The next morning the rain had stopped but most of my gear was still wet, especially my shoes> I had an uneventful ride through Lourical and Carrico where I planned to cycle over the huge bridge into Figuera da Foz before cycling up the Mondego river to Coimbra. As I approached the bridge I saw a dark cloud but I would shelter in town if required as it was only 2 mile saway across the bridge. I had to cross the road onto the left hand verge where there was a cycle / pedestrian path across the bridge, but as I pushed the bike up a large concrete kerb the rear derailleur must have caught it and with the fully laden weight of the panniers the hangar to which the derailleur attaches snapped. I was screwed , the bike was unrideable so I pushed it across the bridge which is a good 200ft high and a mile across.
Next that black cloud suddenly came over and started a torrential rain / hail storm, as I exited the bridge I was both soaked and freezing. A young lad leaving town saw me and half the road flooded with ice & water and he decided to accelerate through it sending ice water completed over my head - how the hell am I going to get home if I'm having this much r=trouble and I'm still in Portugal.
I found a bike shop and they told me to go to a shop in Coimbra to get the rear hangar I needed so I took the train to Coimbra, booked into my hotel, dropped off the panniers, changed clothes then pushed the bike to the shop almost 2 miles across town. It would be 5 days before the part arrived and the bike was fixed but Coimbra was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city which is a huge University city on a steep hill with loads of old streets to explore.