After 2 days in Lisbon, Sally and I loaded our bags for our first day on the road. All was well as we headed west along the Tagus river towards the Atlantic.

Above: The Monument to the discoveries, built to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of Henry the Navigator, who discovered the Azores, Madeira, and Cape Verde. It was inaugurated I’m 1960 and stands 170 feet tall.

16 miles out of Lisbon we abandoned our ride! Sally’s tire blew out. Second time in two days. These new tubeless tires seem great, until it’s more than just a simple puncture, then they become a pain in the ass!  We just added a bunch of the goo to the tire the day before so the tubeless tire goo was all over the place. No cell reception. We found a police officer to ask where the nearest bike shop was. None in this town. One 7 miles down the road in Cascaise. He said there was a train station a few blocks away. Knowing putting an emergency tube was going to be a tubeless pain in the mess with goo all over the place, we decided to catch the train to Cascaise and accept the permanent asterisk on the trip. Diagnosis at shop was that her wheels were built with the wrong rim liners. With a new set of rim liners, 3 hours later….. we were back on the road, a bit behind schedule. A quick lunch in the parking lot of a Lidl supermarket and we headed north, hitting hard afternoon winds.

Below: Sally rides through Carcavelos Just before getting her tire blowout.

Following image: Waiting at the train station in Carcavelos for the next train to Cascaise

Head winds and our mechanical troubles made our campground destination impossible. We climbed about 3 miles off the coast and hit the town of Malveir Da Serra around 8:00 pm. No room at the hostel, signs to the hotel in town just led us to two teenage girls who told us “There are no hotels up here?” with a funny look. We turned back down only to find our oasis. We have no idea what it was, but it was home for the night.

Before we went to bed we tried to figure out what this abandoned building with it’s three odd shaped tubs was for. Crushing grapes, washing the sheep, a community bath? If anyone has any ideas let us know. Whatever it was, it was a perfect venue for our first night on the road.