2022 Portugal: Lisbon to Lisbon (Counterclockwise)

We slept in after an excellent Asian dinner last night. We can pack bikes on the patio outside the hotel's breakfast room but needed to wait until 10 am when they finished, so we went for a walk. The Mercado de Santa Clara is a major flea market, open Tuesdays & Saturdays, with an eclectic mix of housewares, clothing, antiques & media. Fun to watch the Lisbon morning street life. Off to the market. Unusual to take a photo when the street is empty. Large church with attached monastery. Only asking 50 euros. Lots of vinyl for sale. The seller said these were recorded "from the original tapes." Did that mean they were original or recently pressed? I recently have been selling off my vinyl, as it takes too much space. "Fiona Look-a-Like. Dog of the Day #1.  Many of the market vendors had small dogs. Mercado de Santa Clara. Dog of the Day #2. Colorful mural. Sunglass and Reader's Booth. Not exactly organized. Dog of the Day #3 Custom Painted Utility Box. I thi...

  At the end of my 2016 bike tour from Madrid to Lisbon, I had an extra day free while my companions rehearsed their trip tot he airport and verified that their airlines would accept their unboxed bikes. (In general, US airlines require bikes to be shipped in boxes or cases when leaving the US, but the same airlines will accept unboxed bikes as long as the drive train is covered.) That day, I rode from our Lisbon hotel to Cabo Roca and back. Thus, today's ride was mostly a repeat so I took few photos. The seaside highway west and north from Lisbon might well be the most cycled route in the area. Fast road cyclists on high-end racing bikes, commuters, city rental bikes, touring groups on e-bikes, we saw everything. Lisbon's cycling infrastructure has been significantly improved, at least along the harbor and seaside.  Not so much is the Alfama District, site of our hotel, where the streets feature large and rough cobblestones, trolly tracks, narrow roads, narrow sidewalks the a...

 Today we kept getting separated. We are using the same Organic Maps app, with the same settings, but John is using an Android phone and I use an iPhone. Perhaps that’s the reason we sometimes arrive at different routes. We have tried to establish some rules, but they do not always work: Always follow the person in the lead, even if you disagree with the turn/direction. When in the lead, keep the person behind in sight. If you cannot see the following person, then stop within sight of the turn to verify the following person can see you. The following person has to look when entering the turn. If following, never make an independent turn because you are sure the lead rider is wrong. The lead rider is waiting and might not be able to see the following rider take another route. Then, when the lead rider doubles back to link up with the following rider, they often will not know which way they went. When leading, go slow enough for the following rider to catch catch up. The lead rider m...