This was a difficult day of riding and by the end of it Sandy was threatening to leave me in Portugal along with two bikes to complete the Camino - or something. We'd made a strategic decision in Agueda to follow the Camino route more closely. It would get us off of the busy highway. And it did. The problem was that it led us into back alleys and around corners that we didn't expect. It gave a new perspective on those who choose to walk the route. Making this change added a substantial amount of climbing to our itinerary - about 300 meters on the day. And that climbing was not in small portions. It felt like every time that we turned around there was a wall in front of us. Five climbs during the day and at least three of them hit 17% slope. For the non-cyclists reading this - 8 percent is a challenge; 12 percent is difficult; anything more and there's a great chance you'll be pushing the bike up the hill unless you're under 25 and very fit. Sandy walked up most of the climbs on the segment of our trip from Agueda to Soa Joao de Madiera. Adding to the challenge was that Soa Joao de Madiera is pretty much a suburb of Porto the second largest city in Portugal. The hotel in Sao Joao is close to the intersection of the major north-south freeway between Lisbon and Porto. It's also connected to the main local highway that essentially follows the Freeway. Bottom line, we didn't escape the traffic in the way that we'd hoped and changing the route made it that much more difficult a ride. Because I'm on an e-bike the hills were not really of any consequence. I could boost the power being provided to the pedals and ease my way up the hills - I did a fair bit of waiting while Sandy was walking. As we arrived at the hotel Sandy swore that she was one small slope away from quitting and flying home.
The hills began as soon as we left Agueda. We followed them away from the highway and wandered around some of the outlying neighbourhoods. It was a beautiful day, but it was also close to 30 degrees. We were warm. We were successful at avoiding the highway - we crossed over it in several places. In a couple of spots we turned onto it when we needed to cross one of the rivers heading to the Atlantic. In others we found ourselves following Roman roads that had not been upgraded since the fall of the Empire...Bridges and signs that the Camino has been a part of Portugal for much longer than our history with it. Along the way pilgrims on the Camino to Fatima were walking against traffic. We'd spot them early - yellow vests and shirts made them stand out for both the traffic and the amateurs going to Santiago. There were churches, and a couple of times along the route people wishing us a good camino. It wasn't all long climbs.
Unfortunately, adding to the misery was the news that the hotel's pool was closed when we arrived. We really could have used the cool dip into it's waters. We were tired and so the afternoon became a siesta to recover. Thankfully, by dinner Sandy's mood had improved coming to terms with the realities of the day and letting go of the frustration she was feeling. The meal in the hotel was quite decent and we were looking forward to an upcoming day of rest in Porto.
Tough riding - sandy's threatening to quit and head home - change in the way we plan the rides taking us away from the busy roads to follow the path of the Camino; signs along the way; large hills - 17 percent
arrival in Sao Joao difficult winding across the town through busy traffic
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