TP Stage 1

Finished safely in 5h39 for the 110 km. Weather was great but a proper day out. The last 30km shows downhill but it was crappy jeeptracks that shook every bone in my body. The climbs were steep up to wind farms. Just so pleased to have finished but this only day 1 with many big ones to come. Certainly beautiful and so pleased for the experience. Only 106 riders so we are looked after well and hotels amazing. See the view in pics below. Days video

Some technical info. I have Garmin watch and Garmin 1040 for navigation.
Race distance 108.3, watch 110.07, 1040 110.37 so close and additional distance backtracking.

Race elevation 1682m, watch 1826m, 1040 1609m so it seems watch over calculates.

Average speed 19.9 km/h so for MTB this was good. This showed with average Heart Rate 127 bpm. So worked hard today but didn’t try to burn all the matches. Moving time 5:32:29 and elapsed time 5:39:06 – only stopped twice for water so had no real breaks because there were no water points.

The self navigation was quite daunting and it needs a lot of concentration. I had to backtrack about 5 times because I missed the turnoff. Also riding solo and navigating you really are on your own. I estimate that I rode 80% of the ride on my own.

Above, just before the start in Chaves. Below scenes along the way. The steepness on the vineyards is amazing.

Below view from hotel Douro river. Very stunning.