TransPortugal Day 1

Portugal 1, Erik 0

The heat, the lack of sleep and the time zone change killed me, full on merciless slaughter.  Ride time was 10:59, 1 min under the cutoff, so I was last I think... Maybe I should have done the Giver8er instead!  First 4 hours I rode "normally", and I thought I was pacing smartly. After that the heat and everything else caught up with me.  I thought I was drinking smart quantities and mixes, but apparently not.  Spent 2 hours not riding - around 1pm I was hurting, realized that equated to 6am at home, and was absolutely cooking on some La Ruta-ish hill with no wind.  Once I crested I took a short descent, then remembered my Trinidadian friend - take 'er eeaasy mon.  Slept along an ancient rock wall under an oak, in sight of a arched stone bridge over a stream.  Very like a Monet painting.  Some things you can make happen on the trail.  What I can't make happen is reduction of jet lag, increased sleep the last few nights, and acclimation to heat.

Legs were fine, mind was fine, heart and lungs fine.  Fuel pump failed, heating system then overloaded. 

After the nap, I was in a new world.  Guys with broken frames.  Guys puking trailside with heat issues.  Guys cramping spasmodically.  I did 4 stops of at least 15 minutes.  Made new friends and talked.  One guy is doing this because his doctor told him he was fat and had too much stress.  His doctor is Antonio's doctor.  He started riding, dieting, and set this as his goal.  He wanted to buy a Porche, but doctor told him building yourself into a big engine was better than buying one.  Another guy signed up 3 years ago and just came now - had such a severe knee injury that rehab and surgeries took 2 years.  I think my room mate Oliver finished.  Christopher my Trinidadian friend broke his GPS somehow, so he had to ride with others.  He came up while I was lying under some trees and had a gel and tried to fix it.  15 minutes later he was ejecting the contents of his stomach in the sweltering heat.  I waited 20 meters up the trail and tried not to hear the heaving too much.  We rode together for a while, and stopped for some electrolytes.  30 mins later he told me to stop waiting and go on, sorta melodramatic.  I'm not sure if he finished.

The scenery was just beautiful.  Saw snakes, lizards, birds of prey, nice little towns, beautiful mountains and vineyards.  The course was great, mostly doubletrack and farm roads.  When I was 4k from the finish, and watching my clock in disbelief at how tight it was going to be, a farmer had 75 sheep on the road.  Riding through or around them didn't work, so going into town I had to push it on the last climb.  My legs were cramping.  They also were cramping when I dismounted at the finish, while washing my bike, while getting a massage, while eating dinner.  Seems to have subsided a little now.

I hope someone ordered clouds for tomorrow.  It doesn't show up on the queue sheet the same as the Portugese guys are telling me, but they're saying there's a 24km climb with just a few small downs to break it up.  "It will test your will, and it's always hot with no wind".  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger I guess. 

It's now 10:30pm and I hope after the bus to the hotel I can sleep.  3:30pm home equivalent and I feel wide awake.

They told me I'll be so happy when I see the Algarve and the Mediterranean that I'll cry.  If today is indicative of how the rest of my week is going to go, I'm not sure I'll be able to wait till then. 

Tori completed her marathon in 4:35 and I'm super happy for her.