Wednesday, 17 Mar 2004

Location: Evora, Portugal

From Faro on the south coast of Portugal, I cycled along to lovely Tavira. Very flat cycling. Then I turned north to Alcoutim - it started raining. By the tme I got to the village of Alcoutim on the Spanish border I was getting cold. I located a great room and stayed in it while the rain got heavier. At night there was not much choice of food (1 restaurant) but I was starving as usual and it tasted really good - and only 4.50 Euros ($A7).

The next day I didn't get far when I had a flat tyre. Then I proceeded to ruin 2 spare tubes. My bike shop in Brisbane had advised inflating my tyres to 75 PSI - bang went the spares. I had to leave my bike hidden at the side of the road and hitch a lift. To cut a long story short, I then experienced (over the next 3 days): another broken spoke, a tyre disintegrating, and another tube blowing. I started losing confidence in my bike.

The Alentejo region, to the north of the ALgarve, is pretty flat with cork plantations, sheep and sleepy villages. The weather is warming up - with maxes in the low twenties. I rode a big day yesterday: 91 kms and then just 35 kms today. After another visit to the bike shop here in Evora, I now have 2 new tyres and tubes. Evora is a lovely place and I have a nice room - might stop 2 nights before heading for Spain.