Since my last ride to the Algarve two or three weeks ago I was missing riding my bike without freezing my nuts off, and ever since Morocco I was missing riding my bike putting wheels on dirt. Today, with a forecast of almost 20ºc I decided to go for a ride around.
After a little work in the morning, I set off at around 10 or 10:30, heading out on tiny farming roads, not 15 minutes into it and the phone starts ringing and a couple of emails I really should see to come through so I stop at my local riverside cafe for a morning espresso at 11AM. Annoyed to stop so soon, but there are worse places to work out of your phone:
I jump the queue of three cars into @XTreme's favourite bridge (from my reports), Ponte da Rainha D'Amélia is my favourite way to start a trip. It's an old train bridge converted to road traffic, there's many like that around this area and they are great but since they were made for trains they often cannot deal with two full lanes.
Into Coruche through small roads and I notice this older gentleman exiting a shop on a pristine and shiny looking red old bike, I fail to get him on the phone but turn back to see the little jewel sitting outside the place he left. It looked 10 times more shiny in real life:
Nobody answered when I called, so I continued. I aimed for a reservoir close by, I had been there on a previous time on the bike and a few days ago with Sofia on the car for a picnic with her dogs, I wanted to see how the sandy dirt roads felt on the bike this time.
Stopped to check where I was as I took a little more dirt to get there, and spotted this cool guy under the shade, I said hi and he came for a nose scratch after the picture.
By 12:00 I was taking a little stop to enjoy the place, only a little after one hour into it:
Not a bad place to ride a bike. Sadly the high water levels make this a short little dirt road, it's only good for a few minutes but it sure is pretty.
Some parts of this area are sandy though, but I do like the GS's manners on these tires. Considering their current mileage I am very impressed, don't think I'll go back to more mixed/road oriented tires unless heading for a bigger road trip on rainy Europe.
Sandy area:
The little quaint dirt road turns into a full on service road, plenty of forrest industry this way so these are good for proper big trucks, you would be wise to remember that when considering how fast you could ride there, plenty fast but a big truck coming around the corner would make things unpleasant.
Can't get much more Ribatejo countryside than this, I think the rural houses in southern Portugal are the definition of what a "home" looks like:
I had searched on google maps where to find something to eat and came across a little grocery style cafe. It's a very typical shop in these parts, somewhere where you can buy bread, pastries, grain, flour, vegetables and fruit, but also have a snack of eat a full meal. First, just a little but of road to get there, lovely smooth tarmac through pine and oak trees.
The views inside the shop, not really a vegan friendly location:
I make my choices of a vegetable "empada" and a ham sandwich, and enjoy them outside. My choice of a alcohol free beer raised a few eyebrows amongst the other clientele, most of them stopping by for a coffee and a little something else with a kick to it, before heading back to work on the forrest. My food was delicious:
As soon as I bit into the ham sandwich a little older dude appeared from inside the shop to say hello. He gave me an unrelenting stare and I couldn't help but share lunch, he gently put a bit of bread on the floor but was happy to have some ham
Saved the location on my phone, I'll be coming back. Temperatures were now 19/20ºC, I rejoiced and sat in the sun. My mid layer was folded away and I prepared to enjoy the perfect motorcycling temperature.
Rode just out of town to stop by a lovely field filled with happy looking cows munching away on green grass, last year they weren't so happy. What meat farming should always look like:
Through Lavre and heading to Ciborro, I took a detour south on a dirt road down the plains you see on this landscape picture taken a few minutes previously:
After a little water crossing, not deeper than a foot, I asked a gentleman about directions and he stated there was open roads all the way to Montemor. It's easy to get lost in the maze of farm access dirt roads to find a closed gate preventing you into private property. I followed this great 3rd and 4th gear dirt road between fences. The GS's engine is great for this, all the torque you could want to slightly break traction with tact, it's a treat on this road.
Looking at these two, the little one, my plan for a stop by the butcher for a steak for dinner was dismissed in my mind
Quick stop for a wee and I realize I had been here before, arriving from a detour from the road coming from the South, it's a lovely place.
On my way here I passed a cow loose on the road, it wasn't happy at all that I came close by, and trapped between two fences reacted by having a go at me. I gave it a quick braap in third and avoided her. When I stopped I checked the map and realized there was a way back north via more dirt roads, another 20 or 30km maybe so tried to go back 1km to get to those, but found the loose cow on the way. Whenever I approached she jumped on a fearful alert and stared at me with her hoofs stomping the ground.
She was not happy at all, and I was not confident that I could get past her a second time, with her on alert. Between stared and stomping, she grazed
I swear the road was narrower and the cow bigger in reality ...
Decided to go 10km longer the other way and get on tarmac instead of crossing that cow, so made my way out of dirt and to Montemor o Novo, then got on the N2 and headed north, eventually went a longer way but maybe gained time.
Stopped to take a picture on steep street crossing a southern village center, just for @yen_powell since he like the northern version so much.
Stopped in Mora to fuel up, but it took forever. First a lady had her car's fuel filler flap closed, and nobody could figure out how to unlock it, then the card machine started updating mid payment, spent a few minutes there enjoying the chaos and paid cash to move on.
Stopped by Montargil dam to see the place. I hadn't been there in ages, spent a couple nights there twice once in the summer, it's a great location to go for a swim as it's usually got water and it's always really hot. The water level was way higher than last time though, this is as high as they'll let it go before flooding houses, it was cool to see.
The Montargil Biker Club has the coolest clubhouse I've ever seen, converted from an old primary school building:
there's a poem written by the door, I loved it, it sounds and rhymes better in Portuguese but translates to:
The plan was to now get on the road and head home before the low sun. That plan lasted for 15 minutes before the GS got a little detour out of tarmac for a couple of kms, stopped for a call on a particularly rocky road:
That lasted for not much more than 5 or 10km, got back on the road and was making progress when crossing the small bridge at Raposa, decided to stop to take a couple of pictures the storks living on it for @Clive:
I remembered there's a nice dirt road going from there to Muge, where the bridge I was going to go back home is, the light was getting to be really pretty so took that which although obviously ridden at a lower speed than tarmac probably still saved me time as it was almost straight.
Well, it would have saved me time had I not stopped twice, once for the pretty light, and then to look at the horses:
I've been here with completely no water at all and just a rice field down there.
The road was softer than I remembered, but that might be because most of the time I rode through here was on the XR.
Back on the bridge returning home with the sun starting to lower
And through the tomato farm fields with the sun in my face.
Stopped by the little shop down my street to buy a broccoli to make pasta for dinner, and in time to have a shower to wash the dust off and have a cold drink with a little bit of light outside before the mosquitos came.
Overall, it was a great 300km ride, game me exactly what I wanted:
