2023-STAGE 2 | PESO DA RÉGUA - FORNOS DE ALGODRES

Today is new to Al and I both. This stage route is not the same as last year and by all accounts it is a little harder. Its a little shorter but with a lot more climbing. In fact, it is pretty much all up and down starting from the gun. We climb out of the Douro valley through the vineyards and see the valley from above. It is magnificent and I take the time to get the camera out to grab a few snaps.

But it is relentless....so I throttle back and stick to my plan to grind it out without burning any matches. The group goes away from me....but not very far. I can see them most of the time. I even catch some of the guys who strtted out a bit too quickly and cannot hang on at the pace of the leaders. After an hour, I have gone precisely 10 Km. After 3 hours 30 Km....this is hard going. The views are jaw dropping.

I keep passing and then being passed by the usual suspects who either miss turns and have to come back or climb slower and decend faster than me. Some of these guys can really handle a bike downhill and I am not in the same league. I am also also a little nervous about dumping the bike and ending up with more broken bones so I take it easy and tell myself that I am sticking to my game plan and will eventually catch them at the end of the week. 

You know you are on top of something when you go past a forest of wind turbines. 

The route is probably the best one day mountain bike track I have ever ridden.  

We climb from one valley to the next and each one is different.  I never knew Portugal was this beautiful.  Terraced vineyards, terraces, pine forests, weird rounded rocks, crusty stone villages, ancient stone bridges and roman cobbles. 

At the end, I am feeling pretty good given how hard the day was and I think I have preserved a good deal of my strength for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Time will tell. I finish the stage in 32nd place and Al in 47th and we both move up the overall rankings slightly.