Straight forward good days cycling. I had a very pleasant 1 mile downhill start to the lake then flat for 14 miles to Ponte Sal. There were multiple little inlets off the lake which the road crossed and on the first I stopped as I spotted a Stork and a nice view, even better when I got there, not only a stork but also Heron and flying above me was a Red Kite.
The first 2 were easy pics, the kite proved more tricky.
At the next inlet you could see what looked like an old road submerged in the lake, there were lots of trees in the lake too and the bridge had a date on it 1961 so I'm guessing that's when the dam was constructed and the new road built, leaving the old road under water.
Next I passed an aerodrome which I expected to be small but it had huge sheds which ran for a mile and a fairly large control tower. At Ponte de Sor I turned left on the N2 which worried me as the number suggested it could be quite a major road but it was quiet'ish' and once I rea he'd Bemposta I had a thrilling switchback descent into the Tejo valley which I crossed to reach Abrantes.
Abrantes was annoying as the road forced me 500ft up to the top of town where there was a big Transmitter Mast only then to drop 500ft back down.
I had a disappointing lunch in Abrantes as the swanky looking cafe I chose only seemed to do toasties !
From here I had 5 miles to a big climb out of the valley which was about 900ft. After 100 a heavy shower appeared and the way up looked bleak, so I retreated the 100ft back to a bus shelter for 30 minutes.
I then repeated those 100ft as part of the climb which was nasty and stayed at 10% plus for a while.
Once at the summit I dropped to the Barragem de Castelo de Bode which is a large dam on the river Zezere and from there I had a showery 8 miles into town followed by a Check in fro. hell which took 30 minutes (Portugal at its best !) when all I wanted to do was dry off, shower and explore the town.