TransPortugal wrapup

I'll probably miss ham and cheese sandwiches for a while after the latest Euro excursion, dinners are fantastic and elaborate, but the rest of the days, cafe stops, breakfasts, etc. are much better if you have a penchant for the basic ham and cheese sandwich.  Portugese soups are a notable standout, this country does soup impressively.  Foods are very natural and underprocessed in general.  Security of person and belongings is a non issue.  Suffice to say, it's about a hundred times better than the "is this cooked enough" or "should I drink this water" or "watch my bike while I go into this cafe for water" mindset...

TransPortugal is a great, long, hard race.  I've never done an eight day before, so it's probably correct that I've never burned more calories in my life than in this last eight days.  The course profiles don't really indicate challenge as they don't show heat and headwind - it's a lot of work to ride a mountain bike 1,000km any way you slice it.  If you're convinced that you'll be disappointed by not spending time riding technical singletrack - maybe this race is to be avoided.  If you can find a paradigm where absorbing more than what's under the bike tires is the focus, this one is fantastic.  Or dare I say it... not even really "racing" and just booking in an easy or partial day and some photo stops on the way through to ratchet up the tourism/enjoyment factor.  The age/sex system really mixes up the field nicely (or more accurately focuses differientiation based on ability) .  The racing itself is challenging.  Every day the (typically fastest) younger group is the last off the line to chase down who they can.  If you're 41 (larger time bonuses, the one at 36-40 isn't much) or over and haven't slowed down, you've got this thing nailed.  Geoff Clark/Pat Doyle/Gerry Mccuaig/Jack Funk come to mind.  Craig would also kill it with a little less time advantage, in fact if the organizers knew him they should probably keep him back an extra couple of minutes ; ) The women thing is a bit mixed - on the days where they head out very early in small groups, it works if there isn't a headwind.  For people like Trish it'd be key if there was a few 6' tall Dutch women to draft!  Jon would be able to ride well with the top couple of guys and try to chase down the Craig types all day. 
 
It's beauty is in its size of only 69 racers... and they said they'd shrink it again next year down to closer to 50-60 after trying slightly larger this year.  It facilitates meeting everyone in the race, and through the wonder of Facebook have a larger world wide cycling friend network because of it.

The organization and its people are excellent.  Punctual, organized, and friendly.  They seem empathetic by nature and want to help you, know you, see you do well and befriend you.  The riders just ride bikes, eat great food and sleep in great hotels, no other worries.  The post race refuel table is terrific.  I hardly got past the bean/corn/tuna/sliced olive with olive oil, vinegar and sea salt salad each day.  A recipe made in heaven as far as I'm concerned.

Mechanical service is included except for notable parts, they don't count every bolt or cable, just things that legitimately have cost.  It's there to help you through, not as a profit center. 

I don't know how they swing the hotels they do, it certainly doesn't seem to a profit driven approach by the organization as much as its their desire to provide you with a fantastic experience.  The riding and site seeing definitely does that.  The food and accomodations nicely compliment the memories as well.  Our last day residence was a minimalist ultramodern structure in all white, we all felt a bit bad washing our dirty clothes in the bathrooms - it felt ethereal and light, like heaven got a modern renovation done and replaced classic architecture with modern. Perched on the oceanside, it was dee-lux.  I noted the non-group rate posted behind the front desk for a basic room (if you can call them that) was €175/night, which if I'm tracking our exchange rates at all right over the course of the trip puts us near $300 CDN... So maybe the economic slump has them begging for group bookings.

Two thumbs up overall!  Start saving those Airmiles...