A 2.96 euro ferry and adeus Portugal, hola Spain.
People here is kind of shitty and don't smile nor say hi when we meet on the road. I don't even begin to focus on this thought that a dude on a bike appears next to me, he is irish and he is megafriendly.
We share the utilitarian kind of chitchat between people enjoying a series of hills: how are you doing, where are you from, where are you headed to and do you know any nice stealth camping spots? A goodbye brofist and off he goes, his cycling jersey says Pedal Ed.
Bike is misbehaving a bit, the rack behind me is wobbling today and a supporting bit came off. Result is that the bags sometimes touch my back wheel, which will deteriorate them and slow me down. Will fix this tomorrow, hopefully for free by using dead wood.
In the meantime, It feels like my body is getting used to the constant hammering and is able to pedal longer. About 60km yesterday and 50 today, getting better.
I feel stronger and I am getting fit, body fat is disappearjng and I am gaining weight (muscles being built or, as Mario told me yesterday, water retention due to cheap food)
My daily diet is currently resting on a few immovable pillars:
- 1lt milk
- 1kg bread
- 300g oatmeal
- 4 bananas
- half an apple
- chocolate
- honey
- cheap cheese
- 2/3 litres of water
On top of this I include some half a kilo of pasta with vegetables or fish (sardines, tuna and other cheap stuff), salads, beans, cured meat.
I should include more greens and I am considering trying with the raw approach: cooking is not always possible during this trip because everything is dry and I won't dare starting a fire in the wild, consequences could be catastrophic for me and the environment..
I am finding a bunch of spices on the dunes near the sea, such as rosemary and thyme; I should invest more time in researching local wild plants so I could have free vegetables.
Talking about wild, camping tonight.
Outside my tent the litany of a thousand mosquitoes trapped outside; cars passing by the nearby A-494, sound like sea waves.
Will one of the 70-80 protected lynxes roaming g in this wild area eat my face, bike and food rations tonight? There is only one way to know
Over and out,
Tom