TransPortugal 2010 - Days 5 and 6 - Its just wrong to be on a Mountain bike for 174 km!

Day 5, Ladoeiro to Castelo de Vide – 103 km, 2211m elevation gain - Profile here

Hump day. Halfway through the week. It is interesting how by this time in these races your body adjusts. You stop looking at your odometer, you stop looking at your watch and you just ride. The days seem to go much quicker and you just keep to the routine.


Josh, Mark’s son started with us today. He took a multiple hour penalty to do it but part of the purpose of this stuff is to enjoy it. We had a great start with the terrain very rolling with a number of creek crossings and several rivers to follow.





Two rivers cross Portugal from east to west and split the country into North, Central and South. The northernmost is the Douro which we saw during Days 1 and 2. Today it was the Tagus River which eventually ends up reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon.




Off the start we booked it pretty good and covered the first 60 km fairly quickly. We reached the town of V Velah de Rodao where we saw the Tagus River for the first time. Mark had issues with this water bottle cage coming loose and he stopped to fix it. I continued on, and once again never saw them again. The trails along the side of the Tagus created some awesome viewscapes as we dropped down near the waters edge and then climbed back up the sides of the valley. The flowers on the side of the trail were truly amazing.

I had noticed a few days earlier this really neat bush with white flowers occasionally on the side of the trail but today there were fields of them. I was told the name of them but it escapes me now.

The last 35 km were a steady uphill climb to the finish at Castelo de Vide, another walled city from ancient times. I was feeling pretty bonked as we came toward Castelo and had not heard about the last climb, so was a little shocked when I was passed by another rider and he pointed out where we were heading.

The castle sits on the top of a hill and we had to negotiate a very twisty route to the top following narrow cobbled alleys and streets. Once at the top we finished, and then cruised to the finish hotel where we enjoyed our post race feast.

The rest of the boys eventually cruised in and since we had finished fairly early we had time to explore the town and fill up on pizza and beer before our regular dinner. One thing is for sure; in these races you do not have to worry about your caloric input. The more you pack away, the better.

The post race massage is also a necessity to survive the week. Tomorrow is the super long day of this race. The start is very early and time limit is almost 12 hours. I think that we are all going to ride together tomorrow to try to enjoy the day.

Day 6, Castelo de Vide to Evora – 172 km, 2975m elevation gain - Profile here

A very early start for the entire field today. Calindy decided that today sounded like a good day for some sight seeing, and elected to travel with the organization. Mark elected to start with the main group so I went out by myself at the appropriate time. Trevor and I attended the race briefing last night, and there is apparently two early climbs, one of which is on a medieval road and the next on a Roman road.

I decided to go out and check out the history, and then wait for the rest of the boys after the two climbs. The following picture is a medieval cobbled road, fairly small stones and haphazardly placed; quite rough.

In contrast this is a Roman cobbled road, much bigger stones, and obviously placed very carefully with the flat surface up to form a smooth surface. How much work was this?

I waited near the top of the second climb and eventually the “Red Truck Team” arrived. It was clear there had already been a fair bit of “disorganization” as they were already near the back of the field. Trevor soon flatted, and this effectively put the group of us in last place. Our motivation to ride was severely lacking. None of us were particularly enthused about spending 174 km on a mountain bike in one day. That kind of distance is just wrong.

As we hit the 2 hour mark of racing and noted that we had only covered 20 km, a discussion ensued, and a few of us decided that we had better “get going” or we might be out on the course until after dark. Trevor, Graham, Josh, and I split from Mark and Paul and turned it up a notch. As it turned out Mark and Paul pulled out at CP 1 as a display of displeasure at the length of the day. They snoozed in the car as they were delivered to the finish hotel, and then spent the afternoon sunning by the pool. Theirs was probably the right decision!

The briefing the night before had also warned us that we would have to transit 44 wire fence gates during the day as we crossed over farmer’s fields. Each one had to be opened and then closed behind us, or there would be livestock all over the country. Eventually we caught a fairly large group of riders ahead of us, and this allowed us to traverse through the gates en masse. The day proceeded on with the group of us pushing the pace. A stop for a Coke at km 45 redoubled our efforts.

We intended to stop for water at km 96 but unfortunately the “taps” were turned off. This caused considerable consternation as we were all pretty much dry and the next water was at km 126. The day was pretty hot and there was not a great deal of protection from the sun. We soldiered on sharing what little water we had left. Somewhere during this time, Josh took off ahead with one of the faster South Africans. We expected that we would eventually catch them up, but as before, we never saw him again until the finish.

Our water stop at Evoramonte eventually rolled into sight. The organizers at the briefing had told us that the town would be very obvious. The entire day was pretty flat, and Evoramonte is a town on the top of the only major hill anywhere in view. Going to Evoramonte extended the day by probably 30 km; but it was there and therefore, according to the organizers we should go to it. Not the best excuse to give to a group already questioning a 174 km day.

have to say Evoramonte was pretty cool. As we climbed up the hill, we got a great view of the fort at the top. Calindy was there with the organizers cheering us on. We were super low on water and started immediately looking for a Café. Graham found one down a side street but it seemed no one was home. We were pretty desperate so we all headed into the bar and started filling our bottles and camelbacks at the bar tap. After about 10 minutes the owner stuck his head out after hearing the commotion and thankfully one of the riders with us knew Portugese and calmed him down. I asked him if he had any Cokes and eventually we cleaned him out of all the soft drinks in the place. In the end he made a pretty penny as we were in a rush, and we weren’t too concerned about the cost.

Once out of Evoramonte we had only 50 km to got to the finish, and we had been told that a good portion of it was road or bike trail. Easy, right? Not in this race. Shortly after we left the town, I was following one of the other riders through another field. Ahead he saw three possible trails to choose from. He picked the left and quickly realized that he went off course. With a shout he alerted the group behind, and hit the brakes. I dove to the inside starting to make a right turn over to the correct trail. Unfortunately, after his braking efforts, our leader was riding in his big ring and as he tried to turn beside me lost all of his momentum. He then found that he could not unclip his pedals, and gracefully fell over on top of me and my bike. No big deal right. When we untangled the bikes and dusted off our bodies, it was clear that my rear wheel was 100% tacoed. It would not rotate through the chain stays or seat stays at all. It was toast. I thought my race was over.

Quickly riding to my rescue was Graham Tutti who quietly says, “I think I can fix that.” And sure enough, he can. With about 10 absolutely full on whacks of the rim on a tree branch, the wheel starts to approach a circular shape again. Well, at least it rotates! The most amazing thing is that despite all this trauma to the wheel, it doesn’t lose one pound of air pressure. Stan’s Rims are unbelievable!!!!!

Back on the trail, I start to enjoy my new shimmy shake ride. After about 10 km I start to build a bit of confidence in the wheel, and off we went. With the course starting to consist of a fair amount of road riding, we start rotating off the front of a pace line. I did my fair share at the front; although I was told afterwards that it was pretty disconcerting following my wheel. Eventually we reach the finish after 8 hr and 55 minutes of riding.

In general, I have to admit that despite the length, the stage today was pretty cool. The scenery was absolutely spectacular with field after field of solid purple, yellow, or white. Thanks again to Carlos Dias for some of the amazing pictures.