I'm in Almeirim, Portugal, having given up on my plans to reach Santiago de Compostela. I realised on Monday night that, with strong headwinds forecast for the rest of the trip, I would never make it riding up the coast before my plane leaves. Sunday I visited the westernmost point of mainland Europe, and that was a heck of a climb in a headwind. Monday I rode 35 miles, all strong headwinds, all up and down about 1500 feet, and was whacked at the end of it. So yesterday I rode across the spine of Portugal, another long, hot climb (temps. have gone up to the 90s) and then through fearsome traffic to Santarem, where I thought I'd coast across the Tagus River. I forgot that ALL old towns in Spain and Portugal are built on the tops of hills, so had to deal with that first. Got to Alpiarca, no accomodation to be had. Had to backtrack here.

The next five days I'll be riding across almost empty parts of Portugal and Spain, and accommodation will be an issue every night. Then the local train into Madrid from Caceres, which will avoid the hassle of Madrid's freeway snakepits, on to the airplane and home. Three days' rest and the MS1509, Houston to Austin.

I've posted photos on my Facebook account. If anyone is interested my Facebook name is john.l.berry (the thing in the middle is an 'ell'). There's an album for Spain and one for Portugal (which I think is called March 2011)