Vidago to Vila Real (54.8km, 596m of climbing): our first day of cycling got things off to a somewhat grueling start. There was a lot of climbing (on a fascinating but not-very-paved rail trail dotted with ruins of abandoned stations) and several much-less-paved-than-advertised segments, and a high temperature in the low 90s (F). Still, it was pretty and fascinating, and we survived it!
curtains and window of hotel room |
fountain in front of the Vidago Palace Hotel |
front steps and facade of hotel |
scott, on the balcony of his hotel room |
cyclists assembling |
David, Tom, and a line of bicycles in front of the vine-covered hotel basement door |
facade of hotel: Sarah is underway! |
the rest of the group is underway! |
Tom, Bill, and Helen are underway! |
goodbye, Vidago Palace Hotel |
hello, fog-covered cobblestone road |
hills and fog seen from Vidago |
cobblestone road behind us |
spiky plants in front of a foggy valley |
Helen looks back as we head off along this dirt rail trail |
Sarah, David, and Joe take photos from a bridge |
I take a photo from a bridge (it's foggy down there) |
Tom, under an ominous sign warning cyclists not to be hit by avalanches |
Sarah and Gina bike in front of an impenetrable fog |
stopping to look at directions in front of an abandoned train station |
Bill bikes through a tunnel of foliage |
riders appear out of the fog |
clouds lifting (slightly) above the valley below |
partially-visible hillside with trees |
a road below, almost entirely visible! |
Scott and Helen riding |
a bike rack on the rail trail |
transmission lines between mountains |
no littering |
our path, now that the fog has lifted |
wall and houses by the roadside |
windmills on the ridge |
Gina, approaching |
stopping to look at directions |
map of Pedras Salgadas Nature Park |
a building in Pedras Salgadas Nature Park |
we leave our bikes to check out the advertised 'eco-houses' |
Bill and Gina investigating an eco-house |
they are treehouses on stilts that you can rent |
a cow, outstanding in its field |
road, fruit trees, houses |
Gina, biking by a former Nuzedo train station |
this bridge was visible through much of the valley |
Scott and Helen approaching from the distance |
these looked (and tasted) a lot like Concord grapes |
trucks parked upsettingly close to the edge of the wall above the bike path |
interior of the restaurant in Escalhão where we stopped for lunch |
'Do you serve anything vegetarian?' 'No.' '...okay, do you have eggs? how about cheese?' |
street in Escalhão |
much cows |
much bicyclists |
Helen, focused on the road ahead; Scott, stopping for a photo |
the most vertically-distributed sheep we encountered on this trip |
mountains and windmills, seen over roofs |
Bill, Gina, and Dana stopped in the shade |
it's been a long day of riding, but we are confident that it's all downhill from here |
a mountain pass |
well, this isn't good |
no one wants to ride on that |
also no points for guessing what 'encerrada' means, but we're not the only people ignoring the sign, and there really isn't another route anywhere close |
Scott and Tom at the beginning of multiple kilometers of extremely fun terrain |
important note: we were not allocated mountain bikes for this trip |
doorway of a ruined building |
corner of a ruined building |
apparently there was a fire in this area a few months ago, probably not unrelated to the path closure |
Gina bikes into a landscape of dust and dirt |
Bill (left) contemplates the path ahead |
abandoned train station building |
side view: terraces and houses |
many burned trees in front of mountains |
extremely scraggly burned trees |
pavement, the best thing we have ever seen (also some nice clouds, and windmills on the ridge |
abandoned train station building: Fortunho |
cobblestone street and houses |
donkey |
alas, the paved route didn't last |
stopping to inspect our bikes after a long unpaved segment |
starting one last climb to our hotel near Vila Real |
my kickstand fell off and i was not happy about it |
Gina, at the gates to our destination, Quinta do Paço hotel |
Scott, having finished the ride |
Helen, celebrating a successful first day of bike touring |
we took a taxi into Vila Real and had dinner at the Restaurante Cardoso |
the francesinha, northern Portugal's famous sandwich (photo shows half a meat sandwich, and half a vegetarian sandwich) |