Day 2: Steak 'N Eggs and Riding the Dream
I woke up at 7AM with the worst cotton mouth I've had in a long time. The combination of jet-lag, trying to keep up drinking with two Brits twice my size the previous night, and getting up 3 times before dawn to chug 6 bottles of water had really heralded that an A1 day was in store for me. I came down to the kitchen, just in time to see Kirk returning with fresh Portuguese rolls from the town bread shop. At dinner the night before, because Julian had told me he doesn't eat veal ("it's unethical"), I just couldn't say no when James had challenged me to order the biggest cut of Veal steak on this side of the Atlantic. For breakfast, in an attempt to settle my stomach, I fried-up a healthy plate of leftover veal steak and eggs. James, who was finishing up his tea and coffee at the kitchen area, stared at me incredulously and said, "
Are you really going to eat that?"
15 minutes before Steve was supposed to come pick us up, guess who finally decided to show? That's right,
alemeno214!!! And I was starting to worry he might have missed the flight. Like
the beast he is, White Alex had gotten off the plane 2 hours prior at Lisbon (from Seattle!), drove all the way to Figueira, without even taking a coffee break and he was ready to rock.
Steve showed up like clockwork and was super pumped, "
today's the day we hit the beach!" I was hardly able to contain my excitement. At the HQ, we quickly suited-up and got on our bikes. All 4 grown ass man had our hearts melted when Steve's 2 year-old daughter, Skyla, waved us off at the HQ balcony with, "
Becawful Daddy, the wain-puddles!"
The morning started with warm-ups over stretches of winding, muddy fire roads, which I'd finally gotten somewhat comfortable with just the day before. Not 45 minutes in, Steve told us that it's time for us to try riding on sand. From enthusiastically watching Dakar Rally videos in the past, I'd incorrectly assumed that sand riding would be a piece of cake, since the rally pros all made it look so easy. As I quickly found out, just like hitting a patch of sand on the road back home; and the resulting temporary loss of traction normally puts t
he fear of god into most weekend riders. Sand riding is the equivalent of having an entire road surface covered in slippery, quick sinking, treacherous f***ing SAND. What had made it even more difficult, was that the sand trail was deep in the woods, it was covered with vegetation, with plenty of detours around fallen tree trunks.
I must have dropped the bike a good dozen times within the next hour, even managed to get my rear wheel halfway buried underneath a steep, sandy incline. Compared to the safety of riding on tarmac, it seems the bike suddenly developed a mind of its own, any attempted steering inputs became "mere suggestions" on where the bike and I would eventually end up. What little confidence which I had built up from the day before quickly evaporated within the span of 60 minutes. There were the sudden regrets over years of avoiding the gym, I was having the workout of a lifetime!
Finally, I think Steve got tired of having to stop, come back, and help me pick up my bike for the 20th time. My companions also appropriately remarked that, "
Alex had spent more time off the bike then on it the entire morning!" An unanimous decision was reached to head down to the lake, back on dirt. But the repeated heavy lifting had finally caught up with me, it became apparent why James had advised against my choice of steak and eggs just hours before, it was all I could do for a good 15 minutes from barfing my guts out.
On our way to the lake, we came across a relatively high speed, muddy straightaway with plenty of bumps and opportunity for jumps. Steve, who typically let's us ride however we want to, warned that "
make sure to slow down near the end, or you'd end up over the bars." And sure enough, about 20 yards from reaching the next checkpoint, I watched in bemused horror as
alemeno214 came off a bump at speed, then proceeds to lose control and lowside into a ginormous mud puddle. The splash he had made was glorious!
Having somehow survived a morning full of challenges, we stopped by the local hot spot for a quick lunch. I still find it amusing that the place was called
Jet 7.5, so named because you can have a delicious three course lunch combo for the amazing price of 7.50 Euros!
After a brief respite, came the highlight for the day. Yes, it kinda looks like a 90s alternative rock album cover:
That's right, I finally did it, for a good solid 30 minute we tore up a picturesque, half deserted public beach! Hunched over with my ass all the way shifted to the back, and the throttle pinned in 6th gear,
all was forgiven. My dream of flying over some exotic beach was now happening IRL, even as I watched
alemeno214 who was a good 30 yards in front of me hitting the biggest tank slapper I had ever seen. We were going a good 60~70MPH, and he was kicking up sand as high as two stories! I remember muttering underneath my breath, "
Don't crash Alex, don't do it! You know that the Sardinia tour doesn't accept any refunds!" I think Portuguese Jesus must've heard my prayers, because by some sort of miracle
alemeno214 managed to stay upright.
We exited the beach by
gracefully jumping over a small dune, I impressed Steve by not being the person who got left behind for once (that would be James, who didn't give it enough throttle the first 2 times). I was glad that the struggles in the morning had begun to pay off,
I still sucked but somehow was starting to get a hang of riding over sand. The team stopped for a very scenic hydration break:
To be honest, I was totally content as well as exhausted by this point. But Steve, being the ever energetic guide with a contagious sense of positive energy, had more action planned! (I do love how riding through the rural parts of town, he would give the biggest thumbs up to the local elderly going about their day. Some of them even smiled and waved at us.)
Unfortunately by this time I was quickly losing my ability to concentrate, I had some good crashes even looping my bike at one point. But like the Brits told me, "
It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious!" Boy was I glad that
alemeno214 had my back through out the last challenging bits. Overall, it was one of the best days of my life and I wouldn't change a thing!
Aaaaaaaaand here's the clip for the day...
[YOUTUBE]mxTcLMQU_V4[/YOUTUBE]
arty
.
