mutelife

Back in September of last year, I did another bikepacking trip. Had previously done one with my brother from Lisbon to Lagos, but this one was my first solo mission.

This time I traveled north towards Coimbra in three segments/days, in what was supposed to be easy pace of sub-100 km per day.

Route

In case you’re interested in doing a similar trip, here’s the route on Komoot and below you’ll find Strava activities for each day.

Some stats

Total distance	262.55 km
Total elevation gain	3,620 m
Average speed	17.2 km/h
Max speed	50.7 km/h

Gear

Used the same gear as in my previous trip — go check that link for a full list of what I brought with me.

Day 1: Lisboa to A dos Francos

That first moment when start riding is magical. An adventure is about to begin and I feel all tingly inside. The world is your oyster and even though you’re exposed to the elements and out on your own, there’s nothing else you should be doing but pedaling and enjoying the views. And that’s what I did.

I had been checking out the route out of Lisbon because it seemed much harder than taking the ferry like last time, but nothing really prepared me for the amazing liminal places that I experienced as I was moving further away from the city.

After following the Caminho de Santiago (Way of St. James) and later the A1 highway for a while, I eventually made it to Vila Nova da Rainha.

The landscape quickly changed after this, becoming more and more rural while silence took the place of loud cars and people.

The day was going great until I hit Serra de Montejunto. I was anticipating the huge huge climb but nothing could have prepared me for what would come next.

A large portion of the vegetation had burned during wild fires in the previous few weeks, so there was virtually no shade on the way up. I had encountered exactly zero souls since Vila Nova da Rainha, let alone roadside café or restaurants, so water was scarce. This was right after lunch time, so the sun was blazing right on top of me. I even managed to get my hi-vis jacket into the cassette…

I started to feel a bit desperate, but tried to keep my cool — I knew once I was over the hump, there was plenty of shade and water to bathe in. Stopped a bunch of times along the way to avoid overheating and exhaustion, and finally made it to the top. Now it was all downhill, but hopefully not figuratively.

Day 2: A dos Francos to Beija Rio

The first day had sucked. Bad. I started questioning whether doing this trip by myself was even a good idea, so I changed my strategy for day 2.

I had been in gravel roads for the majority of the previous day, and I was pivoting to using roads whenever possible. Being away from big cities meant that the roads, while narrower and generally less cared for, had less traffic.

First though, I had to fix a puncture from the previous day.

The day was going great and I was putting down some KMs. It was the day with the most elevation gain and certainly a long one, but it felt so much easier when compared to day 1.

In the end, I arrived at the destination much quicker than anticipated, and even had time to dip my toes in the Sobreirinho’s river beach, grocery shopping for dinner, and enjoy nature around the magical house I had rented for the night — Beija Rio.

Day 3: Beija Rio to Coimbra

Last day was here. Got dressed, made a nice breakfast, and hit the road for what was the shortest segment of all three days.

At this point on the trip I was in the flow so 70km felt almost short, if it weren’t for having two fix not one but two flat tires in the last 10km.

Another bikepacking trip was in the books, with the next one already being planned.