Today's hotel had a 4pm check-in so I had nearly 8 hours to cover the 110km so not a big deal.
As I left the hotel I felt drops and the white stones on the sidewalks got really slippery. Most of my climbing for the day was going across Lisbon. There weren't any bike routes or quiet roads the way I was going; this always happen when roads get funneled into valleys, go over hills and have to cross bridges.
Lisbon and the suburbs was not a fun ride. I was a long a busy road which occasionally had a bike lane. When it didn't, if you stayed with the traffic you got passed a lot but it was ok; if you missed a turn or had to stop it was hard to get back into the flow. Roundabouts here were a little scary. Most traffic want to go straight and if you joining perpendicular to that it was hard to get in; I had to make people stop a few times. And it was also raining. No hard but the road was wet and all the dirt was sticking to the bik
Vila Franca I crossed the bridge and made the mistake of not taking the pedestrian path as I got one because the road was quite wide. As soon as it was too late the road narrowed and I had a nice following of trucks hoofor a good section of the bridge. The driver let me know when he passed but I couldn't get over the barrier or go back.
As I headed inland the weather cleared a bit. I took my first break at a little bakery. It was then I realized I know no Portuguese. I couldn't even say thank you (I learned it later at lunch). I just used the 20 Spanish words I know. It worked, I got a cafe con leche and a donut thing.
Usually when I go someplace I learn enought to say hello and the food I want. Usually after my first few words, if they speak English they start using it. I was very lazy about learning any Portuguese. So far I've found more English than I expected. I did learn thank you at lunch; that is the absolute minimum.
After my break I was on a road that had no shoulder but it didn't have that much traffic. Unfortunately, most were large trucks and all vehicles were speeding. Outside of Coruche Google Maps said there was a restaurant on the road. I was expecting a truck stop but it was fancy with very good food. I ordered poorly but it was good; just a lot of the same thing.
I had planned on taking a dirt road to Coruche and past as well but the weather was threatening and the pavement was drying out. Some of the dirt roads I saw were very muddy and I was dirty enough. I stayed one the main road with the high speed trucks. It was a lot faster.
I got into Couco with enough time to wipe all the dried dirt off my bike in the town park. At 4 I waited at the hotel but had to phone the number in my confirmation email. She spoke English which helped. (I keep falling asleep!)
When I when out for dinner I found a bar and ordered the fried chicken. A soccer game for the local team was on and the bar was pretty full. The home team won on one of the prettiest goals I've seen in a while. My chicken was good but the fries were amazing. The bread in Portugal is really good.
I took some pictures around town and the theme seems to be cats. BTW, I'm not doing any proofreading until I get a decent sleep!
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