Begins the Ride

This morning, my last in Lisbon, I got up very early and went to the café on the corner for some coffee and a baked thing before rushing off to the train. When the waiter brought my order, I realized that all the baked goods were cold white bread pressed into the shape of pastries. But I didn’t have time to fool around, so I walked over to A Padaria Portuguesa (basically Portugal’s version of Starbucks) and promptly remedied the whole thing.

Despite all the caffeine and sugar in my system, I found myself dozing off while standing, waiting in the Sete Rios train station for my train to southern Portugal. My attempts at healthy living have not prevented three days of sleep deprivation from catching up with me. Oddly, once I start my bike ride I may finally get a little rest.

Speaking of which, I traveled today to Villa Real de San Antonio from which my ride will start tomorrow.















This town is a small beach resort on the Guadiana River that separates Spain and Portugal.

I discovered today that the company I booked the ride with believes in the “free spirit” approach to these types of rides, which means that their route maps are more like rough recommendations. The guy told me that getting lost is part of the fun and that I should just remember to keep the ocean on my left. So tomorrow I set off with nothing to guide me other than my wits and the stars. Along with a pre-programmed Garmin and 14 pages of maps from the bike company, Google Maps on my phone and the several hundred other bikers who will probably be doing the same route as me this week. But other than that, just my wits and the stars.





The biggest challenge is what to take and what to leave. I have decided to pare my tech down to a single laptop and my phone, which makes me feel vulnerable, but getting down to what really matters in life is what these trips are all about. And given the weather forecast, I’m also not going to bring my raincoat. If anyone around here could understand anything I’m saying, I would tell them that this is what we call in America “tempting fate.”

Tomorrow, I ride. If I just remember to keep the ocean to my left, everything will be just fine.