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Bom Caminho!

I spent two nights in Porto and enjoyed it.  Here's the view from my room... The long roofs below are port houses where it's aged.  I tried several... Besides having a washing machine in my room (easy clean clothes!), my favorites were the incredible tile work and the sunset watching party just above my room. Yes it's heavily touristed. Porto is a popular starting point for a Camino de Santiago and I decided to follow the Central route to see what it's like.  I passed about 100 walkers by lunchtime over 35km to give an idea of how many are walking. The Camino uses old Roman and medieval routes that had bridges. Many km of cobblestone riding is tough on the wrists. Spring views and primo weather compensate though.  I ended up today at the border with Spain in Valenca so it'll be goodbye to Portugal in the morning.  First we (with Camino walkers) relaxed and had a nice dinner.  
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I'm riding tomorrow morning!

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I'm writing from San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile after visiting Margo in Valparaiso/Viña del Mar.  Fortunately all our travels have gone smoothly, Noel made it home and my bike made here intact. With 6 hours in Santiago I went hiking and saw my first Giant Hummingbird!  Yes it's huge.   Valparaiso tourist pix... Margo left for Patagonia Thursday and we drove to Chimbarongo for a lovely visit with Nazaret and Atarnan.  Besides catching up after 5 years we were treated to excellent wine and food.  Muchas gracias amigos! Back to Santiago for our flights.  Mine was spectacular paralleling the Andes. San Pedro is very touristed, but has provided a good staging area.  I've seen several new birds and got out for a fun ride. Up, up and away tomorrow with 7500' to climb in 30 miles.  I'll ride over 15000' if the legs and lungs allow....
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2 adventures...

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  Hi everyone!  Al, Mo and I went down to Las Cruces, NM to ride the 245-mile Monumental Loop.  We headed out on a nice spring day, enjoyed some mellow singletrack and grunted up some rough 4WD roads. Day 2 took us into Hatch for delicious burritos and some chili pecan brittle.  We loaded up with 15 liters of water and headed for the difficult White Gap climb/descent.  It was in the 70s and felt very much like the desert. Walked over here hoping for shade and left quickly! 3-4 miles of hike-a-bike  As we headed back to town on day 3 it got hotter and our water supply got smaller quickly. We were considering treating some unpleasant looking H2O from a cattle tank when we lucked out with a passing rancher who had a cooler with two ice-cold waters left.  Did I say it was getting hot... We made it back to the land of AC and Slurpees with an easy decision to skip the second half of the ride due to temps in the 90s.  Nice trip and a great gear shakedown...
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