Caves & Castles

This is our journey back to France, Spain & Portugal to visit some of the things we’ve overlooked in the past. Meer informatie

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Caves & Castles Misadventures Of Wanda
Back to Castril
28 oktober 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
It was really cold last night, down to 8°c which is unheard of for this time of year and it rained again. I’ll be honest the weather is nearly as depressing as at home but it hasn’t actually stopped us going anything.
Our first stop of the day was a 70 mile drive back to Castril. We have only come back here because we were passing and it’s a beautiful walk along the catwalks running through the gorge and it is a lovely town and it’s all free this time of the year. Unfortunately it wasn’t sunny like last time but we are glad we have experienced it in the sun because it did look stunning last time.Meer informatie
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Marchal
28 oktober 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Our next stop of the day was supposed to be a free Motorhome area in Poco Alzon but although there was a tap and a dump station the whole area looked run down and there were 2 dogs left outside at one of the houses next to the Motorhome area and although they were quiet when we pulled up you can bet your life they will bark at night.
We pressed on and drove to our next park up which was deep in the Sierra Nevada badlands in the edge of the town of Marchel. This village is a true troglodyte village and there are still cave houses being lived in. There is a new set of stairs leading up to some of the older cave houses and I managed to get into one and there were newspapers from 1983. That was the last time someone lived there, but the cave itself is hundreds of years old.
Our Motorhome area is beautiful and free and we are overlooking the badlands. It’s a shame the weather is so bad. We have weather warnings tonight for severe rain.Meer informatie
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Antequera
29 oktober 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
We hardly got any sleep last night. We were in the middle of the storm from hell. Thunder and lightning started at around 7pm last night and went through the whole night. There must have been hours where there were no gaps atall in the noise from the thunder and there was just a constant rumble. It was great but we couldn’t sleep and we had it all day today aswell.
We left our park up in Marchel at 10am and drove to Granada to visit decathlon but I was so tired and it was so stressful finding a parking spot I just wanted to leave as soon as I got in which was a wasted experience in such a big store and I’m now regretting it.
Then we drove to Antequera but the rain on the way was really unbelievable. The motorway turned into a river and traffic was down to 30mph a lot of the way because no one could see. We had mega lightning and huge hail stones. Then getting into Antequera TomTom took me right through the city centre. Even though I had made a big note on my notes not to drive through the city I hadn’t read it because we were so tired.
The last 2 photos are some of the streets we got Wanda down.
They were cobbled and really steep and the second hill we wheelspun the whole way up. As soon as I saw a side street that went down I went down it and then we popped out onto a main road and there was our parking spot for the night.
Once the rain stopped at 4:30pm we headed out into the city to visit the historic sights.Meer informatie
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It’s still *******g raining!!
30 oktober 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
It rained pretty much all night and we woke up to news that Malaga and Valencia are heavily flooded and 34 people have been killed. There’s also been a tornado.
We’ve been lucky driving through the storm yesterday and surviving without any damage and getting to a park up nice and early. Others turned up much later and we could see they had been through worse when they were emptying water from the bike bags in the rear of their vehicles.
The wind really picked up and at one point I thought it was going to rip the bike rack off the back of Wanda so I moved us so we were facing into the wind. Wanda was getting a real battering.
At 11:30am the rain had stopped so we decided to brave the wind and took a 2 mile walk through the city and out the other side to the Dolmens.
These are ancient Bronze Age burial sites and they were completely free to access. They are a unesco world heritage site and are funded by the government and the museum before we saw the dolmens is amazing. All of the artefacts found in the Dolmens and the skeletal remains are on display here.
The Dolmens were a little bit of a let down in all honesty but still fascinating to see. Then it was a walk back to Wanda and the rain started again.Meer informatie
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Osuna
30 oktober 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
At 2:30pm I decided the weather was good enough to move and even though it was still raining we took a 1 hour drive to our next destination. Osuna.
This town has awards for the prettiest street in Spain and it is full of Roman ruins but we didn’t look around today.
Our free aire has free water and grey and black waste and we used all of them as we pulled up. The aire looks like it’s in a car park of a supermarket but it’s actually just off to the side and it’s not a well known supermarket as it’s a Chinese place and also has a Chinese junk store next to it. We spent about an hour in the junk store looking around as it’s full of stuff you never knew you needed. When we came out the rain picked up again and so did the wind.
It rained and rained until 7pm and then finally it stopped and as it’s still windy hopefully it will start to dry out quickly. By Friday the weather is supposed to start picking up again.Meer informatie
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El Coto Las Canteras
31 oktober 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
We had a great nights sleep considering we are quite near a road and basically sleeping in a car park. The night was silent except for the rain.
Our first stop this morning was El Coto Las Canteras and because of the rain we couldn’t get Wanda up the hill to the car park so we had to park at the bottom of the hill just on the edge of Osuna town and hike up.
El Coto Las Canteras is the old Roman quarry and has been restored inside to resemble an ancient Roman building. It was full of artifacts inside that they have found over the years in the quarry and surrounding areas. This quarry lies at the end of the royal cattle track to Granada. It is now used as a major events and concert hall.
It was a fascinating place and for €4 each it was worth the money.Meer informatie
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The Roman Necropolis
31 oktober 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
From El Coto Las Canteras we walked back down the hill and picked up the gravel track that was the royal cattle track to Granada. This track has been used for thousands of years to transport cattle from various towns on route to the main city of Granada to market. In the Roman times the track and baths, An arena and even a Necropolis off to the side it and of course the quarry where stone would be cut and then transported down the track aswell.
The track still exists and is pretty much in its original form and most of the Roman remains are still there to see. These include the baths and the Necropolis.
The Necropolis has been looted time and time again over the years and has now been left open to the public so we actually got inside some of the tombs and we could see where bodies would have been. It was creepy but cool at the same time.Meer informatie
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Área Autocaravanas de Fuentes de Andaluc
31 oktober 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
From Osuna we drove 20 miles to Fuentes de Andalusia to a free Motorhome area. We were here for me to ride the via verde but it rained all the way here and when we pulled up it was still raining.
After lunch the rain gradually eased off and I decided to put my wet gear on and head out.
I managed to get 55kms under my belt but as I got to the next town the rain had washed mud off the fields and it just clogged my bike up so much that it completely stopped the wheels. I got a stick and cleaned off what I could and came back part of the way on the road with mud flicking everywhere. When I got back to Wanda I had to ride to the local garage and pressure wash the bike and me off.
We’ve been lucky with the rain. We have constantly been right on the edge of the worst of it and Valencia, Malaga, and Andalusia have been hit hard but it’s mainly in built up coastal areas.Meer informatie
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Carmona
1 november 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
We were up at 7:30am today and as we had water in tap we both took showers.
Then we went for a 2 mile walk to look for the kittens I had seen yesterday in my bike ride to feed them but we couldn’t find them.
We left our park up around 10am and headed 20 miles down the road to the small city of Carmona. This city was known as the gateway to Seville as the one Roman road that ran through it ran straight to Seville and Carmona was fortified.
Its Roman origins date back to the 1st & 2nd century and our first stop once we had found the Motorhome area was to walk to the old Roman Necropolis which was about a mile away.
The entrance to the Necropolis is gained through the museum which was amazing as everything was written in Spanish and English. All of the artifacts from the necropolis were on display. They included the containers with ashes of the dead. Urns and offerings to the gods. Then there was a 30 minute video explaining the death rituals of the Romans which was really eye opening.
Coming out of the museum we were then guided around the grounds of the necropolis by arrows ending up at the largest one which contained the burial chambers and 2 gardens with large ponds and this is where the family’s would have there funerals whilst burning the body on a pyre to one side.
After the necropolis we walked around the city passing through the old portal and into the historic centre.
Today is All Saints’ Day here and most of the shops were closed but Carmona seems like quite a nice city.
Once we had gotten back to Wanda we had walked 5.5 Miles on top of the 2 we had done earlier and we were glad to finally sit down.
We will be spending the night here and it seems pretty good except there is a main road right next to us, but we’re hoping that will calm down by tonight.Meer informatie
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Santiponce
2 november 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
This morning we left Carmona at 9am and We’d had a good nights sleep which was good because our first stop was a massive decathlon store on the edge of Seville. I managed to spend my birthday vouchers on tops and t-shirts and some spares for cycling.
Our next stop was just a mile away at a garage to do our laundry and this took hours because we had to wait for a 14kg machine to become available then we had to wait for it to wash, then we had to wait for it to dry so we eventually left there at 2pm.
We were just going to drive to our overnight stop but I really wanted to visit Santiponce as I knew it was open today and although google says it’s open on Sundays we’ve lucked out there before.
Santiponce is actually built on the Roman city of Italica but a small portion of the former city remains protected and open to the public. This includes an almost intact amphitheatre.
We arrived at 2:30pm and paid £1:50 each to enter the site that sits on a 2 mile square section of protected land and it’s really impressive. For anyone that has seen any Roman films or series or has any interest in that aspect of history it is a must see.
This was our first intact amphitheatre and it was unreal. We could even walk where the gladiators waited to go into battle. To make it even better there was a big football match going on nearby and we could hear all the cheering. The amphitheatre must have been a terrifying place if you were going there to fight.
From the amphitheatre we walked on the original Roman streets that are 1st and 2nd century. These are 1800 years old, the time of Marcus Aurelius the emperor in gladiator and Hadrian.
Here we walked through the streets and town that was laid out in a grid formation and although the roofs and most walls have long since disappeared. The floors and mosaic tiles are still there and intact. It was an amazing place to walk around and I’m really pleased the helicopter on La Vuelta flew over it so we knew about it. It is far easier to get into than Seville.
Our park up for the night is literally 100 meters away from Italica in a car park with several other motorhomes.Meer informatie
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Valverde del Camino
3 november 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
I was woken up at 2:30am by some prick driving past honking his horn. I didn’t really get back to sleep properly after that and at 7am I just got up.
By 9am we were on the move and it was a 55 mile drive to Valverde del Camino.
Valverde del Camino is a hikers and bikers paradise as it sits right on the route of the Camino del Santiago trail and numerous via verdes.
We were here for me to ride the Via Verde Molina agua or the the route of the water mills. This via verde is only 35km long but it joins the Atlantic coastal route which runs from our park up all the way to Albuferia in Portugal.
After a late breakfast of Wanda toasties I headed off on my own. Downhill towards the coast for the best part of 35km and then 500 meters of climbing all the way back to Wanda. It took me 3 hours and it was a lot warmer than it looked once I got going.
Back at Wanda we had dinner then decided that our park up is quite noisy and went to look for somewhere else but it wasn’t very suitable and we ended up coming back to Valverde Del Camino. It’s just road noise and we’ll probably be alright.Meer informatie
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Aracena
4 november 2024, Spanje ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
We slept pretty well considering we were on a main road and I slept all the way through until 6am.
Our journey today was to take us 20 miles down the road to Aracena and the Cave of Wonders so the first thing I did after my coffee was to book tickets for 12pm at €18 each. The tickets are a tourist ticket that get us into the caves, the castle and the ham museum. Aracena is famous for it’s special breed of pigs that live on the side of the hills and feed only off of acorns that give rise to a very expensive cured ham,
After filling up with fresh water at Minas de Riotinto, famous for it’s iron mines, we reached Aracena at 10:30am and found a free Motorhome area as soon as we entered the town that is 10 minutes from the cave and we have a great view of the castle.
We got to the Gruta de las Maravillas at 11:45am and we entered at 12pm. There is a strict no photographs policy and only Spanish speaking guides so I couldn’t take a camera which I was gutted about but we did manage to stay near the back of the party of 30 and I snapped a few sneaky photos on my phone. These were some of the most beautiful caves we have been in and everywhere we looked was like a scene from a fantasy movie.
The tour took around 50 minutes and I’d rather pay more money, take longer to look around and be able to take photos.
From the caves we then went to the castle and church.
The church is the oldest building in Aracena dating back to the 10th-12th century it was quite fascinating inside and they had photographs of them carrying the one true cross that is inside. It’s funny because the town we went to a week ago also had the one true cross. This just proves how exploitive this religion business is.
Next to the church was the remains of Aracena castle and really it’s just a shell of what it was but archaeologists have done an amazing job of uncovering former settlements underneath the castle from before it was built so as you walk around you can see the layers of history over thousands of years.Meer informatie
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Potugal - Sao Domingos Mine
5 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
We had a good nights sleep and left the park up in Aracena just after 9am.
Our first stop was to get fresh water at a free aire that turned out to be incorrectly labelled on park4night and we ended up in a village that had a 6 meter length restriction.
To top that off it was a single street that got narrower and narrower and when we were 400 meters away from where TomTom said the aire was we met 2 on coming cars.
I couldn’t go back but there was a fork in the road that said tourist route but the houses had balconies and they were lower than Wanda.
I jumped out and asked the first driver if he would go down that street and he said yes. The second driver was obviously more competent and reversed the entire length of the road I wanted and then waited for me.
I jumped back in Wanda and cautiously negotiated the narrow streets and when I got to the second driver I waved and shouted out the window. I couldn’t thank him enough.
To top it off the aire wasn’t an aire and the tap was hidden and completely away from the car park and we couldn’t get rid of the grey or black waste.
We carried on driving and it took us 2 hours to reach Sao Dominigos Mine. That is actually the name of the town and we have finally reached Portugal and are nearly at our halfway point.
Sao Dominigos Mine has a newly built aire that cost €7 a night and it’s all electronic. Here there is a man made lake with peddle boats and swimming that is completely free and it is the original site of the Sao Dominigos Mine that opened in 1868 and ran until the 1966s by the British company Mason & Barry.
The town is Located on the left bank of the River Guadiana, this area was mined from Roman times until the early 1960s, when the mine was finally abandoned. The region has the appearance of a ghost town, where the wealth of former times has now given way to industrial archaeology.
What now remains of the former industrial complex are a few of the mine`s structures, the old miners` residential quarter and the platform of the railway line once used to convey the copper ore to the river port of Pomarão (close to the park`s southernmost boundary), where it was put on boats and transported to the estuary at Vila Real de Santo António.
The village, with its roughly 770 houses, grew around the mine and it took 1500 workers to operate the former mine.
It took us just over 3 hours to walk the entire 5km mine and explore all the remaining structures and then hike back. The colours are unbelievable especially when the sun came out, on one hand it is disgusting how humans have left this isolated piece of countryside contaminated with pollution and on the other hand because of the iron pollution it is beautiful.Meer informatie
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Portugal House
6 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
This morning I was awake super early because we gained an hour yesterday crossing into Portugal.
I decided to take advantage of the early morning and went out on my bike through the mines and then onto the roads before finally picking up a gravel track and heading back to the aire.
I was only out for 70 minutes and I really stomped on the pedals as the ride was so short.
Back at Wanda we tipped off our dirty water and toilet and drained all of our fresh water except for the 10 litres in the hot water tank and left the aire just before 10am and took the 2.5 hour drive to our halfway point. The Portugal house.
We arrived at 12:20pm and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and for the first time on this trip it actually felt hot.
We will have to sit tight here for 10 days until Ellie’s brother comes out to meet us and after 3 hours we realised we were already bored and we’re going to have to find some way to amuse ourselves. I do have some big rides planned but not 10 days worth so it will be interesting to see how we end up amusing ourselves.Meer informatie
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1st day of relaxing.
7 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Today was a relaxing day. We got up early at 7am and watched a beautiful sunrise. It looked like it was set to be a really hot day but a strong breeze kept the temperature at around 22°c for the best part of the day.
After a few coffees and Wanda toasties for breakfast I headed out on my bike for a 26km ride towards the mountains.
What I thought was going to be a relatively easy ride turned out to be anything but with some super steep gradients of 16% going up and I even had a 22% gradient going down where I actually had to get off the bike because I was to scared to stay on it.
530 meters of climbing over 26km off road is a lot by anyone’s standards, this was a hard ride.
I got back to the house around midday and got straight in the pool to cool off.
Once I was dressed in normal clothes we decided to head out in Ellie’s dad’s car to get some shopping but as soon as we opened the doors we were greeted with the disgusting smell of rat piss.
This is the second time they have gotten into this brand new car through the engine bay and actually into the car. They had even gotten into the boot and eaten the shopping bags.
Fortunately we had our own bags in Wanda but driving to Aldi we both felt sick. Even with the windows open we were gagging.
Once the shopping was done it was around 4pm and we just chilled for the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be car cleaning day.Meer informatie
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Day 2 of portugal house
8 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
I was up at 7:30am, while Ellie gad a lay in and got up st 8am.
It was spitting first thing and was quite overcast but it didn’t really amount to anything and at 10am we popped out to Alcantarilha to get some proper bike oil and then we popped to Albufeira to go to decathlon. I got lost on the way and the car still stunk of rat piss so it was a very stressful drive.
We got back to the house at 1pm and after lunch I headed out on the gravel tracks to Silves whilst Ellie went swimming in the pool.
Once I was back home and showered it was time to chill out.Meer informatie
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The hanging garden trail - Lagoa
9 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
This morning I was up at 7am and Ellie got up at 8. There were a few clouds but otherwise it was blue sky and looked set to be a nice day.
I decided I was going to have a rest day off the bike and would rather go for a hike but first I had to clean Wanda’s inside and get out any food in the fridge and then we had to clean the rat piss smelling car.
Wanda was pretty easy to clean but the car took a good couple of hours washing all of the floor mats, parcel shelf and the boot lining with water and fabric softener. And then wiping every single surface of the car with an anti bacterial kitchen spray.
By 10:30am we were ready to roll and the car still smelt.
We headed to the beach car park at the top of lagoa and from there hiked around the sandy cliff tops. These are the photos that Portugal is famous for and its caves and from our walk we could look down the roofs of the caves and see the sea.
Once we reached lagoa beach we found a little cafe and sat down and had my first alcoholic beer of the trip and we both had ice creams.
It was packed with people and there were hundreds of kayakers going out to see the caves and big power boats coming in too. You wouldn’t think it was November.
After drinks we took a slow walk back to the car park and then we realised Ellie still had cat food in her bag so we fed the stray cats at the car park. They already looked very well fed and they have a beautiful house the council has made them.
From lagoa we passed the big Chinese store and stopped to get some car air freshener and then we headed back home.
Today actually felt like we were on holiday instead of travelling and it was lovely to actually just relax for a change.Meer informatie
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A quiet day
10 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
I was up at 7am and out the door on my bike at 7:30am. I had decided I would do a road ride of the short circuit I had done a couple of years ago on Ellie’s dads bike and went absolutely flat out for the full 20km and beating my previous best time by almost 10 minutes.
I got back to the villa just before 8:30am and then showered and had breakfast.
Mid morning we decided to go to boliqueme to get alcohol free beer as that is the only place that really sells it and then we went to the laundrette to wash our mattress out of Wanda. Then it was back home to hang it in the line in the heat.
After lunch we spent the rest of the day until 4pm around the pool. It was a lovely 23°c and felt much hotter away from any breeze.Meer informatie
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Shopping day
11 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Today I was up early and I hadn’t slept well. I’d already decided no bike ride today and after Ellie had breakfast we went out to look for Christmas presents. Our first stop was the Algarve shopping centre where they didn’t have what Ellie wanted so then we went to a different shopping centre in Alcantarilha which was basically the same shops in a different place.
We were back at the villa for lunch time and after a quick bite to eat our plan was to do a 10 mile hike up into the hills but 3km into that hike we were greeted by a couple of psycho dogs running loose and barking so we had to turn around and come back to the villa.
It was super hot again so I went back in the pool to cool off whilst Ellie watched stuff in her phone.
At 4pm as the sun starts to move around the temperature drops quite quickly and then it’s time to go inside.Meer informatie
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A Bike ride and hiking Peřa
12 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
I Was up at 7:30am and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was set to be a beautiful day and possibly the last hot day for a while according to the forecast.
I left the villa at 9:30 to do the same bike ride I did the other day and head back to Silves via the gravel tracks. I shaved 10 minutes off the last time and I wasn’t really going for it but when I got back to the villa I realised I’d lost my back light.
After a shower and some food we took a drive to Peřan and walked the nature boardwalk away from town until we reached the beach, then we turned around and walked all the way to town passing the nudist beach and copping an eyeful of mainly old men along the way. It took us about an hour.
Once we reached town we headed to a little snack bar we had eaten at before and got lunch and some drinks. Then it was time to hike back to the car but this time we took the newly opened boardwalk all the way from the town.
From Peřa we went to Decathlon to get some side entry bottle cages for my bike and then it was back to the Villa.
It was now 4pm and we’d managed to kill a whole day without too much effort for a change. Tomorrow it should be cooler and I’ve already got plans.Meer informatie
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Ride if a lifetime
13 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
I was up at 6:30am. I hadn’t slept well which was annoying as I had a big day ahead.
I had 2 bananas and then Ellie came down and made a breakfast scramble then I went and got dressed.
I had planned this ride about 2 years ago and never thought I would actually get to do it. I had reconfigured the route so many times to try and stay away from main roads today would be the test. Today I was going to ride to mount Foai and up it. The highest point in the Algarve and the biggest climb in the tour de Algarve cycling race.
I set off just before 9am, the weather was supposed to be a top temperature of 18°c but it was already windier than I would have liked.
I was straight onto the gravel as soon as I left the villa, passing through fields of oranges and lemons and the terrain was already undulating. I really didn’t know if I could make this ride.
15km and I was still in gravel and the hills were really getting big now. Some pushing 16% and I had 2 litres of water on my back, and 1 1/2 on the bike as well as my frame bag full of tools, spares and energy gels and my handlebar bag with solid food in.
Basically the bike felt much heavier than I would have liked.
At 20km in I went down a huge hill with a gradient of 20% and I knew then that if I did make it to Foia I wouldn’t be able to make this climb on the way home. It was just to steep and the gravel to loose.
Once I got onto tarmac I the route wanted to take me up a huge off-road section with a 15% gradient and large rocks. I was never going to get up that, I think a motorbike would have struggled so I had to re-route and I opted to ride the rest of the way in the road.
The garmin wanted me to keep off the main roads which was fine but then I started climbing. The gradients started at 10% and it just kept going up.
I had 17.5km left to go when I started on the road route and 3.5km I was knackered. I had climbed over 500meters in that 3km stretch which is a massive gradient even by pro standards. I didn’t think I could go on and decided to stop.
I got my breath, had a drink and prepared to turn around and just before I got back in the bike I checked to see how much of this climb was left.
200 meters was all and then my next climb would be Mount Foia. Which is a constant 6% gradient.
If I turned around now I would always have the what ifs in the back of mind. This was the only day I could do this ride tomorrow is meant to rain. I have my bike here now unlike any other time and to top it off I’m now 50 years old. Will I ever be in this type of shape and fit enough to give this another go?
I decided to push in until I could either go absolutely no further or I reach Foia, and I started off again.
The next 200 meters was at almost 20% but once I was at the top I had a lovely winding decent almost all of the way to Monchique and then as I went round the roundabout my sat nav beeped to say start of climb and I was going up.
It’s an 11% gradient out of Monchique town for about 500 meters. Then the slope peels away and it’s a constant 6% gradient all the way to the top for the next 6.5km.
This climb felt the easiest of the day and the sun was shining and just before I got to the top I could see the sea in the distance. This climb is 900 meters my biggest outdoor climb ever and I had made it, I was super pleased with myself.
After a light lunch I decided to reroute my journey home and head back on the road and into Silves and then pick up the gravel trails I had ridden the last 2 days and get home that way.
I put my jumper on, waved to the few cyclists that were coming up to the summit and I started the decent.
The road is pretty straight most of the way down from the top, there’s long bends that I could see all the way through and no switchbacks. So I came screaming down Foia at 67kph.
I was at the bottom in less than 5 minutes and then it was pretty much downhill all the way to Silves.
I didn’t like riding on the road the Portuguese don’t give you any Lea way on a bike, some passing just inches away but it did mean no hills for now and it was my quickest way back. I rode with another cyclist half of the way, he was from Belgium and he definitely stopped my mind from going into a dark place as my energy levels started dropping and I was still wondering if I could even get back.
Once I was at Silves I got straight onto the gravel track and I knew I was nearly home. I stopped for 5 minutes, had a drink and then necked 2 energy gels and took a slow ride for the last 10km home and every small hill felt like a mountain.
When I finally reached the villa I had ridden 97km and climbed over 2000 meters.
Except for feeling a little queasy through lack of food I actually felt pretty good. I didn’t ache I was just exhausted. I was super proud of myself I could never have done that ride 2 years ago and I was so glad I didn’t turn around and give up.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
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Caves & Castles Misadventures Of Wanda
It’s raining again
14 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
We both slept pretty well but I was still up early at 6:30am and I didn’t ache like I thought I might.
It had rained during the night but when I first got up it had stopped although it was cloudy.
After I’d showered when I came back downstairs it was raining again and the temperature had fallen rapidly. I wished I hadn’t put my shorts on but thought I’d front it out anyway.
We had to go shopping today and as we left the heavens opened and the thunder and lightning started. Our first shop of the day was back to Decathlon and it was a 25 minute drive and the rain got worse and worse. By the time we reached the last 1km the road was literally a river and the drains looked like water fountains spewing water 2 foot up in the air.
Europeans can’t drive in the rain, I don’t know whether they’re just not used to it or if it’s just there normal crappy driving just gets even worse but it really is dangerous. They haven’t got a clue what to do. Some were still driving bumper to bumper not being able to see and when the first car breaks they all have to brake which leads to cars having to stop and if your in deep water or running water you won’t get started. I left at least a 4 car length gap but the Land Rover in front of us was still stop and start and just couldn’t keep a constant speed.
The turn off for decathlon couldn’t come soon enough and as we turned into the flooded car park we looked into the nearby underpass to see a car disappearing underwater.
After just 5 minutes in decathlon the rain subsided and then all we could hear was sirens. Our next stop was Leroy Merlin’s the other side of the bypass and I decided not to attempt the underpass and went over the bridge. As we pulled into the car park we could see the road we had just been on to get to decathlon and the underpass were now completely submerged. There were cars in the underpass and all we could see was the tops of there windows.
After coming out of Leroy Merlin’s you wouldn’t have known that 20 minutes ago we had the rain from hell. The roads were drying and traffic was flowing again and the fire service and police were trying to pump out the water from the underpass and rescue people.
Our next stop was the giant chinky shop and then back to Lidl for food shopping as Ellie’s brother is coming tomorrow. Then it was back to the villa.
For the rest of the day we just chilled out and had a rest day. It was so cold in the afternoon we even had to put the heating on.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
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Caves & Castles Misadventures Of Wanda
Wanda to the Rescue
15 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ 🌧 18 °C
I was up early this morning and it had rained heavy through the night.
It was windy first thing and very cloudy and by 9:30am it was raining again.
I’d already put my cycling gear on ready to re-ride the same trip u had taken to Silves to look for the rear light I had lost but I had to wait until 1pm for the rain to stop so I could finally head out.
Within 5km I was already regretting the decision to go out as my wheels were gummed up with mud and I was covered from head to toe in mud.
I rode unbelievably slow to recover from the day out at Foia and the journey took 2 1/2 hours. That’s 1 hour longer than my previous 2 rides and I never did find the light.
After dinner we settled in to watch a couple of hours of Netflix before Ellie’s brother arrived at 9:30 but at 7pm the heavens opened and unleashed the storm from hell.
Ellie looked on flight tracker at 8pm and realised that her brothers flight would be delayed by 30 minutes and we could see the fork lightning hitting things at Faro. Then the flight tracker said the delay was an hour and we watched as the plan did 2 complete circles of Faro and then headed off towards Spain.
It was now 10pm and at 10:30pm we finally got a message from Ellie’s brother to say they had, had to land in Seville and they were going to bus them to Faro but the coach would an hour and then it would be a further 2 hours until they got to Faro.
We agreed to pick them up when they arrived so we settled in for the long haul and decided to get an hours sleep before getting dressed and heading to the airport in Wanda.
It was helling it down outside as we left and the storm was still raging as we took the 22 mile journey into Faro airport. Something I would never do during the day.
We managed to hold a steady speed of 50mph most of the way and the wind and rain was terrible. We were lucky that the motorway was clear of water as it was just running off.
We got to the airport at 1:15am and picked up Ellie’s brother, his wife and 2 kids and fortunately the storm was moving away and it was a far nicer journey back to the villa.
We arrived back at the house for 2:30am and then it was straight to bed. Everyone was tired.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
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Caves & Castles Misadventures Of Wanda
Silves
16 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
We all got up around 9am this morning and after such a late night we had quite the relaxing morning.
It was extremely windy today and we decided to head into Silves for lunch where we would get some shelter from the wind.
We took Wanda into Silves with me driving, Ellie’s brother riding shotgun and the other four in the back. Once we had arrived we took a slow walk through the streets and then up to the Castle where we found a little restaurant to get lunch.
After lunch we did a spot of shopping in Lidl before heading back to the villa.
We got back to the house at 3pm and then we all decided to go for a swim. It was extremely cold even for me and we managed about 10 minutes before we all got out and then came into the house and lit the fire.
For the rest of the evening we just chilled out, talking by the fire before going into the tv room and watching TV.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
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Caves & Castles Misadventures Of Wanda
Ambers Birthday
17 november 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Vicki was the first one up this morning and I got up at 7am. We both thought Amber would have been up at the crack of dawn because today was her ninth birthday but Amber didn’t actually get up until 8am.
It was murky outside but at least it was dry and I shot out on my bike and done the road circuit down to Algoz and Alcantarilla and back which took about 45 minutes. Then Paul and Vicki went to the chinky store together whilst Ellie and I watched the kids.
For the rest of the day Amber and Paul played Harry Potter Uno whilst the rest of us just had a really lazy day doing nothing until 5:30pm when we decided to head out for dinner at an Indian in Pêra.
We took Wanda and found a huge car park right opposite the restaurant and dinner was lovely.
After dinner we took a walk all the way through Pêra and back which killed an hour and then we drove back to the Villa for 8pm.Meer informatie
Zie vertaling
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