So everything went well this morning. Breakfast completed in the hotel and out on the bike by 9 o'clock. I sped along on quiet roads and after 15 miles I was in Arronches where rather than go on the bypass I cycled into town up difficult cobbled streets again, just to see a typical Portuguese town !
10 miles further on at Santa Eulalia there was a petrol station with the side Cafe attached so I stopped, time for a coffee and a nice cool fruit juice and to replenished my water supply.
From Santa Eulalia, it was only another 5-10 miles into Elvas, the biggest town I would hit on the day and as I approached I saw the huge aqueduct on the West side of the town which I would cycle beneath. Pictures of it suggested it would was impressive, like the one at Segovia, but it just looked a bit more modern, not authentic in my opinion.
The plan was to lunch in Elvas, but it was far too early, so I pressed on to one of my favourite little Portuguese towns of Juromenha which overlooks the Guadiana river at the end of the huge Alquelva reservoir. There's an old castle sitting high above the town to protect it from the Spanish on the other side. I must have spent an hour just walking around the town. It was gorgeous. I only had 20 miles left to ride today, so and my plan was to lunch in a Alandroalal 10 miles along the road. However the next 10 miles weren't the best. Huge roadworks going on which I passed.
There were multiple wagons, literally two or three passing every minute in both directions, spraying up dust and dirt I could feel the chain creaking and my sinus hurting. There were tall concrete columns with the deck being attached being erected. This road was very straight, it was also very level and went on the whole 10 miles and more, which lead me to suspect they're upgrading the Madrid to Lisbon train line and putting a high speed one in. So the next 10 miles were awful with dust and dirt and huge wagons everywhere.
The road itself was also awful, full of potholes, and crumbling because of all the wagons. On top of that, there were multiple undulations 200 feet down and 200 feet straight back up. Finally a literally 'gritty' cyclist entered Alandroal and I managed to find my favorite little cafe first time, which faces the castle. It was closed permanently, so I ended up across the road - water from the supermarket and an Empada from the bakery next door and that was the late lunch.
The last 10 miles were quite uneventful over to Redondo, except I was cycling almost due West and the sun was going down, so it was a bit scary, the road was quiet, but I was wary and each time I heard a car coming, I pulled over just in case they didn't see me. And there I was in Redondo by 5o'clock.