Anticipating the coming world wide web, blogs, and sports.priorfamily.org, I wrote this travel log 18 years ago in July 1992 describing out tandem journey from Lisbon to Seville….
Actually, we used to subscribe to a tandem newsletter and thought it would be neat to submit our story. I put a lot into writing it up, but never got around to submitting it. The Word Perfect document disappeared at some point, but I was able to scan the hard copy awhile back along with the photos. Maybe they will still accept it :-).
TRIP REPORT: LISBON TO SEVILLE BY TANDEM
I found out on short notice I’d be attending a 2-week conference in Portugal at the end of May. My wife (Lisa) and I decided extend my stay and try our first-ever bike tour using a tandem we bought last June. After considering several routes we decided to set out from Lisbon with a journey to EXPO-92 (in Seville) as the goal.
Google Map of Route above. View Larger Map
In this article I’ve tried describe the experience and to capture the things we learned before and during the trip. I typed most of it in on a palmtop computer during the trip and on the plane ride home. A big thanks to everyone who provided advice and encouragement.
[Bike transport, equipment, and packing list information moved to end of article]
Day 0: Lisbon Airport to Lisbon Holiday Inn (5km)
My trip 2 weeks earlier to the northern city of Oporto had good and bad points. Since the plane was crowded, I volunteered for a business class upgrade and got it! I had a comfortable flight and managed to read “The Silence of the Lambsâ€. As I turned the last page at the luggage pick-up the conveyer stopped and my luggage (with our tools and miscellaneous parts) was nowhere in sight. I thought “so that’s why they gave me this little travel kit in business class.” Luckily the luggage turned up the next day at the hotel.
The taxi ride from airport was terrifying. The driver travelled at 80 km/h on narrow back roads and 150 km/h on a narrow primary road. He spent most of the time in the left lane passing and playing chicken with oncoming cars.
I wasn’t so worried about my safety in the taxi (the driver had obviously done this before) but I couldn’t envision biking on the same road with this guy. I was surprised how I grew accustomed to drivers like this (even while cycling). Most of Portugal’s population is concentrated in the North so the southern roads we cycled on were safer and less crowded.
Lisa arrives with the bike
Lisa arrived at 1 o’clock. We used the day for bike assembly, bag storage, and jet lag recovery. The bike was unscathed and we put it together on the sidewalk in about two hours. The person at left-luggage complained the bike bag was too big but eventually put it in a corner. It wasn’t clear (language barrier) if the bag could be left for 10 days but it turned out OK and the cost was less than $20.
We wobbled out of the airport made our way into the city toward the hotel. I had deflated the tires a bit for the trip and found that our frame pump couldn’t generate more than about 75 psi. While waiting for Lisa in the Lisbon airport I checked with Tourist Information and found there was a bike shop on the route to our hotel. It was closed. We knocked on the door and luckily the owner lived upstairs and was in the shop. He was helpful but only had a weak frame pump which we used to improve the pressure a bit before continuing. Tire pressure turned out to be a precious commodity for the tour.
A test ride at the airport.
Day 1: Lisbon – Lago St. Andre (125 km, 650 m climb)
[Lisbon to Setubal google map link]
We rolled out of the Holiday Inn around 10 o’clock. I was glad my legs were fresh since negotiating the Lisbon traffic was like a criterium race. Luckily the novelty of the tandem brings out people’s goodwill and drivers were courteous. We made it down to the docks and onto the ferry.
Getting started in Lisbon
Since the weather had been cool our plan was a direct route traveling across Alentejo. The Portuguese said this area could be hot and had long stretches of monotonous wheat fields but towns along the route (Evora in particular) would be interesting.
We set off from the ferry on right road but missed a turn. We realized we were off course as we entered Seisimbra [this was before the days of GPS]. Those first few hours of riding convinced me our average speed was going to be much slower than I had hoped. Independent of terrain or fatigue we averaged 19.5 to 20 km/h during the tour.
We changed plans and decided to take a more scenic alternate route we had mapped along the western coast. It would take a day longer but travelling at slow speed is much more bearable with good scenery.
A sea gull and its baby.
After lunch in Setubal, we took a ferry over to Troia (we asked for the “barca” but found “ferry” is the word). Boosted by the rest and lunch, our pace picked up as we rode along the long flat sand bar. We started thinking about lodging. There were many campgrounds but no hostels or hotels. After 90 km of riding I was starting to pay for not eating enough food at lunch and over the course of the day.
“We” had trouble getting used to the Michelin map as the 5 km estimate to the next town turned out to be 30 km. We heard intermittent gun fire from a federal prison a few miles down the isolated road. It started to rain and got darker. The trip was starting to fulfill our expectations for adventure. We encountered several light showers during the week but none lasted more than 15 to 20 minutes.
We finally came across a sign for a hotel (Lago de St. Andre). The town was simple and the room had a pleasant ocean view.
Our view in Lago de St. Andre
DAY 2: Lago St. Andre – Vila Nova de Milfontes (72 km, 450 m climbed)
Contrary to the commercials, VISA is not everywhere in Portugal. It took all our cash (including pocket change) to pay the bill ($35/night) and buy breakfast. We rolled out with about 75 cents.
The view from the rear leaving St. Andre.
I (stupidly) hadn’t bothered to get traveller’s checks since I usually convert them to local currency right away anyway. I had heard many ATMs will accept US cards but only saw one with US networks during the trip (and it was not working).
We rode to a bank in Santiago to get a cash advance. Although you can get a VISA advance through the ATMs, we learned that many banks and hotels don’t have the necessary communication equipment. We’d have to backtrack to Melides (20 km) to do it unless we knew our PIN. I justified the HP95 when I found it in my “misc numbers” file. My card hadn’t worked a few days earlier (network communication problem) so we were relieved when Lisa’s worked here.
We had passed a tourist from Toronto on the road and met him again outside the bank. He was disappointed in Portugal compared with other places he had toured (France in particular) but we were enjoying it (especially now that we had cash).
We borrowed his old Silca pump and brought our rear tire up to a reasonable pressure. I got greedy and tried to firm up the front and ended up exploding his pump (whoops) and deflating the tire. We got some pressure from our pump but the inevitable pinch flat came on the highway later in the day. We put on the spare Michelin which had enough volume to avoid pinch flats at low pressure.
We had a picnic at a hilltop castle in Santiago. The massive oil refineries visible 25 km away in Sines were a strange contrast to the historic castle (which now contains a cemetery). We almost went there before getting advice from the Portuguese that it was the one place NOT to go. After lunch we rode through the countryside near the ocean to Vila Nova de Milfontes. After checking in to a hotel I rode up to a motorcycle/bike shop for a “bomba” but had no luck. Later I had my first non Portuguese dinner (spaghetti bolonese) in 2.5 weeks.
Sheep graising on the road to Milfontes
The beach at Milfontes
Day 3: Vila Nova de Milfontes – Silves (128 km, 950 m climbed)
We continued our quest for a high pressure floor pump the next morning at a bicycle/mini¬market/pseudo-pharmacy on the road outside town. They only had a hand pump but it worked OK. We came across only a few touring cyclists during the trip and only saw racers in Lisbon and the suburbs of Seville.
We rode down the coast toward Lagos. This day’s riding was some of the best. A friendly older woman at panaria (bread shop) gave us 2 free cookies and sold us some great cookies and bread. We were being more careful to stay well fed.
200km down, 350km to go…
We saw a variety of terrain including several eucalyptus tree farms. It was a good to see such bio-diversity and ecological farming techniques (horse drawn ploughs and carts, etc.) during the Rio Summit.
We left the Alentejo region and entered the Algarve. The 160 m climb over the Sierra do Espinhaso de Cao range was tough but we enjoyed seeing the southern coast as we crested the hill.
Climbing out of Odeceixe
After a long and winding descent we rolled on to the beach at Lagos to rest and eat. The area was touristy in contrast to the simple countryside we saw earlier in the day. Sunburn on the back of our legs made sunbathing a non-option.
The beach at Lagos
A short cut back to main road consisted of a horrendous unpaved climb and a treacherous descent. We resolved to stay on yellow and red roads (Michelin color codes) for the rest of the trip.
Our backsides were getting tired of the saddle and every descent was an excuse to stand for a bit. We debated the 8 km detour to Silves but found the route and town worth the diversion. The alternative was Portimao which seemed too urban. We had a spectacular view of a castle and the hotel services were very modern.
The castle view from our room in Silves
Day 4: Silves – Ayamonte (101 km, 700 m climbed)
The day started with a 1 km 5% grade out of the hotel parking lot. We travelled on an inland route (bypassing Faro) with the goal of EXPO-92 keeping us focused and rolling. A 100 m climb past a gravel mine was followed by construction section that covered Lisa in mud. An unforeseen advantage (for the captain) of tandems! At least Lisa now felt like a real (TM) biker.
The road to Spain.
We were becoming accustomed to the spectacular views and scenery. The camera always seemed out of reach for the best of them. We made it to the Spanish border in the early evening and crossed over on the ferry from Villa Real to Ayamonte. After loosing time on the ferry and in currency exchange we decided to stay for the night.
Ferry from Portugal to Spain
It was strange to hear a language I was supposed to know and not be able to understand it. I felt better in Portugal where my Spanish served surprisingly well in basic communications. We met a backpacker from Toronto stranded for the night because he forgot the time zone change at the boarder.
We stayed in a hostel for $25 a night. I wheeled the bike through their kitchen and onto a patio enclosed by the building. We were overly protective of the bike, especially early in the trip. During the day we rarely let it out our sight.
All the Portuguese insisted theft was not a problem and by the end of the trip I was convinced. I sensed risks in Lisbon (a friend from the conference was pick-pocketed on the subway the day before we started the trip) and in Seville (where an unattended bike will disappear in 5 minutes).
Day 5: Ayamonte – San Lucar (128km, 650m climb
Before heading out toward Seville we visiting the lions, tigers, and reindeer in the zoo near our hostel. The night before we saw the mountain lion flat on its back with its tongue out looking like something out of a Far Side cartoon.
The unexpected time change gave us a late start so I pushed harder to make sure we could reach Seville by nightfall. Later we found it was still light at 10 o’clock. We had some head winds but after a slow start averaged 21.5 km/h for the day. Our average stayed constant (19-20 km/h) throughout most of the trip. You did not need an altimeter as the average would drop as on climbs into the mountains and come back on descents. We controlled descents to be under 40 km/h since we had limited experience and confidence in the setup of the loaded bike.
The road to Seville
The ride to Seville was over wide open plains with alternating fields of sunflower and wheat. I wondered what one would do if these fields caught fire (I postponed asking Lisa about it until after the ride). I didn’t notice much sweating but I was hydrating fast. For the first time in the tour we were moving inland and it was getting hot. I weighed myself at our afternoon stop and was down about 6 Ibs. I was confident Lisa was keeping well hydrated by her need to stop every 10 to 15 km.
Wheat fields on the plain
An average day saw us drinking at least 6 liters on the road. We had been warned about the Spanish siesta and made sure we had enough food and water for this afternoon. Sure enough, the towns we rolled through looked like ghost towns. In Silves we had bought sun block-20 ($15 for a little tube) and were using it profusely.
We finished the day with a 100 m climb up to San Lucar. We stopped there since Seville was only 18 km away and we worried about price gouging associated with the EXPO. We paid $70 a night for a hostel that appeared to have been thrown together the previous week. The lights didn’t work and we didn’t get towels on the second day. We could have negotiated a better rate (the place was empty) but our ability to haggle was inverse to mileage.
Day 6: The World’s Fair
A 20 minute bus ride brought us to the EXPO in the morning. Entry was about $40 each. The guard with the Uzi and the armored personnel carrier with roof machine gun let us know we were at an international event.
One day was not enough to see the whole thing but we got a flavor and saw a few exhibits. The site, designed with the 120 F heat of Seville’s summer in mind, had water spraying and flowing everywhere to cool the air. The crowd was small and we didn’t wait in any lines more than 20-30 minutes.
We went to the sparse U.S.A. exhibit first out of patriotism and to avoid having expectations raised by others. The exhibit (the Bill of Rights and an associated video) didn’t compare with the high-powered efforts of other countries but given the limited funding, I thought it was well done. We were surprised to see a space shuttle sitting on a barge in the river so perhaps the exhibit will get a boost soon.
A space shuttle at the Expo
We next went to the New Zealand exhibit. It had three fast-moving multimedia presentations focusing on the Discoveries and on exciting tourist activities the country has to offer. This was to be a world’s fair for the MTV generation. A phenomenal number of video screens were used in every exhibit. The extreme was a telecommunication show that used an 800 screen matrix for its display.
Germany had a large exhibit that included a section of the wall and several interesting displays on dirigibles. Japan’s exhibit was efficient but focused on tradition and culture; not on high tech.
Expo 92!
We had ridden hard in anticipation of a rest day at the EXPO. It occurred to me how many systems have to keep functioning to pull off a trip like this; the bike, hydration, energy, backsides, muscles, skin. Neither of us had time for much preparation so I knew something was going to give eventually. . .
During the night I noticed a slight tightness in my left knee. I usually do preventive icing during a high mileage week like this but ice was rarely available. At the EXPO my knee hurt more and my Achilles started to ache. I found a bag of ice that night and ice-down before going to bed.
Day 7: San Lucar – Huelva (75 km, 450m climbed)
The injuries felt better when I woke up. I was puzzled why my Achilles was sore. My guess is that it was from over-stretching it while resting my backside on descents or from not stretching after rides.
I knew I would have to take it easy for the rest of the trip but figured I could handle 3 light days of riding back to a train in Faro, Portugal. The choice for the day was an 18 km ride int Seville traffic (and prices) or a 70 km ride over the plain back to Huelva. After the 100 m descent out of San Lucar, there was no turning back.
The first 40 km went well, but then a killer 40 km/hr head wind kicked in.  It seems our ETA to Huelva stayed fixed – the close we got, the slower we went. Our average speed dropped to 15-16 km/h. It was frustrating to be pedaling in small gear down hill.
As time went on, the pain in my knees and Achilles came back. I raised my seat about 0.7 cm thinking that might help; it only got worse. My rear hurt sitting and my knees hurt standing – I was not a happy camper.
We concluded our biking on a somewhat down note as we limped into the Huevla bus station. We had ridden 630km (391 miles) and climbed 3850 meters (12028 ft) in 6 days of riding (65mi/day).
We took a bus to the boarder and found we could take an overnight train to Lisbon. A first class cabin to ourselves was only $40/each.
The route from Lisboa to Sevilla and back to Huelva.
Days 8, 9, 10 Lisbon, Lisbon, and more Lisbon
We got a hostel overlooking a main square in Lisbon for $32/night. With my legs inflamed I couldn’t do much walk-around touring; climbing stairs was especially painful.  We searched around for pizzerias but found them closed. Our hostel was above the best pasteliria (pastry shop) in Lisbon, which made Lisa very happy.
The next day took a train to a Cascais beach where I happily soaked my legs in the cold ocean water. This would have been a good bike ride. We spent part of the last day looking around a new mall. It was a strange contrast to the simple self-sufficient lifestyle we saw in the countryside. Each ticket for a movie matinee we saw in the afternoon had an assigned set. It was funny to see 30 people crammed in the center-rear of the empty theater.
Still not being able to find ice, I remembered a tip from Peter Prevelige and bout a bag of frozen peas. They countour well to your body, stay cold a long time, don’t leak, and can be reused.
Day 11 Lisbon-Boston
We woke up early and gingerly rode the 5 km up to the airport where we disassembled the bike and juggled our baggage to stay under the weight limits. The rest on the plat trip helped my knees but my Achilles still had a funny vibration to it when I flexed it. I carried my Avocet 50 to see how the cabin pressure was regulated.
It was strange to be back in the US spending dollars and not suffering from language barriers. The trip was a great experience and went better than we expected.
Google Map of Route
Bike Transport
Bike transport was our biggest concern. The Cyclist’s Yellow Pages from BikeCentennial list the restrictions of each airline. Most require a 68 inch (length+width + height) box less than 70 Ibs. We decided to rent a BikePro bike bag from Belmont Wheelworks for $70 (10 days). It had a rigid base on rollers and soft padded sides. We spent an extra $30 to rent it early so I could carry over parts and tools and leave the bike ready for Lisa to transport when she came over 2 weeks later.
When contacted by phone, Sabena customer service said the bike was no problem while TAP threatened to charge $200 each way to ship it as cargo. For the trip over (Sabena) the bag was 8 Ibs. over the limit and we paid $90. The bike flew free on the return trip (TAP) after we removed the racks and weighed in at around 72 Ibs. As others had recommended, we referred to it as a bike, not as a tandem.
A bike bag is not needed for rail transport in Portugal. During the rail portion of the trip I was a little concerned to see someone (the conductor) riding the bike around the station. This was humorous since I had left it in first gear. After the trip we found the bike unguarded on the platform but were stopped for as we left (nobody could have walked off with it). Two Australian riders (on a 6 month European tour!) I met in Oporto said they had good experiences in Portugal trains but had to wait 3-5 days for Cargo trains in Spain.
Equipment
Cannondale 23×19
Tandem Deore DX, 54/42/32 front, 13-28 rear
Ultegra Downtube shifters
2700 cubic inch Madden (front) 1600 cubic inch Kirkland (rear)
Nashbar Rack-pack Blackburn (front and rear) Specialized Turbo Touring II Rear Vistalite
Based on several people’s recommendations, we carried most of the weight in the front bags. We thought we’d use the rack trunk for valuables but found it difficult to install both rack-pack and panniers. We also found the rear rack was dangerously out of site when walking the bike through crowds. We filled the rack-pack with items we decided weren’t worth the weight and left it the hotel’s safe with our plane tickets.  We traded our Grip-Shifts for Ultegra shifters before the trip and were very happy with the improved performance.
We switched the Avocet 50 over to metric mode for compatibility with the Michelin maps and found it also helped psychologically — it sounds much better to go 20 km/h than 12 mph or to cover 100 kilometers instead of 62 miles. Climbing in meters instead of feet made the climbs seem less terrible although distance left to travel was less intimidating in miles.
Packing List
We pulled together all the lists we could find and talked to experienced tourists. The Cyclist’s Yellow pages had a good list and Pamela Blalock told us of the items she took for the Paris-Breast-Paris race. The combined list is at the end of the article.
Since we weren’t camping I had expected the bike to be light and fast but instead it was *heavy* and *slow*. We travelled with at least 50 Ibs. of stuff (I pinned a 120 kg scale when I picked the bike up to weigh it). We used the front pannier for clothes and left the rear panniers for maps, tools, spare parts, first aid stuff, and our walking shoes.
Michelin maps (1 cm:4 km scale) had good resolution and were our main information source. The Globe Corner Book Store (Harvard Square, Downtown Boston, 1-800-358-6013 mail order) had a good selection of maps and information books. We found _The_Real_Guides_ books more useful than _Lets_Go_Spain/Portugal/Morocco_. Other useful sources of information were the Spanish and Portuguese tourist offices in New York. We also requested information from 2 bike tour operators to get a sense of what routes were realistic and what areas were worth seeing.
I brought my HP palmtop computer and it proved useful for many tasks. I used it for touch-tone generation (answering machine), trip planning, currency conversion, and for writing this summary. It also kept track of addresses, phone numbers, and miscellaneous items including a long forgotten VISA PIN number.
The spare Michelin 700×35 foldable tire came in handy when we could not get enough air pressure from our frame pump – it had enough volume to avoid pinch flats. It would have been useful to bring presta/schrader adapter or a floor pump; even if only to use in the airport.
Lodging
There were many campsites along the route. We heard they were secure and inexpensive (except for Seville which was $27/person). Since it was our first tour we had decided to stay indoors and averaged around $45/night for good accommodations.
We only made reservations on the first two nights. After changing plans and missing the second night’s reservation we realized it wasn’t worth planning very far ahead. It was early season and all the places had plenty of capacity. They all found a place for the bike although some didn’t understand our concern and insisted theft was a non-issue in Portugal.
Detailed Packing List
Bathing suit, bike shirt(2), bike shorts(2), casual shirt, casual shorts, Gortex jacket, Oakleys, gortex pants, socks, running flats for walking
Equipment
Bike, bike case, bike shoes, camera, gloves, helmet, HP95LX computer, panniers – front and rear, rack pack*, sleeping bags*, small flash light, speedometers (front and rear), tent*, trash bags, water bottles(4), Exceed*, Powerbars*,
Medical
Aspirin/iuprofin, bacitracin, bandaids
Paper
Money (not enough), passports, plane tickets, travel guide books, Michelin maps, Spanish dictionary*, brake cable, chain links*, derailleur cable, Hypergh’de pins, foldable tire, tire boot*, tubes (2), bug spray
Toiletries
Handy wipes*, towel, baby powder, sun block, toilet
paper, liquid detergent
Tools
Cool Tool (TM), electrical tape*, hex set, patch kit, frame pump, quick ties, small bottle lube*, tire irons, small screw driver, swiss army knife
* = didn’t bring or jettisoned along the way