http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ en-us ss@contactsheet.org 2006-08-18T11:39:55-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/08/18/the_end_of_the_road.html Saturday night we dined on our freeze dried "emergency meals" that we'd carried with us throughout the trip before our final night in the tent. Any somberness about ending the trip was quickly washed away with thougths of reaching our... 370@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ Portugal 2006-08-18T11:39:55-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/08/12/pedaling_in_portugal.html Not far inside the border the scenery changed a little. There were more trees -- olive trees that look withered and dead even when they're healthy, mighty cork trees that are planted everywhere and stripped of bark every ten years... 369@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ Portugal 2006-08-12T23:55:07-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/08/11/the_longest_day.html Yesterday morning, with the Portuguese border sitting ahead, we hammered onward over hills and down valleys as fast as we could. The riding was hard, constant 100-200 meter climbs in the sun, and as the afternoon wore on, the sun... 368@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ Portugal 2006-08-11T23:10:17-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/08/11/nada_y_pues_nada.html It's hot. Now we're getting to the Spain we expected, the one that is a furnace. We haven't seen a cloud in days, and there are public service commercials on TV reminding people that throwing glass bottles into fields can... 367@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ Spain 2006-08-11T17:45:07-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/08/08/the_wind_in_spain_stays_mainly_in_the_plain.html We should know by now that small roads on the map that lead to mountainous border crossings are going to be steep. The Col d'Erroymendi was the steepest climb we've done since entering France on Col d'Agnel. I had to... 365@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ Spain 2006-08-08T14:35:09-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/08/04/not_too_easy_not_too_hard.html We had some minor bike maintenance done on Tuesday. I got new bar tape, Susana got new derailleur cable housing. We had the work done at Liberty Cycles in Bagnéres de Luchon, "specializing in every kind of bicycle." Gérard, the... 364@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-08-04T20:25:09-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/31/i_need_more_cowbell.html Before entering the Pyrenees we collected our extra gear and sent our third and final package to Susana's parents, lightening our load that much more. But it was largely a symbolic gesture, like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic,... 363@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-07-31T22:05:07-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/30/vive_la_france.html It's been over two weeks since we first set foot in France and we've had that much time of extremely pleasant cycling. French roads are in very good condition, French people are very friendly and courteous to cyclists and there... 362@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-07-30T17:50:07-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/27/bicyclists_pasta.html This dish has evolved over the course of our trip and ends up being more of a pasta salad since the sauce is intentionally spread thin. That's ok because the leftovers go in a tupperware container and become our lunch... 361@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-07-27T22:40:07-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/22/cotes_du_rhone.html We found more yellow roads on the Michelin map that were practically bike paths, with so few cars and splendid views for dozens of miles on end. We call them Hors Categorie, or beyond classification for their bikable perfection. Getting... 360@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-07-22T21:20:12-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/20/back_to_our_tour.html We saw the riders off from Bourg-d'Osians -- from the signing-in ceremony to the starting gun. Floyd led the group through town wearing yellow. George was still eating a sandwich. And we caught a glimpse of Lance in the Team... 359@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-07-20T07:35:09-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/19/alpe_dhuez_part_2.html I actually wore a green sweater; it cooled down. After securing our spots by the barricades near turn #2 (from the top), we made friends with our German, Dutch, and American neighbors, listened to the band play, until finally the... 358@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-07-19T09:15:21-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/18/alpe_dhuez.html Susana and I found our positions at 11:00 a.m. near the top of the climb, inside the 3km mark, around the hairpin turn, and immediately across from the sign for the town of Alpe d'Huez. We're not in a photogenic... 356@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-07-18T11:10:07-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/17/tour_de_france.html After Col Agnel, we continued down to Briançon, and west to the gentle pass, Col du Lautaret. I unloaded my panniers and took the spur up to Col du Galibier while Susana was smarter and ate lunch. The climb up... 355@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ France 2006-07-17T23:05:07-08:00 http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/archives/2006/07/14/making_a_pass.html We got a late start due to morning rain, but after it cleared off we made the Col Agnel ("Lamb Pass") at 2pm local time, so if you were looking at the webcam at 5am Seattle time, we were both... 354@http://www.pedaltoportugal.com/ Italy 2006-07-14T21:05:08-08:00