I wake up early enough not to be found by the castle guardian starting at 7am and start my day cursing the uphill road out of Sesimbra.
I follow the coast and a lot of cyclists pass me by with their shiny bikes, titanium bottle holders and branded jersey; they are so friendly that I begin to wonder if the bom dia they all give me isn't some kind of inside joke on foreigners.
The road next to the ocean doesn't stop being nice, no matter how steep it gets and how hard I sweat.
After a while it becomes unbearable, and I have to push my bike and remember to take it easy for it's only day 3 after a whole year of no exercise.
Near Setúbal a cop in a motorbike flashes the lights and tells me to stop and pull over, for no apparent reason, and disappears.
More motorized policemen come down the road i was trying to climb before got ordered to stop, and they are followed by hundreds of cyclists; turns out this road is so hard it gets used for professional bicycle races and it's the worst place where to train cycling long distance
I reach Setúbal and bathe in the free Wi-Fi and ocean breeze, the couchsurfing requests I sent were all declined and I feel kind of worried I won't have a place where to spend the night.
Setúbrasileiros
While I am strolling around town I pass by bar Explosão dos Sabores and stop for a coffee and cake, I ask the owners if I can use one of their wall sockets to recharge my phone and we talk a bit about my trip.
Bruno and Inez opened the bar just two weeks ago and they insist for me to try Brazilian feijoada a tropeiro (beans, farinha de mandioca and pork galore) and açaí ice cream.
Everything is delicious and I suggest visiting this nice bar in Setúbal.
I ask Bruno if he knows a place where I can camp and he asks me at what time I wake up? I tell him that normally I start my day at 6am and he says "fine, then you are going to sleep at our place".
He refused to listen to my objections and offers, so I gladly accepted and gave as much promotion as I could to him and Inez.
Their house was a great place where to stay and take a much needed shower, the bed so comfortable and nice it beats any 5 stars hotels
I crash and it takes me five milliseconds to fall asleep
Obrigado, obrigado, obrigado
Over and out,
Tom