Parting Thoughts; Until Next Year

Parting Thoughts

Three days in Lisbon was more than we needed to get the bike packed up and see the things that we wanted to see.  The bike disassembly and packing took an afternoon and while the box was ultimately bigger than I thought it ought to be, it came together nicely.  I knew that the plane that would take us to Alicante (on Spain’s Costa Blanca) was small and I was concerned that the box wouldn’t fit.  Time would tell.

We spent the time we had left exploring the big, busy and hugely popular city that Lisbon is.  Even though the city is big, we spent a lot of time walking just to get a flavor of things.  But we also rode the famous street cars and the metro, too, when we needed to put some distance on.  Similar to Reykjavik in recent years, Lisbon’s popularity as a tourist destination has grown rapidly.  The city is the home of Portugal’s seafaring exploration history and we found the most interesting part of the city to be along the waterfront of the Tagus river.  There are numerous sites that recall the exploits of da Gama, Magellan, Henry the Navigator and the others from Portugal who blazed trails across oceans that previously had not been explored by Europeans.  It is interesting to read about that history, which in the big picture of things was not really that long ago, and fun to walk around.

There is also a kind of foody scene that reminds me a bit of Portland but without the freewheeling Portland attitude.  There is a big food court called the Time Out Market that has dozens of food stalls that are mini-restaurants selling all kinds of food from all kinds of chefs.  That’s very popular.  And of course the famous egg pastries from Belem are a big hit.

But as in all of our trips, we have found that it is the countryside that we enjoy the most tand where we feel most comfortable.  On every one of these bike trips we’ve done we have visited some of the world’s famous cities.  Many are beautiful and we feel truly luck to have the opportunity to visit them.  But for us the small villages and the people who live in them are what makes each trip a joy,  It is why we do these rides.

On our Lisbon-leisure day we took a ferry across the Tagus river just because we thought it would be interesting and our metro ticket worked on the ferry, too.  As we walked down the ramp who did we see but the Dutch family who we’d met about a week earlier up on the Portuguese coast – I mentioned them in an earlier version.  It turns out that they we following our basic route – 2 nights in Sintra and then into Lisbon.

We had a great chat again and they explained that, like us, they felt that the ride from the coast into Lisbon was treacherous.  They decided to forego a stop in Lisbon and make it just a waypoint – they are riding on for another couple of weeks and did not want to spend time in a bustling city.  They took a group decision and they decided to skip Lisbon altogether since the ride into town was so unnerving.  What are the chances that we’d bump into the same group on a ferry a week after we’d bumped into them 400 km up the coast?  Serendipity and good luck.

Our Dutch friends getting ready to move south

Random scenes from Lisbon

A famous funicular

Taking it apart and boxing it up for the flights

With that, here are a few parting thoughts (keep in mind that the comments below refer to riding on roads that do not include bike lanes or separate bike paths):

Cycling in Portugal:  We rode many quiet roads along the coast where traffic wasn’t too heavy.  But we rode too many roads where there was a lot of traffic and the Portuguese drivers simply don’t give way to bikes.  We can both say that without exception the drivers in Portugal are the least cognizant of bikes of drivers in any country we’ve ridden.  That’s not to say that they were rude (though there were several rude-driver moments!).  Instead, I think it is simply that cycling is not part of the road fabric (so to speak) in Portugal.

In Portugal it is not possible to go safely without taking the entire lane when needed, and that requires constant lookout behind.  It also requires some pretty ballsy moves on the bike to block traffic.  For days on end Lorie kept a vigil in her rearview mirror and our conversation for hours on end was something like this: Lorie: “Two back, gap, truck, gap, two more.”  Doug: “OK, three oncoming I’m going to block the lane.”  It became really tiresome.

We both prefer to ride and look at the scenery.  We had read lots about the quiet roads in Portugal but that wasn’t our experience. 

Recommendation: don’t bring your bike to Portugal.  Rent a car – a Toyota Whatever is nice – and drive to the spots where you want to stay.  Or ride the train.  Portugal is a beautiful country and if you have a chance you should visit.  But don’t do it on a bike.

Cycling in Spain:  Spain wins the award for the best, safest, most scenic cycling of anywhere we’ve ridden.  On nearly every road there are signs at least every few kms that tell drivers to give cyclists at least 1 ½ m of space.  And the drivers pay attention to the signs – if there isn’t room to pass, they wait.  And when the wait is done they move past without jamming their foot on the gas pedal, and more often than not they give a happy honk on the horn, a thumbs-up, or a shout of “Aupa, Aupa!”

Recommendation: Anywhere in Spain where it isn’t too hot, and especially in the Pyrenees and the across the north coast.  But be ready to ride some big and steep hills!

Cycling in France: A close second to Spain only because somebody has to win.  France is France and bikes are part of the culture.  We have never had an issue with a car in France.  You can ride anywhere, even the big cities like Paris and Nice and Nimes and be totally comfortable.

And only in France can you get bread the way the French make it.  Enough said!

Forward:

The flight to Alicante was indeed on a small plane.  Lorie and I debated whether the bike made it on board – the plane was so small that the luggage was being loaded from the tarmac – the bottom of the plane was just a few feet off the ground.  We ended up betting $100 on whether the bike made it; I bet no, Lorie yes.

Lorie won.  When we arrived in Alicante they park the plane in a plane parking lot and you walk to a bus.  We watched them unload the luggage and saw no box.  But then they opened a hatch just behind the cockpit and there was the box, strapped to the back of a bulkhead that separated a storage compartment from the cockpit. Glad it made it.  We dropped the bike box (actually boxes – one for the bike, one for the wheels) at a consignment place at the airport (a great convenience) and our friends were at the airport a few minutes later to collect us.

We had a wonderful dinner in Alicante with long time friends.  We ate until 2 a.m...  Spain!

We hiked to the top of a rock mountain with fantastic views

Lorie, Doug, Verena and Javier.

On Tuesday we fly home and we are really looking forward to getting back to the Sherm, seeing the dogs and horses.  It has been an epic trip.  Super fun and super challenging.  But it is time to get home and see family and friends and get back to work.

Until next year, thanks for reading!  We look forward to seeing you.

Doug and Lorie.  Adios.