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The return of the blogger...

I want to start by apologizing to all of you for all this time without any update. This does not mean that I haven´t rode lately, matter of fact I have been riding more than ever, the problem has been my work which has taken almost all my time.

Let´s see, since my last post I have made several mountain bike crossings and also some marathons.

First I started by going through the first two stages of the VPBTT (Portugal Crossing on Mountain Bike): 1st stage – Lisbon/Sesimbra (105.00 km in 06:35:00 hours at 15.95 km/h ); 2nd stage – Sesimbra/Setubal (75.00 km in 05:30:00 hours at 13.64 km/h ). I made it with three great friends and it was an unforgettable weekend.

Photo by pguedes.

On the next weekend (18/04/2009) I attended the 3th Alcains Marathon (80.00 km in 05:30:00 hours at 14.55 km/h ). It was very difficult for me due to a breathing problem which didn´t allowed me to pedal properly :(

Photos by pguedes.

Until May 29, I made a few rides around my area in order to save some money from travelings expenses.

Photos by pguedes.

On this weekend I did two more stages of the VPBTT - 13th stage Serpa > Mourão (97.00 km in 05:30:00 hours at 17.64 km/h ) and 14th stage Mourão > Elvas (105.00 km in 06:45:00 hours at 15.56 km/h ). This time it included a prologue of 152.00 km (in 06:30:00 hours at 23.38 km/h ) to get to the starting point (Serpa) coming from Elvas. The prologue was made through very hot Spanish roads.

You can watch the pictures from this two stages in this Portuguese mtb forum.

On the 6th of June I went from Arrábida to Albufeira (222.42 km in 09:52:00 hours at 22.54 km/h) both on the trails and roads. We finished it like we almost haven´t started yet and we went to party all night long :D

The beginning

Half way

In the end


On the following weeks I went to several marathons and did smaller rides with my better half ;)


Then it came the biggest challenge I ever attempted so far – The second attempt of the OneShot - Crossing Portugal side by side from Monsaraz to the Atlantic cost (223.00 km in 11:13:00 hours at 19.88 km/h) and i am proud and happy to say I was one of the eight who did it!

Photo by Ricky Rock.

There is no words which can describe what we felt when we got to the ocean...

On the next weekend I joined 22 friends and we rode from Almada to Avis (185.00 km in 09:10:00 hours at 20.18 km/h) where we spend the entire Sunday enjoying the pool and the kayaks ;)

Photos by JorgeMariaBolacha.


You can follow all the pictures HERE.

Finally, last Saturday I went to the north and rode through an old railroad which was dismantle a long time ago and we went from Albergaria-a-Velha to Viseu and returned to the starting point (176.00 km in 09:15:00 hours at 19.03 km/h). The astonishing views and the extraordinary company of good friends allowed it to be one of the best riding days I remember :)

Pictures of this day!

Photos by pguedes.

Now you know why I haven´t had time to update this blog LOL. Long working weeks followed by short (but unforgettable) weekends made it impossible for me to keep the posts updated.

I just want to finished this long post by saying that I probably never felt as great as I feel right now – Mountain biking rules! :)

9 comments:

Pete Brown said...

I still can't believe you rode from one side of Portugal to the other. That's incredible!

Funride said...

Yes, it was quite an achievement as it was the first time someone did it off roads and in one day.
We are already arranging another track further to the north to try and do it one more time ;)

Unknown said...

Very cool! I am jealous. Not that I could even ride a bike around the block. Now nursing a bad knee. I think it is wonderful that you are doing what you love. Life is good eh?
Thanks for sharing.

Funride said...

Hey Susan, thanks for stopping by. You are right, it´s wonderful to be able to do things that we love ;)

Hope your knee starts to behave very very soon, take care.

Susan (nightbear) said...

What gorgeous pictures. The Ride looks way out of my league, but I enjoyed the virtual trip. Great post.

Jorgex said...

You must enjoy suffering on your bike!

Did your bike manage to do all those kilometers? :p

Funride said...

@ Susan (nightbear) - Thanks for stopping by ;)

@ Jorgex - eheheh, I´m a mountain bike masochist :D and my bike is starting to enjoy it too :P

Aerrox said...

Wow, it's really a comeback ^^ Long time no post!

A.João said...

Agradeço o teu comentário no meu blog,mas bom bom foi vir aqui parar :)...escrevo é em portugues porque em inglês não ia ficar nada de jeito. Parabéns Ricardo. Um dia destes encontramo-nos por aí nos trilhos. Ahhhh mais uma coisa! fiz Sesimbra/Setubal mas na volta dos empenados :)

Abraço

Joaof