Cycling vacations in the Portuguese coast

Some months ago I decided that this year I would ditch the car during my summer vacations, of course riding a bike.
This post will document my summer vacation bike trip (before, during and after) and not be fully about "changes" you can make in your life. Like a personal post.

Before the trip:
There were lots of things to be decided: whom will I travel with? what would be the route, or if none, where I would want to go? What time do I reserve to the trip? What bike to take, what equipment to buy? What is needed to prepare?

Regarding whom will I travel with, from the beginning I decided that I would travel alone. I always felt very import to be alone, to be able to have time and space for your self and to organize your mind (which I was in need).

The route was almost decided, I would do the Portuguese coast. I had done it last year by car, but I felt I missed something. That something was cycling in between beaches through the cliffs/unpaved roads. There is already a route marked called "rota vicentina". This route is divided in two routes: trilhos dos pescadores (fisherman's trail) and caminho histórico (historic way).
Fisherman's trail is classified as non cyclable. Reading the reviews this is kinda true, lots of sand, steep cliffs, you can go there but it will be risky and take the bike by hand.
Historic way was cyclable but was more focused on "interior" of the coast, not by the sea.
I decided to mix both: historic route from Santiago do Cacém to Cercal and then to Porto Covo. After Porto Covo I would try to as near as possible by the beach, either off road or on road. I was even ready to do some trails of the fisherman's trail.
As everything in this blog, the route was not strict nor definitive.
I downloaded the gpx routes from the site (historic route from Santiago do cacém - cercal - porto covo) and fisherman's route (Porto covo - mil fontes and almograve - zambujeira do mar) the rest of the route was planned through road using ridewithgps.
The time reserved from this trip was from 05/08 till 12/08 possibily extending to 15/08 if needed/wanted. The bike chosen was a mountain bike and I decided to not buy anything more than what I already have (8L seatpost bag, lightweight tent, sleeping bag and a backpack).

During the trip: 

I won't go too far in details about the places I've went. A picture worths more than 1000 words, so let's share some.

Santiago do Cacém - the begining

The end - Lagos train station

I guess the words speak for themselves.

What this pictures can't say was what I've learned during the way. Being alone I was exposed to situations that weren't common for me.

1 - Be positive

Accidents happen, things can go wrong. Easy or complicated. I learned that yelding and be mad won't solve a problem. Nobody would come and save me or solve the problem for me.

During this trip I had a flat tire (result of being imprudent and not re-filling sealant to the tire before leaving). In a normal day this won't be a problem. In my hometown we have at least 4 bike stores in a radius of 10km. There not even one. I had a spare tube but didn't want to be without nothing.
Decided I should take a "day off", rest, and find a solution. And after a morning of walking around searching for a bike store light came to my mind. Gas stations sell tire sealant for cars, so that should work for bikes, and it worked!

It is important no to quit, but also to give you some time for relaxing and stay positive.

2 - Always have a backup 

Never trust only one plan, one device, one person. Always have a backup! During this trip I tried as much as possible to always have a backup:

I carried two phones (for gps like feature), two phones (my main smartphone which I don't use as gps and old feature phone); chargers and a powerbank; offline maps and tracks but also a paper with the directions I should take.
Before this trip I though this whole backup thing was a bit too much, but it proved to be the opposite.
If I only had the chargers (for example) I would be without battery on gps and phones on the second day. This backup is also valid for people. In the day I had a flat, a guy gave a contact of a bike mechanic, and this one said it would meet me and sell me a tube. I decided to go around searching for a backup plan, and glad I did because the guy never turned up.
I regret not having two tubes or tube + sealant. Regarding the phones, believe me, they can fail. And for those lovers of "google maps", most of my time on the trails I didn't have network, so always have a backup!
Regarding tracks it is the same, I had them offline on my gps phones, online on ridewithgps and on my Suunto watch. One of the phones was without battery, I was ready to use the navigation on my watch, and guess what, the online service didn't upload all the tracks to it...
More than a backup, verify thing with a checklist (I haven't done it, so now I learned it!)

Also backups can be applied to drinking and eating. Believe there were days where that I opt for the safe way and eat something "somewere" just in case..and it turned out valuable, being the only restaurant in town being closed. Water was also scarce so I would refill every time I could.

3 - Be open to possibilities.

Most of us always have a way, a route. In fact, even saying I wasn't strict about the route, I was kinda determined to do it the way I planned. I learned that I should be open to possibilities during the way, because what matters is the way not the end. I decided to stop during two days, and those days gave me an extra boost and showed me another important thing that I will talk in 4.

4 - People are very importantBefore doing the trip I thought that going alone would be very nice, and it was. But during my first day off stop I missed people. Talking with people, sharing, etc. On my second day off I was with my cousin and other friends and it was amazing.

5 - Take risks

We always want to be safe, but taking risks elevate us, make us feel greater, and in the end the reward will be great.I decided to take the risk of doing some routes of fisherman way. In some trails I was scared, one bad step and I would die, but the view worth every risk. In fact it worth so much that the man you saw on the pics on the road bike decided to take the risk also (It is unthinkable to do this on a road bike) and stopped about 1min drooling on the view.

6 - Enjoy yourself as you are

Everytime I saw bikepacking adventure I saw great footage, great pictures, gps tracks and ways being perfect, everything on time etc etc

This is awesome, but you don't have to have/do it all to enjoy. This was my first time, and I decided to quit a bit earlier because I wasn't enjoying that much my time when off the bike (it was windy, and cold! and I didn't have clothes for that) or too hot (didn't had a "umbrella" for the sun on the beach).

I also didn't want this vacation to be all about cycling, so continuing the trip further just to pedal wasn't for me. For some people this was a "quit" , something bad.
For me it was just how I am, I want to do things to enjoy, not just because, so came home, finished reading the awesome book "The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life", met my friends and decided to write this post.

After the trip:

I decided I would continue to do more adventures like this, I considered it was very well succeeded and that with a better "infrastructure" things could be even easier.

I will ditch the backpack, at least for adventures longer than 2 days. The weight on the back is bearable but not confortable at all.

I will also ditch the saddle bag. This solution is nice for two day trip, but since I have a rack I will buy some panniers.
I will also try to get some paper maps to be able to have a "fully offline solution" just in case and to be able to improve my navigation skills (that are close to zero).

I know this was a massive post, and if you read it all, feel free to comment and to join me for a coffee, I will pay hehe.

 

For the geeks/bike freaks here are some specs:

Bike: Klein Palomino 26| Shimano SLX 1x11 (34t Blackspire Oval| 11-42 Cassette)|Shimano XT brakes
Gear: Tent from ebay, cheap and light. Keep in mind that I measure 1.7m and I touch every bottom of the tent. It may not be waterproof. Sleeping bag from lidl. Sleeping bag support from Newboller.  Saddle bag from ROSWHEEL (model 131414 8L) can be find on aliexpress and gearbest. Rear support, Thule Tour Rack.

GPS: Two old android smartphones Samsung Galaxy S I9000 and HTC Incredible S running Oruxmaps with offline maps from Openandromaps. Since they are very old and gps chips are very weak I am running a Nokia LD-3W gps antenna.