Time for a break....: Day 60 – 08/06/13

Estela – Madalena (Porto)

66.6 km, 4 hrs 54mins, 686m total climb

We rolled back out of the campsite and back into the cobbles. After that we made sure each route was not on the same surface by carefully checking on google maps the actual pictures. Basically, any road within 2km of the beach was always cobbles. We passed through some larger towns which generally had developed promenades so better for cycling. We passed Povoa do Varzim which looks like Portugal's answer to Southend on Sea. There are literally thousands of beach huts on the sand waiting to be rented out, but hardly any were dressed yet. The promenade and cycle path continued a long way. We also saw our first actual surfer (well actually bodyboarder).

We were heading into and through Porto today so kept the cycle short so that we could have a nosey. It turned out that our route would take us away from the beach road, and up the estuary of the Douro River for 6km until we reached the first small bridge we could cycle over. All the way up the side of the river was interesting. The town itself is very old and ramshackle but the whole area is totally full of locals and fish markets, small busy cafés, loads of tourists. By far the busiest place we have been to so far, including Santiago. Sadly Johanna's camera battery died before we got there (last picture was of the beach volleyball), so we only have a few pics from my small camera.

We continued on a busy beach road with a great new cycle path, which we however had to share with skaters and pedestrians. It was like trying to swim lengths on a Saturday afternoon, more zig-zag than a straight line.

We were looking forward to arriving at the campsite. It was an Obitur campsite, a chain of usually well equipped and popular campsites. This one was huge but unfortunately seemed to have passed its best days. It was slightly run-down, most of the pitches were overgrown with grass and a lot of the facilities looked like they hadn't been used since the 80s. We set up the tent and went to the supermarket. Afterwards enjoyed a huge bowl of pasta in a run-down area (we think it must have been a bar or outdoor disco in its days) next to our tent. Strange place, but it will do for a night.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1409287