Had a great hike from a village (or a La Mancha) called Chulilla. Known for its hanging bridges. The bridges were built for workers to travel from the town along the gorge and then across the Turia river to work each day at the reservoir. In the Turia river flood of 1957 it washed out all the bridges. The bridges to across the Turia were rebuilt in 2013. The ones along the gorge are still not passable. Was a hot day but we went in and out of the sun as we went deeper into the gorge. This is the section where the water flows into the canals. You cannot see it well but on the right side of the photo are the wooden walkways that lead around the gorge to the reservoir. Here I am gracefully(?) coming down steps that led to the petroglyphs. We had to crawl through rock tunnels and up this ladder to get to them. They were only found in 1998. My photos of them don't do them justice. They were faint. They did ere...
As we leave our resort hotel, it's hard to believe this is our last cycling day. Marco planned a ride out to the lighthouse in Sagres which sits at the western most point in continental Europe. Great views and a selfie salute towards Boston... Kathy you look great in those sandals but we've got miles to go and a 17% grade to climb!! As we leave Sagres on the road we entered, we are treated to a headwind, or in this situation, a reverse tailwind. Ricardo gave many of us the nudge we needed to keep going... After the headwind and some gnarly hills, we stopped at the beach for a break... The 20% descent came upon us with ominous warning sign... And the 14 - 17% grade just stared at us with an evil grin... With those hurdles behind us we cycled peacefully to our beach side lunch spot.. and on to our final viewpoint on the cycle tour, Ponta da ...
Moving from our relaxing retreat, our destination today is the ocean. After a couple of 'warm up' climbs, we were treated to nice views and rolling hills. When the ocean views opened up we saw the styles of homes change and brighter colors all around. Marco added a beach loop for an extra treat. A bit of a short steep climb, but so worth it... right Ralph? Time for another famous selfie to record the moment... Then off again through colorful beach villages, many with fun murals... And on to lunch spot that seemed the middle of nowhere. I had the fish special after the server promised the fish was caught 2 hours ago ... or did he say I'd have to wait 2 hours?? Either way, it was a delicious and eventful lunch... Off again towards Sagres. Marco recommended a visit to the fortress at the end of town. The grounds were i...
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