Word Of Mouse

Malc here. We spent two days in Fafe letting the unseasonable rain and wind pass over, then set off on a sunny and blustery Saturday morning for the coast. Thankfully the high hills were a thing of the past. We passed through Guimares, stopping only to buy some provisions in the market (where I got absolutely stiffed into buying some overpriced and basically rotten vegetables from a very nice old market trader) and having lunch on a park bench (opposite a very drunk man who goggled at Bramble, obviously thinking he must be seeing double) and on through Trofa to a campsite near the beach. High point of the day: passing two old blokes selling homegrown melons beside a lovely old cobbled road beside a vineyard. Ali chatted with them in a mixture of sign language interspersed with three words of Portuguese. At least we got the melons (which were superb) and they seemed to appreciate the distance figure on the computer (now around 2300 miles BTW).

The next day (which was yesterday) we spent recovering our spirits at the coast, staying on in the same lovely campsite. Ali still does not feel very well and the slog of the preceding days had knocked us back a bit. The weather has regained its innocent blue and warm appearance (despite a chill north wind) with not a sign of the cold rainy interlude of the previous days. The only cloud on the horizon was the discovery that yet again, our back tyre has let us down: I had felt a rhythmic wobble that turned out to be caused by a badly frayed patch in the wall of the tyre. We are glad to have discovered this before it actually burst, which it certainly would have done within a few days, and are yet again running on our spare folding tyre and looking for a good bike shop. We are now in Porto doing this, having a relaxed day sorting some stuff out before continuing. We are both looking forward to several more days of easy coastal cycling, well stocked with campsites (so no more 60 plus mile days for a while unless we choose to). Plan X is to get to southern Portugal within the next couple of weeks, where all being well we shall spend one week (or maybe two) doing some diving and a bit more relaxing, before carrying on back into southern Spain.