Off We Go!
Next Leg of RTW Travel…
5th April - 9th April | 2023
On Tuesday I went over to James late evening with such a loaded bike that I hardly could move. The extra luggage was the remainings out of my fridge, my MEO-equipment we still had to return next morning and my old helmet as we still had to swop over the intercom system to my new one. No wonder James was first shocked when he saw the overloaded bike ;-)
Next morning we still had to adjust and adapt things, but at 10am we hit the road; to Albufeira though to drop off my MEO-equipment as I cancelled my internet/TV contract. So finally we hit the road towards the North about lunch time. The plan was to do day 2 and 1 of the ACT Portugal (www.adventurecountrytracks.com) backwards. We only got as far as Vila Velha de Rodão, where we camped nearly at an old camping spot of ours. As it was getting cold at night, we had a little campfire going before we went to bed.
The next morning we headed off towards Braga direction to hit there the ACT Portugal day 2. When having breakfast around Castelo Branco, James wanted to check out where the noise on the back of his bike was coming from. He was thinking it was his rear sprocket carrier bearing, but it wasn’t. He tightened the chain a bit more to be on the safe side. After that we changed the plan to got already to Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, getting some lunch and then hitting the finally the ACT.
It was a lovely riding up in the North getting to the famous Douro valley. Everything was nicely green or in blossom and we were so lucky with the good, sunny weather. The track of the ACT takes you along the Douro and we found there a lovely camping spot with a stunning view down the valley. And as the cherry on the cake we had a cinematic arise of the moon. Before we went to slept the sky was full of sparkling stars - what could you ask more for?!?
The next morning we changed again our plans a bit as we have to crack on a bit as I, Steffi, have to catch the ferry in Barcelona on Monday night. We then skipped the remaining of ACT day 2 and a part of day 1 and hit the track north of Freixo de Espada á Cinta, where we had breakfast. Today the track was lovely wide farm tracks, winding through the area of Tras as Montes. We only had one uphill where you really had to keep up your momentum as full of stones and ruts. At the last switchbacks I lost momentum, but didn’t drop my bike though! As it was too difficult for me to get my momentum to get going, James had to take my bike the last approx 200m, which was the right decision as the last bit got really rocky.
I must admit, I was pretty proud of my offroad the last 2 days, as I had to get used again to the fully loaded bike. And I managed not to drop the bike - Hurray! However, it would have been a good option to work out a practical way of lifting the bike up as I now I have a new luggage set up with Enduristan luggage (www.enduristan.pt).
The next morning we only left lunch time as we had a bit of a lie-in; which was needed to dry the tent in the sunshine. We stopped a Decathlon in Zamora as I needed a gas cooker. During the last days I came to the conclusion, that this should be enough for me to boil a cup of tea or some water for the hot water bottle. You should know I am a person that hardly cooks for myself as I can live on bread and cheese for a very long time ;-D! Once in Spain the driving got a bit boring as mainly flat land and hardly any twisties. We camped the night at a camping spot James camped last year on his way home. Very nice, next to a river. The only downside was, it got very cold at night as being so close to the river!
The next morning, once the tent was dry to pack away (as I will not need it until Albania) we headed of to the Sad Hill Cemetery. As I was a huge western and Clint Eastwood fan in my youth, I was curious about visiting the place where the showdown of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" was filmed. Unfortunately Clint Eastwood didn’t pass by on his horse ..., but lots of tourists in their cars! James said it wasn’t that touristic last year, but we were there this time on a bank holiday.
The next stop was the "Nascimento del Duoro", the spring of the Duro-river, which was only 60km away. We got as far as 3km to it, as the rest would have been a hiking pass. As there was a nice picnic area close by, we had our lunch snack there; well, whatever we still had in our food-bag. After that it was time, to crack on to Zaragoza to the hotel for the night - back to civilisation after 4 night of camping! Finally having a lovely hot shower and getting really clean under my fingernails; thought that was impossible ;-)
This is our last night together before James heads back home. We only will be reunited again end of June in Turkey where we will travel Turkey, Georgia and Armenia together. It was such a great time together! It was a good start for me to get a bit back into the swing; not full swing yet as it still feels like just an ordinary holiday-trip together. So let´s see, how I get on on my little own in the unknown! Grab a beer and see how I manage in the next blog!
Places | Cities:
PORTUGAL:
Albufeira, Beja, Evora, Portalegre, Vila Velha de Rodão, Castelo Branco, Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Freixo de Espada á Cinta, Muradouro, Bragança.
SPAIN:
Zamora, Palencia, Zaragoza
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 1455km
Maintenance | Breakdown:
James tightening his chain
Health issues:
./.
Special thanks to:
North of Portugal providing us with fantastic roads and stunning views.
Sad Hill Cemetery to remind me of my passion about western movies in my youth.