Turning a short commute into a day trip

[Pedro]

I rode home today, but instead of taking the 2,5 hour motorway ride I did about 100km on the motorway and then diverted onto small roads. Getting off at Coimbra I made way inland and onto the real center of Portugal, riding through Coimbra I noticed a CRF300L on display at the local Honda dealership's window but decided not to take a picture because I was both on a non stop fast lane and also didn't want to be responsible for sending @Mawsley on a killing spree amongst british Honda dealerships 

The sky was very weirdly grey today and all my pictures look like crap, but still here they go:

Castle of Lousã, I've never been through here before but have been close by. The previous night I went on a google maps search and noticed a bit of road that looked like my kind of thing, so went for it, this was my first stop, first looking from the castle onto a small chapel:

 

And the small castle itself, here you can also see the difference that picture framing can make, here my bike is all alone by a castle:

 

Here is the same parking spot 10 seconds later, showing that it was a saturday and people were out and about. You can also see that Portugal has a thing for trailies as the touring bike of choice:

 

 

Moving away and onto the bit of road I was keen on checking out, a last view of the castle amongst a landscape that almost swallows all things, it's steep terrain:

 

Here's a picture I stopped to take and try to illustrate why trails are so popular here, twisty roads but look at the surface:

 

Couldn't help myself and followed a sign pointing out of the tarmac road onto a forrest track, pretty well maintained even though it had rained the day before, with a nice view spoiled by the ugly sky. 

 

Back on tarmac:

 

A few kms later stopped to have a look around what we call a schist village, schist is the common rock around this region and used to be used to build houses, old derelict schist villages have been fixed up and over the last 20 years made up to be tourist atractions, here I stop by one with a small house for overnight rental right by a typical restaurant. Being a saturday it was a little busy but I looked it up on google maps and was most impressed. Took the pictures as a location stamp to help me plan an overnight visit, this is an area with harsh climate and showing up in the evening, to have a warm shower and a hearty meal and then sleep in a stone house seem appealing:

 

Back on the road and over the hills I get away from quaint villages and onto harsher terrain. I take a small detour in the form of a wind farm gravel road access to find some privacy for a moment, nice location:

 

After 13:30 I stop for fuel (50€ worth of fuel and not even on reserve!) on a nice inland town and ask the bored but very friendly fuel station guy where to go for something to eat and he recommends a small cafe 50 meters away. Café "Chicote", meaning "whip", where a very friendly older lady apologized that they had finished their lunch menu, but could maybe offer a pork sandwich, I gladly went for it:

 

 

Back on the road, and riding through the heart of the Zener region, Portugal's third most important river and a location often gladly overlooked by car and bike enthusiasts:

 

 

Went away from the deep river sculptured gorges and through small villages, using narrow and slow winding roads, my kind of roads:

 

After that the sky started to turn menacing, I wanted to get home earlyish, so made way not stopping for pictures. Took this one from the bike, as the sun ws going lower and the landscape was changing onto farmland approaching home:

 

Got home in time for a chat with a neighbor, and a few housekeeping chores before a snack and some wine for winding down after a nice day on the bike:

 

 

Was in need of some comfort food so roasted some codfish with potatoes:

 

Really enjoyed the alternative to a fast but uninteresting motorway ride, saved money on tolls and fuel, and got a lot more riding time in exchange, good stuff!

Sorry for the shity pictures today, my iPhone doesn't care for light like today

 

[XTreme]

Great report Pedro......those are unusual looking houses for Portugal though?

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Great report Pedro......those are unusual looking houses for Portugal though?

I think you only see the pictures…

They’re very common to that area and where there is a lot of schist. In the center and north of Portugal winters are quite harsh in the hills, so that southern traditional white house with the painted ribbon on the bottom is not found there.

[XTreme]

19 minutes ago, Pedro said:

I think you only see the pictures…

They’re very common to that area and where there is a lot of schist. In the center and north of Portugal winters are quite harsh in the hills, so that southern traditional white house with the painted ribbon on the bottom is not found there.

They look like the sort of thing I'd expect to see in @MooN's area.

[boboneleg]

Superb Pedro.  I know what you mean about the sky spoiling a photo but some lovely countryside anyway.  These houses look just like the houses in parts of the Spanish Pyrenees..........

 

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, boboneleg said:

Superb Pedro.  I know what you mean about the sky spoiling a photo but some lovely countryside anyway.  These houses look just like the houses in parts of the Spanish Pyrenees..........

 

Yes, you’ll find similar in some hills all over the french pyrenees, all over northern spain, and in several areas of Portugal. I think there might be similar in the italian alps too.