Having just completed the Via Algarviana camino trek just a few days ago, I was now already off on my next adventure, the 4th leg of the Life on the Run Tour de Portugal bicycle adventure. This would also be the final journey that I would share with Matilda before her retirement. It would be a 2 week long, approximately 1000km exploration of the northern coastline of Portugal and then the Peneda-Geres National Park, which is located over an area straddling the north-east border with Spain. The return trip would also include some amazing, historic places, but more about them in later posts.
As we departed from Peniche, we passed by the Statue of Our Lady of Good Voyage, the patroness for wishing safe trips for the fishermen of the Peniche peninsula. Well, we weren’t going fishing, but I imagined that she was wishing us a safe journey too. After a brief glimpse of Baleal beach, one of the most popular in Portugal for tourists, in particular for beginner surfers, it was time to head to Nazaré via São Martinho do Porto. The ride there was over very familiar terrain, as I had run and rode over it many times before, both while living in this area some 6 years ago, and then on subsequent visits.
After Nazaré, the scenery ahead would all be completely new, except for the city of Figueira da Foz, where I had visited briefly on a day trip with my mum several years earlier. Figueira da Foz would, in fact, end up being our destination for this opening day, a very solid effort of 150km. We handled it surprisingly well, despite not having ridden together for over 2 years.
When you amply roam,
‘On the other side’ by Jyri Manninen
your limits, you will surpass.
The unknown awaits.
I had to remind myself that the point of this journey wasn’t to make it a purely physical performance challenge, and so I had to do my very best to pump the brakes a bit. It was much more important to enjoy the awesome scenery, as opposed to worrying about what our average speed and daily distances were going to be. Well, I guess it’s hard to not keep behaving as an athlete, even though my competitive days are now long behind me in the rear view mirror. I have to admit that I still haven’t quite found the right balance with this, but it’s most likely due to now only having a 2 week time window to ride, while having so many intriguing places that I still wanted to see. One day, though, I will head off on a trip without any time constraints, and then I can truly move with complete freedom, but that time is not yet nigh. However, In many ways, this long first day would end up being a rather good reminder of the strength of Matilda’s and my 6 year relationship, which had originally developed during our 55 day, 4200km ride from Finland to Portugal.
Our first major interim destination would be the village of Carreço, some 400km further up the coast, where that epic inaugural ride had, in fact, ended back in late 2017. I already wondered how I would feel finally connecting back to that major locus of change in my life. It felt like it would actually provide the opportunity, in a sense, to resume that original journey once again?
Be blessed,
Jyri
run for your life 