So I did say that I have no experience of riding my bike a long distance on a tour, well that is true, but I do have experience of riding my bike a long way. Last summer I was in Portugal in mid July with my family and a friend. Me and my friend (Mike) hired out two mountain bikes, nothing special just the classic Hardtail Trek MTBs that were heavily used and about 5 years old, and we went off just where ever we wanted. Probably going to go for about 3 hours, have lunch then 3 hours back, easy right?
Well of course we shot off and killed our selves in about an hour and a half, stopped onw a beach and chilled for a bit just so that our legs could recover a bit. We managed to get hold of one of the worst maps ever but it was all we needed, so we just carried on going east along the coast. Our idea was that if the sea is on the left, you are going away from home, on the right, going towards home, simple! After about 4 hours of riding we were miles away but enjoying it like hell! Stopped off at this tiny beach hut restaurant which did amazing pizzas and cold drinks more importantly! Everything was feeling good and we were full of energy and water so instead of turning back, we had a better idea!!!
We pushed on and tried to find the marina as we could see a huge yacht moored up with loads of other around it, obviously where all the big impressive boats will be. So we kept going, but this time being more adventurous, going off the main road down little side streets which was amazing! We ended up finding a long boardwalk that went on for about half a mile and along side a lake with Flamingos in it! Then we got to a beach where we decided would be the turn around point. So far it was going so well, just had the same enjoyable trip back.
But instead of doing the same route back because nothing is as boring as seeing the same thing again, we tried to be clever and cut back a different "quicker" way. Big mistake!!! 2 hours later of being lost and tired with no water we started to almost panic. July heat in Portugal with no shade, cycling and no water is not the best position to be in. We cycled around tried to work out where we could go to get a drink of anything!! eventually 20 mins later finding a supermarket and buying about 3 litres of water. The ride back was awful, we stopped every few miles and were going down all the main roads so cars were shooting past constantly.
So yes I have done a long bike ride in a place I didnt know, but it wasn't planned, nor as big as what I am planning.Importantly, it taught me that food but especially water is EXTREMLY important and can change the feel of a ride totally. Also, small roads are normally slower but so much better to ride on, and finally, work out a plan and stick to it!!!
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