Today is the big push to Lisbon….we expect it to be about 75 miles but not too hilly and so wake up full of optimism for the day ahead. Apart from some random weirdness in the children’s play area the campsite was pretty decent and earned an extra point for the very swish the swimming pool…..and I am not ashamed yes we did have a swim and we damn well earned it.

We have devised a route which is a subtle blend of the Garmins generally low traffic, often prettier but also occasionally cobbled and sometimes non existent and therefore slower paced route planning with google maps often simply made up nonsense but also more main roads and therefore faster and more direct.

As I write this I realise it seems like a very poor plan but actually overall it was “not awful”. We crash through the countryside for the first 40 or so miles in the morning, revelling in the beautiful countryside, congratulating ourselves on how great we are at decision making and and how amazing we are. We laugh hysterically at the idea that a landslide can stop us and we even start to plan what we are going to do with a whole afternoon when we arrive at 1300….we are unstoppable!!!

As is now a bit of a developing theme all that changes after lunch. We paused briefly at an Intermarche in Aveiras de Cima around 1030 to pick up some lunch which we then stopped for at 1145 near the river Tagus in the outskirts of Lisbon.

The rest of the day is a massively hard slog through the Lisbon suburbs which are insanely up and down anyway but the heat is now in the low 30’s. I know all of you will be reading this now and thinking “well that’s nothing Nick, it’s over 35 here right now” which is totally fair. My challenge back would be grab yourself a 25kg bag of potatoes and take a slow walk up and down your street, maybe enjoy a few flights of stairs too. You don’t have to do it fast but you do have to do it for 7 hours plus….how do you feel now?

When we pause at a supermarket to pick up yet more water for the day (6 litres and counting!) I offer the shop assistant some cash if she will just let me stand under the aircon unit for a few minutes….she kindly lets me stand there for free even though it clearly cannot be good for trade.

Eventually after an absolutely interminable last 10 miles which seem to simply never end we arrive at Lisboa Camping. First job is a cold beer (check), second job is clean all our now rancid clothing (check although not “all”our clothes obvs, as that would mean I am typing naked and nobody wants that) and third get some beers and some food (in progress). It’s a rest day tomorrow, our first day of non cycling for 10 straight days, so we will be relaxing and off to explore Lisbon. That does mean no blog tomorrow but I am sure I will tell you a bit about what we got up to when I do the next update on Thursday. In the meantime please, please, please don’t forget to donate….we need every penny we can get. Thank you.

Ps …in other news Marc cockily, somemight say foolishly, strayed outside the “Dome of Protection” yesterday evening. Today he has reported (many times!!!) that he has over 40 bites. I have two…..just saying.

Pps …if Marc’s additional suffering (on top of cycling all the way to Lisbon I mean) does not move you to donate I don’t know what will!!