What an excellent ride this was - we started the day with a downhill half mile ride out of town where we then picked up a cycle path. The cycle path was an old railway line which had the smoothest of surfaces and ran slightly downhill in the main through forests and river valleys and for 30 miles ! The route ran south west and as it skirted Tondela there were coffe stops and even restaurants built onto the route sometimes in the old station buildings. As we headed south from Tondela we passed a ststion at Torredeita where there was an old steam train parked up on the old platform. As we continued we passed boulder strewn gorges and dropped into the Dao valley where Kits were flying above us - at one point one flew just feet above my head. After 25 miles the path was still excellent and we crossed the Dao on an old steel box bridge. The river was still with little movement and it was deep and green, full of moss and algae growth. Then after another 6 miles the line ended near Santa Comba Dao where it merged onto a live train line. We diverted via an small gravel track which took us onto the nearby road which had a cycle lane marked on the road and took us the next 5 miles to lunch which was a snack at the Service station near the Agueira Reservoir. We shadowed the busy N2 and had difficulty getting in to the services, eventually we opened a gate which had looked locked but wasnt. We debated the next 400 yards as we had to cross the reservoir on the N2 and Rob wasnt too sure - this really was the only rote available and I had cycled across previously and knew it had a wide verge. Eventually we went for it and were across in less than a minute and as it happened we timed it well and not a single vehicle, let aone wagon passed us. The turned straight off and follwed the reservoir to the dam which is a huge concrete double wall. We followed the Mondego which emerges from the dam and this would take us all the way to Coimbra 20 miles away. The road was mainly quiet and in a deep vallley passing multiple towns hugging the steep banks. There was one tricky section where the nearby N" joins the IC6 motorway and we had to take a very minor raod around this major junction. The road clicked up massively and my Garmin showed a muscled aching 17% gradient - I struggled up fo about a quarter of a mile like a pack horse going up a cliff. After this thunder was around us and a shower threatened but never appeared and we completed another dry day into the City following the Mondego River straight to our Hotel in the centre.