It was another foggy and slightly chilly morning – foggy to the extent that condensation would form on our helmets and drip off. We rode quickly to 20km and then stopped for coffee and pastries. We continued to ride fast until 60km, around 20km/h, with there being few hills and the road being quite good. There were lots of other bikers this morning, many riding in pelotons, some even with their own support vehicles.
At 60km we bought pre-made sandwiches at a cafe (fried chicken and fried cod) and drinks. It was only noon and we figured we’d be finished with the day’s riding super early. But it was then that the day’s adventures began. I soon got a flat tire. After patching it some cyclists stopped and filled it with co2 (seemed like it got to higher pressure than with pump). But the tire was super worn out, with diagonal slashes running the entire perimeter of the tire. One section of the tire was starting to bulge out and I could feel a bump with each rotation of the tire. It was 15km to the next town with a bike shop, so we hoped to make it there to replace the tire.
Unfortunately it was not to be, and after a few km I got another flat, and the tire tore completely in one section. We called the three bike shops in the town 13km away (Figgeres do Foz), but no one answered. There was one house right where the tire blew so we rang the doorbell and met Toni, his wife Marlin, and their five year old son Leonardo. They graciously invited us in for lunch (slow cooked wild boar [Javali], potatoes, and tomatoes they grew in their garden) along with wine and some harsh liquor distilled from grapes. Toni called around to many people and eventually reached a friend who’s wife worked in the bike shop that wasn’t answering their phone. He drove me in the 13km to get a new tire (€20), we fixed it at his house (he’s a car mechanic and has an air compressor we used to fill the air up).
The final 35km was again super fast and we arrived at a beautiful free beach “autocaravan” stop with free beach showers and toilets by 6pm. We had bolognese rice for dinner and are now ready for sleep at 8:30pm.
