Castelo de Vide, Alentejo

August 21, 2015
Gordon:  I had a flat tire early in the trip, and more recently a slow leak had developed, presumably from the patch.  When I picked up a thorn of frightening length in the same tire I therefore replaced the tube.  I have been carrying an extra folding tire( thanks Don), and I also took the opportunity to swap it for the quite worn original tire.  We carried the old tire for a few days as a spare, but yesterday morning we decided to discard it.  After all, I have toured for hundreds of days without ever needing a spare tire.  With only one more week of cycling, what could go wrong?

This morning we were about 14 kilometres into our ride when Ruth picked up a piece of metal or some such thing.  In a second it slashed the sidewall of her rear tire in numerous places, flattening the tube and rendering the tire irreparable.  I spent the next few minutes beating my head against the guardrail and chanting “Why did we discard our extra tire?”  While I was so engaged, Ruth flagged down a passing pickup truck, who took us to a tire shop in the next town.  Ruth selected an attractive red knobby number from their limited inventory of used bicycle tires (three) and we were on our way in a few minutes.

This evening we are in another beautiful hill town, Castelo de Vide.  Although it may be done partially for the tourists, the village appears to be better maintained than some we have visited.  It has an extensive medieval quarter, including a small residential area within the castle walls. We have spent hours wandering the narrow streets.

Ruth: Gord is being more generous to me than he should here. I was the brainiac who convinced him that we have never ever needed a replacement tire and that we should just turf his old one.  Fortunately I have a super power which allows me to ask for help when needed. We made it to our destination in time for the Menu del dia ! I loves my kibble.