Oh my God ... Today was tough .... but today was fantastic. I cycled through the Peneda-Geres National Park and the sun was out and it didnt disappoint.
The day started with a frost and mist rising majestically above the valley at Lobios.
I cycled south into the Geres, climbing first to 2400ft to reach the Portuguese border, where the old border post buildings still existed both on the Spanish and the Portuguese sides - I did pause a while in No mans land !
Much to my disappointment the cafe at the top was closed so I pressed on - a 400ft descent, then back up to the real top at 2900ft. The countryside was stunning with babbling brooks and multiple waterfalls every few yards !
The few miles between the two peaks was like a Lord of the Rings other world, full of moss covered vegetation and before anyone thinks I put a shift in today I passed a guy running, he was about my age, he had sand bags on his shoulders, there wasnt any villages or houses within miles ... God knows how far he was going but he had about 2 miles and 300ft to the top !
The descent gave some great views looking down to the lake at Rio Caldo. As I reached the town of Geres there were multiple parallel roads and I chose the one I thought went through the old village, well it did but after about half a mile I was in trouble, the road just dropped off the face of the earth. As I approached the bottom with my brakes full on I felt I was accelerating ! Cleats out and full deployment of the shoes before I hopped of the bike and walked down the last 100 yards, the Garmin said the gradient was -33 degrees.
I stopped for a lovely lunch at Rio Caldo and I was only half way ! Leaving town every bend brought better and better views which almost looked like the Italian lakes.
After a steady 1200ft climb I was on the plateau where I would pretty much stay for the last 20 miles.
Once the lake finished another started after a couple of miles, I approached a huge dam and stopped to video it. Afterwards a 10 mile lumpy ride took me to tonights hotel in Vila da Ponte. What a fantastic day !