MY BRUTAL INTRODUCTION TO GRAVEL CYCLING!

EPISODE #132
Thanks to my pals David and Helder for inviting me along on this epic adventure… this was my first serious bit of gravel cycling, and gravel bike packing for that matter too. We was off on a 375km 3 day off road battle to the death, well… that’s what it felt like to me. It was seriously hard work, possibly even the hardest thing I’ve done on the bike to date. I was massively unprepared but I push through and try to enjoy the adventure the best I can, it was tough though… this one hurt a lot!
day1 – https://www.strava.com/activities/10446444214
day2 – https://www.strava.com/activities/10452302966
day3 – https://www.strava.com/activities/10457559337
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Film & Editing: Thomas Martinez.
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I think this may be my one and only gravel backpacking experience I’m broken already make sure I charge my garment make sure I’ve charge my lights make sure we get those bars in 10 miles and I’ll be more than starving nothing compared to the thrill under prepared for the hills I used to

Get wheels on air now I put air in my wheels change thatat tune train and cruise chains been L pace and move St stats give man a heart attack but then my Pace improves bars and Cadence are strong now my legs up my CA are long

It’s about time we do this sister cycle in Tourist what is up guys if you’re new here then welcome to the channel and if you’re regular then welcome back now before making this video I’ll admit I was quietly confident about taking on this challenge I mean it’s only gravel rided how hard can it be little did I

Know that I was setting out on what would become one of my hardest challenges today So we had got the train from Lisbon City Center to a town called entra commento where we would start our epic 375 km Journey now I knew this wasn’t going to be easy but there was literally no time wasted when it came to this Challenge so we’re only 10 km in and we’re already on our first hiker bike section all part of the f so we’ve got 147 km to do today and well at this pace it’s going to take a bloody long time I don’t mind I’m just happy to be out here Exploring I’m doing 350 WTS and I’m going nowhere no one told me this gravel riding was so difficult oh no we going up there oh yes no no no no no no no oh thank God don’t do that to me David it was around 40 km in and we had just stopped at a local little calf we had absolutely stuffed our faces with a load of typical Portuguese snacks and even though we was only 40 km in I was already getting a feeling that I may be

Slightly out of my depth this definitely wasn’t going to be Easy this is interesting Adventure Time we’re not even on a path H we create our own yeah we couldn’t find the route so we decided to just make our own one up D oh there’s the [Laughter] path I think that’s safe to say that wasn’t gravel that first day I felt that I was learning a lot and fast and the route was definitely challenging to say the least sometimes I was even doubting whether maybe mountain bikes may have been more suited to this but I guess

Maybe being a little IL equipped in many ways just added to that feeling of Adventure you know what up guys if you’re new here welcome to the channel and if you are regular then welcome back so we’re approaching 90k now and I’m not going to lie I’m suffering already who expected this gravel riding to be so difficult it’s certainly a lot

Tougher than riding on the road that’s for sure but I’m going to keep pushing on I’m not complaining I’m having a great time I’m just not used to it it’s uh yeah it’s definitely harder than it looks ah glorious tarmac oh I’ve missed you we’ve got

Around 50 km or so left to do today and I’m pretty sure we’re not going to make it to our end destination before dark but that’s just uh That’s a classic isn’t it but anyways the plan is that one of David’s friend friends he’s riding in the opposite direction and

He’s going to meet us somewhere halfway and then we’re going to ride back with him and we’re actually staying at his house so yeah very nice of him to put us up for the evening is it going the wrong way huh I don’t mind having a little rest for a

Minute I would ride back and see if ELD is all right but I don’t feel I got the energy I’m actually suffering quite a bit I was playing it down in front of the guys cuz I don’t want them to know that I’m weak but I’m definitely feeling a little

Bit like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew uh but what can you do you know just got to keep pushing those pedals and eventually you’ll be at the end but who knows what state I’ll be in at the end hopefully I’m going to be able to

Continue tomorrow oh whose bloody stupid idea was this could have just done the festive 500 on the road nice and easy but no had to uh be bil big didn’t I oh well on my god let’s do this we’re just approaching the top of what is pretty much the last big climber

Today which is music to my ears apparently there’s a really nice descent coming up so I’m looking forward to that and then I think we’re going to stop for a cheeky coffee cuz uh well me and Helder both can’t feel our fingers or toes so I think we need to warm up left

Behind yeah we left them behind a long time ago but still not complaining having a great time just uh looking forward to the Finish now uh well the finish for today anyway we’ve got a lot more kilometers left to do over the next few days but not before we eat some

Lovely lasagna apparently that’s what we got for dinner tonight I’m really looking forward to that it’s going to taste good after 140k that’s for sure feeling quite disheartened at this point and things were already playing on my mind how could I be struggling this much on what

Was only day one but I knew I just had to keep pushing on and remind myself why we do this now on the bridge look to the left look at that that’s one hell of a view David mate look at this this is unreal oh hell um yeah I don’t really like looking

Down there that is very high look at that though that is something else what’ you reckon Helder marvelous marvelous indeed you go There yes so you know earlier when I said that was the last big climb of the day no it definitely wasn’t and this one’s off road as well so oh my God this crime is never ended this is not ideal for 120 km in I tell you that oh

The route never stopped testing me and towards the end it became a bit of a battle but I wasn’t willing to lose and I wasn’t going to go down without a fight oh my God this climb is never ended I keep thinking I’m at the top and

Then sure enough I go around the corner and there’s more oh the climate just keeps giving feel going to be sick I think that’s the top don’t want to speak too soon though all my days these damn Portuguese guys trying to break me you’ve won all

Right yeah do you need a gel no I need more than a gel have you got a new set of legs in that Bag we wasn’t far from castella Branco the finish for the day I could already taste the lasagna but then disaster struck oh what the oh oh no hello none of us would have believed that the day was going to end like this and what an awful thing to have witnessed and for

Me it just brought back a lot of bad memories after waiting for the Emergency Services to arrive we slowly crawled back and settled in for the night what a physically and mentally draining day that was and I was just glad that the day was Over So the morning comes around and we get straight back to it hitting up some incredible off-road tracks but I’ll be honest the events from the night before were playing on my mind and I felt that I was already ready is starting out on the back Foot I definitely wasn’t feeling in the right mental state nor physically in good shape but if there is one thing that will pick up my spirits oh he so cute that unfortunately didn’t last Long Oh no yep I’m walking never in my life have I had to walk up a hill until today this grabble ring ain’t easy I tell you I was just saying to David I think this may be my one and only gravel backpacking experience cuz I’m broken

Already and it’s only day to why do we do it I think from now on if I do gravel it’s going to be 50k tops with no bags on the bike that’s for sure then it’ll be fun but this is just pure suffering so today’s ride is a little bit shorter

Than yesterday’s ride but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be any easier because there is a hell of a lot of climbing to do today we’ve already done quite a lot and we’re actually currently at 856 m above sea level which is quite High obviously but would you believe it we’re

Going even higher today the air is going to be thin up there let’s just hope we Survive walking again these boys are too good at this for me can’t keep up as much as that pains me to admit that I’m just uh underqualified okay just enjoying the well one thing I do want to say is though don’t let any of my winging put

You off of doing something like this because as tough as it is it is so so amazing as well just being out in the middle of nature no one around but you and your friends he here’s something quite magical about it so yeah go embrace the

Suck as they say and go get after it we all know what goes up must come down and some of these descents were super fun speeding through the forest on a misty day there is definitely something cool about that and once we got down to the town it was time to eat

Again after all these kind of rides we know they are just as much an eating competition but we didn’t stop for long it was straight back out on the RO Ro so we are now 58 km into day two and uh I’m feeling a bit better now after a welld deserved lunch we absolutely stuffed our faces and well why not when you’re doing stuff like this that’s all part of it we got to load up on as many calories as

You can the only problem is when you stop and you sit in a night nice warm calf you do feel the cold when you start again but we’ll soon warm up as I said earlier we got a lot of climbing to do today so that’s where we’re headed now

We’re headed for another very big climb but I’ll tell you more about that in a minute once I’m not Freezing so earlier when I said today was going to be challenging I wasn’t lying it’s uh it’s been very tough already but it’s about to get even tougher we’re currently at 700 m above sea level but we’re going up way up and uh yeah it’s not going to be easy

Ever since I moved to Portugal I’ve had nothing but suggestions from people on things that I should do and absolute top of the list that I’ve had the most suggestions for is to take on the famous Sarah d a straya and that is exactly what we’re doing Today Sarah the australa is the highest peak in the whole of Mainland Portugal topping out at a hefty 1,993 m in fact it is so high that around this time of year the whole area would usually be covered in snow even though we was very lucky that

There wasn’t any this year it was still very cold up there and at times the vision was very poor due to some serious Fog all right I know you probably can’t see me but this is the top there’s not a lot to say oh I haven’t suffered like that have a climb in a long time the guys are just coming now uh David gave me a little push towards the end there

And then uh drop back for Helder uh so he’s back there somewhere I’m absolutely exhausted that was tough we did [Applause] It now I didn’t film any of The Descent because at this point just merely getting down in one piece was our main priority which eventually we did and we arrived at a town called seya where we was going to be staying in a hotel hell for the night for some very needed and

Welld deserved [Applause] Rest the next day we was finally greeted with some blue skies we had treated ourselves to a lion we absolutely smashed the hotel breakfast and then we set ourselves off on the third leg of our journey this day on paper was set out to be the easiest at around 100 km but with

275 k already in the legs this wasn’t going to be Easy it didn’t long for me to start struggling and it was only 20 km in when we came across our first obstacle of the Day I really had to resist the urge to just plow straight through but I wasn’t willing to risk getting soaked this early in the ride I opted to gingerly walk across instead Well at this rate I’m going to have to change the name of the channel to the walk-in tattooist becoming a regular occurrence ah my knees are blown to bits any sort of steep incline he’s just too much to be honest even walking’s hurting it but it’s the lesser of two

Evils yeah I’m going to be honest I’m not enjoying this much it’s uh the only time I’m really enjoying it is when I stop and Tak in the view but anytime I’m actually riding yeah not having fun After my brief stretch of the legs we rolled on through more challenging and difficult terrain there was never a dull moment but I guess that’s all part of the gravel charm not knowing what’s around the next Corner so today is day three of our epic adventure and it’s going to be our last day as well it’s uh certainly been a bit of baptism by fire let’s put it that way another thing that today will Mark the end of is the fested 500 after today’s ride I will

Have completed the festive 500 challenge for another year and that’ll make it four years in a row that I’ve done it it’s uh it’s always a bit bittersweet because it is never easy doesn’t matter how are you try and Tackle this task it just really isn’t easy at all for anyone

Out there that’s managed to complete it hat off you it’s uh yeah it’s not for the fainthearted anyways I best not count my chickens before they hatch as they say I got to keep cracking on we got about 50k or so left to do today but uh first

Things first let’s get some lunch I am Starving after lunch it was the final push to the finish and we was blessed with some absolutely beautiful bike paths that were going to pretty much take us all the way to the end this was definitely a highlight of the trip for me absolutely stun scenery but more

Importantly I knew soon it was all going to be over all right that’s it I’ve completed the festive 500 I’m ending my ride here bye dog bye bye bye no unfortunately I’m not we’ve only got 25k left to go oh this lovely cycle path that we’re on has

Definitely picked up my spirits though it’s uh just what I needed at the end of this absolutely painful Experience look at this place like it it’s Amazing Now I know there has been a lot of complaining in this video but I’ve had time to properly process this incredible ride now and it is definitely up there with one of the hardest things I ever done on the bike and I stand by what

I’ve said I hated it it was brutal but when you do right like this it isn’t until after that you truly learn to appreciate it we manag to push through and succeed in our mission and when you get to that Finish Line there really isn’t any other feeling quite like it so

As I said earlier please do not let my whining put you off get out there and go plan your own adventure go embrace the struggle and believe me you are going to have some incredible stories to tell I hope you guys have enjoyed Eno this episode thanks very much for watching

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