Little ride around, to clear the head

[Pedro]

Didn't feel like making many stops for pictures or stuff like that, so most of the pictures were taken on stops I did anyway to do something or enjoy the moment. I really just felt like spending a few hours on the bike and not much else, so after waiting a while for the rain to stop I left around 11:30 and took to the Douro to get a little bit inland before turning South. The rain that passed by the shore was in front of me and going the same direction, I did stop to buy a bottle of water and an espresso to give it time to get away from me, and that worked as the following kms I was riding on semi wet roads and getting a few drops, but no more. I was ok with that, but it highlighted that my last year's Mitas are not really confidence inspiring in the wet anymore, if they ever were.

The street scene in front of the supermarket where I stopped for the espresso and the water, the music... 

 

I am amazed sometimes, stopped to look at a small river that ends onto the Douro and saw a motorcycle specific parking, civilization! Tried to take no more than one space but the GS is a little wide in the hips:

 

Will come back here, it's a pretty place to ride over for lunch and it's close enough to home.

 

Next stop was a lookout over Serra de Montemuro, there are at least two Montemuro places in Portugal, but this one is quite special. It's by the Douro and hosts a lot of wildlife, it's also pretty will in weather as I saw a lot of signs warning to have tire chains and the use of snowplows, it must get really cold in the winter as those are not common signs in Portugal. It's also a very well maintained place, the weather didn't make for the prettiest of views though.

That valley there with the low clouds is where I'm headed:

Those clouds made for a little bit of a wet ride as I went through them, gave me a chance to test my new plastic rain overalls on top of the summer mesh jacket I'm wearing, I was dry and they passed the comfort / fitment test.

Further on, already on Serra da Estrela, Portugal's highest point, it was getting cooler again as I climbed so this time stopped to put a layer on, didn't bother with the rain stuff as I knew that not long in front I'd go down the other side and it was bound to be warm there.

Remembered to take a BOTM picture, in close proximity to the bike!!!

 

At 16:00, stopped for something to eat. It's a staple of the region, a sheep's cheese sandwich, the cheese here is probably the most famous in Portugal, strong and buttery and soft, it's delicious. It was 12ºC and wet outside, so I enjoyed a moment inside. Don't usually drink when on the bike, but can't have proper cheese without a taste of wine.

 

Exiting the shop I met a german biker, he and (I suppose) his wife on touring on two CB500Xs, he was looking for a place to buy a few bottles of beer to take to his hotel for the night, just down the street. I told him he was looking in the wrong shop for beer and also that he managed to find the only place in Portugal where it'll be wet through the night to stop, he seemed happy with it though.

Further on, and the 1993 meter peak breached the low clouds, made for welcome relief from the dampness:

 

The little road going down the valley behind my bike in the picture below is a gem, it's a shame only 2km of it are unpaved as I'd love if it went on for 200!

 

But before I got to the unpaved bit, I was faced with a herd of cows being moved from the top of the Serra where they graze wild to their field by two guys following them on a pickup. They said it would only take a few more minutes so I switched off the engine and coasted behind them enjoying the show instead of going past:

Suddenly a huge cow decided to pretend to be a goat and ran by the road on top of some big rocks, despite the shepherd's efforts for her to return to the road she went back home cross country style and dove to the right, made an easy job out of that rocky cliffside. It was most impressive to see a big animal like that have such agility.

 

Even managed to get a little of it on video as she went down the rocky cliffside and the shepherd gave up:

 

Further on, a stop on the beginning of the dirt bit to again adjust clothing and take off that layer I put on climbing the Serra before. Temperatures went from 12ºC to 25ºC in a few minutes, this Serra is part of the mountain range that separated coastal from continental climates, and it really feels like an extreme difference here.

 

An hour and something later, not enjoying the warm 27 or 28º at 18:15, on a water stop. The mountains behind me and the center of Portugal's dense forrest hills around me, it's not my favourite landscape but there are nice roads around. I was covering ground adequately in order to reach my destination before sunset while keeping off motorways.

 

Rode out of the forest and over the Tejo river, enjoyed that bit of the N18 riding briskly with no stops and then cruised the last few 40 or 50km onto my destination at a steady speed enjoying the low sun over yellow scorched grass and the Alentejo rolling hills. I love the smell of this place when you get where, it does smell intensely of earth (does that work in English?)

Didn't stop for a picture, took one on the go

 

Did stop for a picture for @yen_powell though, riding through the old part of town in Crato, an old historic town.

 

Made it to my hotel, where I have stayed a few times before over the last few years before sundown, it wouldn't bother me to ride at night, more so when it was still so warm, but night time isn't really clever here with the amount of wild boar around.

A short walk around town and by the time I sat for dinner, outside, it was still about 25ºC at 21:00. 

 

Tomorrow, I shall probably face some heat and some familiar roads.

 

[XTreme]

Looks like a great trip Pedro! And the pics are superb!

Wish I could get out for a while but I've come back to some brutal heat!

[Sir Fallsalot]

Great photos in there Pedro  as I've said before photos don't always give you the full experience of the view your looking at, so looking at how good the landscape is in the photos, actually being there must have been 10X the experience. 

[Specs]

9 hours ago, Pedro said:

Didn't feel like making many stops for pictures or stuff like that, so most of the pictures were taken on stops I did anyway to do something or enjoy the moment. I really just felt like spending a few hours on the bike and not much else, so after waiting a while for the rain to stop I left around 11:30 and took to the Douro to get a little bit inland before turning South. The rain that passed by the shore was in front of me and going the same direction, I did stop to buy a bottle of water and an espresso to give it time to get away from me, and that worked as the following kms I was riding on semi wet roads and getting a few drops, but no more. I was ok with that, but it highlighted that my last year's Mitas are not really confidence inspiring in the wet anymore, if they ever were.

The street scene in front of the supermarket where I stopped for the espresso and the water, the music... 

 

I am amazed sometimes, stopped to look at a small river that ends onto the Douro and saw a motorcycle specific parking, civilization! Tried to take no more than one space but the GS is a little wide in the hips:

 

Will come back here, it's a pretty place to ride over for lunch and it's close enough to home.

 

Next stop was a lookout over Serra de Montemuro, there are at least two Montemuro places in Portugal, but this one is quite special. It's by the Douro and hosts a lot of wildlife, it's also pretty will in weather as I saw a lot of signs warning to have tire chains and the use of snowplows, it must get really cold in the winter as those are not common signs in Portugal. It's also a very well maintained place, the weather didn't make for the prettiest of views though.

That valley there with the low clouds is where I'm headed:

Those clouds made for a little bit of a wet ride as I went through them, gave me a chance to test my new plastic rain overalls on top of the summer mesh jacket I'm wearing, I was dry and they passed the comfort / fitment test.

Further on, already on Serra da Estrela, Portugal's highest point, it was getting cooler again as I climbed so this time stopped to put a layer on, didn't bother with the rain stuff as I knew that not long in front I'd go down the other side and it was bound to be warm there.

Remembered to take a BOTM picture, in close proximity to the bike!!!

 

At 16:00, stopped for something to eat. It's a staple of the region, a sheep's cheese sandwich, the cheese here is probably the most famous in Portugal, strong and buttery and soft, it's delicious. It was 12ºC and wet outside, so I enjoyed a moment inside. Don't usually drink when on the bike, but can't have proper cheese without a taste of wine.

 

Exiting the shop I met a german biker, he and (I suppose) his wife on touring on two CB500Xs, he was looking for a place to buy a few bottles of beer to take to his hotel for the night, just down the street. I told him he was looking in the wrong shop for beer and also that he managed to find the only place in Portugal where it'll be wet through the night to stop, he seemed happy with it though.

Further on, and the 1993 meter peak breached the low clouds, made for welcome relief from the dampness:

 

The little road going down the valley behind my bike in the picture below is a gem, it's a shame only 2km of it are unpaved as I'd love if it went on for 200!

 

But before I got to the unpaved bit, I was faced with a herd of cows being moved from the top of the Serra where they graze wild to their field by two guys following them on a pickup. They said it would only take a few more minutes so I switched off the engine and coasted behind them enjoying the show instead of going past:

Suddenly a huge cow decided to pretend to be a goat and ran by the road on top of some big rocks, despite the shepherd's efforts for her to return to the road she went back home cross country style and dove to the right, made an easy job out of that rocky cliffside. It was most impressive to see a big animal like that have such agility.

 

Even managed to get a little of it on video as she went down the rocky cliffside and the shepherd gave up:

 

Further on, a stop on the beginning of the dirt bit to again adjust clothing and take off that layer I put on climbing the Serra before. Temperatures went from 12ºC to 25ºC in a few minutes, this Serra is part of the mountain range that separated coastal from continental climates, and it really feels like an extreme difference here.

 

An hour and something later, not enjoying the warm 27 or 28º at 18:15, on a water stop. The mountains behind me and the center of Portugal's dense forrest hills around me, it's not my favourite landscape but there are nice roads around. I was covering ground adequately in order to reach my destination before sunset while keeping off motorways.

 

Rode out of the forest and over the Tejo river, enjoyed that bit of the N18 riding briskly with no stops and then cruised the last few 40 or 50km onto my destination at a steady speed enjoying the low sun over yellow scorched grass and the Alentejo rolling hills. I love the smell of this place when you get where, it does smell intensely of earth (does that work in English?)

Didn't stop for a picture, took one on the go

 

Did stop for a picture for @yen_powell though, riding through the old part of town in Crato, an old historic town.

 

Made it to my hotel, where I have stayed a few times before over the last few years before sundown, it wouldn't bother me to ride at night, more so when it was still so warm, but night time isn't really clever here with the amount of wild boar around.

A short walk around town and by the time I sat for dinner, outside, it was still about 25ºC at 21:00. 

 

Tomorrow, I shall probably face some heat and some familiar roads.

 

Excellent and plenty of BOTM candidate photos there. 

[yen_powell]

Thank you for the historical picture.

What is this, bungee jump platform or something?

[Pedro]

9 hours ago, yen_powell said:

Thank you for the historical picture.

What is this, bungee jump platform or something?

It’s a trend here, in scenic view points. They make a structure to take up and forward to the view, it actually makes it more spectacular than just viewing from the ground as where you are standing doesn’t interfere with what you’re looking at. 

[Pedro]

Today I woke up lazily with no schedule except get on the bike while it didn't get too hot. I ended up not leaving until almost 9:30, surprised that it actually felt a little chilly in the morning, the 21º with which I left felt refreshing under the summer jacket, I rode the smooth rolling hills of Alentejo with little desire to stop. So little in fact that I have a few pictures of today but only of 3 or 4 locations. Headed south, went past Estremoz where the local motorcycling club was gathering a huge group of bikes by the town's entrance ready to go somewhere, rode around looking for a cafe to stop for the morning espresso but everything was crowded, everyone clearly enjoying a cool sunday morning before the heat arrives. A few days ago it got to well over 40º here, today wouldn't be as much but it still felt great to enjoy a cool sunny summer morning.

Stopped for said espresso a little further south in Redondo, at an old lady's bakery, 8 old ladies sitting outside all said hello back to me with a big smile, the coffee was had and I took the change to buy something to eat later on for lunch.

 

Quick stop by the Monsaraz Castle, just for this picture without even getting off the bike.

 

Went to a supermarket by the side of the road near Monsaraz to buy a water bottle, and the place was packed. I noticed a few guys drinking cold beers at the cafe going in, and also noticed that all shopping karts had one or more 24 beer can cartons, it was warming up and it looked like beer was on for this sunday in Monsaraz 

Didn't stop in any of the two locations I usually do, just went straight onto the dirt road shortcut I found last winter in search for a tree and some shade to have my lunch.

Saw some old Antas (Dolmen in English?) by the water, almost drowned by the dam, but no shade there so moved on. It was about 33º now, and stopping under the sun to eat in that temperature isn't pleasant.

 

I stopped here almost the same exact location in winter, and everything was so green and lush, quite the contrast:

 

Found my shade and stopped for a snack and water, a smooth breeze was blowing and it was really comfortable.

 

Empadas de galinha, Chicken pasties, a very classic Alentejo food, it did alright and matched the scenery perfectly. A cold beer would have been ideal but I only had warm 35º water 

 

Got off the dirt / gravel road detour and continued south. From this point on I almost didn't stop or take pictures. Took some small forgotten Alentejo and Algarve roads, not much traffic and lovely dry tarmac, a lot of twisty sections if maybe sometimes alternating with some of not the smoothest. Rode almost all the way to Faro, my destination for the night, but got there and didn't feel like stopping. It was hot and had been well over 33º since lunch, Faro was also hot, looking to find a hotel in prime summer season and leaving the bike to sleep on the street was hindering my desire for an ocean swim, which I love but maybe not today. Stopped to drink some water and think of what to do.

After a few minutes drinking warm water and "enjoying" the now 36º, I pointed the GS back north and took to small roads to my home, I hadn't been there in a while and arriving home was really what I was looking for. Took no pictures of that either, there was a lot of ground to cover. The motorway would have been maybe 2 or 2,5 hours, but I took the little roads, somehow I just didn't feel like stopping today, rode a little faster than normal too, maybe, it was just one of those days.

Arriving home, I did take a snap and a little video when crossing the Rainha D. Amélia bridge with the sun starting to get low.

 

I was surprised to have to fill up the bike again today, so I just went to look on google maps, today was a 700km day of mostly very small roads and lots of tight twisty sections, dirt roads, etc, most of it in around 34º/35º. I'm tired.

[Catteeclan]

Excellent. You have so much more to look at than this over over built overcrowded island we have.

[Pedro]

4 hours ago, Catteeclan said:

Excellent. You have so much more to look at than this over over built overcrowded island we have.

Thank you, but the UK is way bigger than Portugal, surely you have a lot of nice areas to find the space to enjoy a motorcycle. Maybe it's just you have to travel a lot farther through more traffic?

[Catteeclan]

6 hours ago, Pedro said:

Maybe it's just you have to travel a lot farther through more traffic?

You got it.

[Buckster]

 

BOTM material right there.