July 10, 2024
The European portion of my ride around the world commenced at 5 am, when my flight arrived at the Lisbon airport. I spent an hour putting Louise back together after her journey in a bike box, then met my dear college friend Jason Eis for the week's journey up to Porto.
Castles and cobble stones, soft winds and safe bike lanes, polite drivers and puffy pastries; Portugal was shaping up to be a cake walk compared to the U.S. But then our route, the EuroVelo 1, threw us a curve ball: several miles on steep gravel roads. For the first time on this trip, I had to get off and walk my bike. Louise is a fierce machine, but she's fully loaded and sporting road tires. Plus, her rider doesn't have much experience on gravel. I figured that the possible costs of a spill—damaged gear or bodily harm—outweigh the benefits of a quicker ride.
So onto my hooves I went. Meanwhile, Jason sped ahead on his rented mountain bike and scouted out our eating and sleeping options.
After a gourmet meal at a restaurant with a breathtaking view of the Atlantic (Bay Area folks: think Nepenthe in Big Sur), we arrived at a bumping surfing hostel complex that featured several food trucks and a grocery store. My days of gas station pizza are over. I love Europe.
Distance: 41.22 miles
Total: 3,877 miles
I love Nepenthe too! I hope you are writing a travel book soon so that we can all get more recommendations of these gems!