Cranked Up Cyclist

Our last day today, which is sad, it's been a great trip. I am looking forward to going home & seeing the OH & Shaddow the cat 🐈‍⬛. I'm pleased that I've racked up approx. 5,280 miles on my bike this year. I think that probs. more than I've done in the car! 😂. My lovely Felt bike needs a little bit of TLC when I get home, maybe a new chain & some brake pads. 

I suppose it had to happen sooner or later, yesterday 1 person got lost, after lunch they missed a turn & ended up nearer Vila Vicosa than Mouro 😂.  Funny, not funny, we've all done it.....fortunately he realised after about 15/20 miles and had to be picked up 😂😂😂.  Obvs no one mentioned it at all during the evening 🤥🤥🤭. 

A couple of questions to start off the day 😂, we have passed lots of sheep 🐑, & goats 🐐, wearing bells 🔔 around their necks.

So imo Marvao is beautiful & deserves to be on the list of places to visit before you die 😊👌, however, the tough crowd I am cycling with would seem to differ 😂😂. The views are spectacular and hard to describe, I've added a few photos at the bottom of the blog 😊 it's 1€ 50c to go up to the castle & well worth it! 

We arrived in Alcantara quite early yesterday. The weather was glorious, it would seem we all had the same idea about taking an opportunity to do some washing!  I thought this photo that was taken was quite funny 😂😂

Monsanto is an amazing place. If you are ever in Portugal & get the chance to go, do it.  I would recommend a pair of walking shoes & leave your bike towards the bottom of the hill! (Can't believe I've just said that 🤣🤣) I've put a selection of the photos at the bottom of the blog. Simply stunning place!

Belmonte (where we stayed last night) and the Jewish community can be traced back to approx the 13th Century.  The history of the place is recorded in the Belmonte Jewish Museum which opened in 2005. The people practised their faith for many years in secret. A synagogue was established in 1996, so relatively recently. There are a lot of Jewish references as you walk around the town, be good to come back and discover more 😊 I tried to get a photo of the Synagogue unfortunately it was just too misty 😓We stayed in the Belmonte Sinai Hotel & had yet another feast 😋😋👌For the first time on this trip I've had a kettle in the room, so having a cup of tea in bed, what a treat 🫖☕️😊.

Yesterday as we rode towards the little town of Freixinho, there were huge boulders scattered along the road side, a bit like something you would expect to see in Jurassic Park! Strange but very old and beautiful.  It's difficult to describe the landscape it is so beautiful & rugged & every turn gives you a different perspective.

Today was much shorter only 52 miles (84 km) but hillier 😳 some 4,800 ft (1400 metres) of ascent and in Garmins world only 9 climbs. 

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.