbs (according to Garmin). I'm using my Felt Endurance bike it has Di2, a 50/34 Shimano Ultegra gearing with a 34 cassette, hopefully enough for the hills.
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Thank you Richard, I’ve got my fingers crossed for favourable weather & a kind breeze, we have the later unfortunately the former has not been so accommodating, however there’s always tomorrow 🤞🤞
Enjoy the ride, wishing you good weather and a following breeze 🌬️👍
Thank you Doreen, you are always so kind. I’m glad you enjoy the blog. It has been torrential again today, fingers crossed for tomorrow xx
The weather is probably going to be good for cycling all those miles enjoy
Bom Dia 👋 Amazing Wendy!
Sounds like a lovely trip and totally get the coffee vibe. They have lots of lovely pastries!
Looking forward to reading about your journey and seeing some fab photos!
🤞 the weather improves!
So far so good except for the rain! Hope it clears up sion and you can enjoy sunshine. Looking forward to your blogs
Omg - sounds amazing - another adventure
Thanks Sara, I’ve got my fingers crossed for the weather. I’ll definitely take the advice on the left handed & the cobbles. Enjoy your time in Spain x
Wondered when you were going to start. Hope the weather is good to you - watch out for a sharp left handler not long after the start of Day 1- and the tiles in every village. Looking forward to reading your blog x