Day 549 20th January
39 miles (Teixeira de Freitas to Itabata) Average speed 12.1 mph Top speed 39 mph
I was awake at 4am listening to the radio again. I managed to get some sleep and got up at 8 for good brekkie of ham and cheese rolls, sausages in tomato sauce with sweet corn, cake and banana with three coffees and caju juice. I showered and left at 10 after hosing the bike down. A great first hour was downhill most of the way but then after a drink of my ice cold water and a rest to dry out gloves, shirt and hat I met some more hills.
It was very hot once again and reached 35c and again I was run off the road more than once, firstly by an oncoming car who was overtaking and just flashed his lights at me. I gave him dogs’ abuse but he certainly didn’t hear as he was doing about 100mph, bastard! Then again by a 4 wheel drive attacking from behind this time, he just blasted his horn to force me into the unmade hard shoulder and once again I made my feelings obvious but I’m sure he didn’t care!
I had another rest before climbing another big hill and while eating my biscuits under a tree I saw two guys carry a big bag across the road and dump it only 50 yards from where I was, so once they’d gone I had to go and investigate and found two large sacks of coco verde. I returned to my bike and then another guy on a moped came and collected them. I think they had been scrumping and the farmer had witnessed this and came to retrieve his goods.
I had lunch at a small bar instead of the very expensive shopping mall I first went to. I had two fried pasties with mince meat and a bottle of orange, a coco verde and a bottle of water. While at the mall I took a photo of a mileage board and was amazed at how far away Recife was.
I really needed fluids today especially when a farmer was burning the roadside fauna and his own land which sent clouds of smoke across the road.
Once again there was a lot of support, especially from the other side of the road, as car horns were blown and people cheered me on, at one stage about ten cars all in a row were pushing me up the hill. There were quite a few left to climb in my last ten miles to Itabata and when I arrived I found Pousada Vitoria with a guy in reception who spoke the best English I’ve heard here. I stowed the bike in their undercover car park and showered with my dirty clothes, hung out my washing on the top floor and went in search of food. All the restaurants were closed as it was still early so I had a beer in a bar and watched the town square being prepared for a party tonight. I chose to have a couple of beers and a siesta before returning for the party. I was awake after less than an hour and headed out looking for food. I don’t think the party had started yet, but I found a bar with kebabs and rice and salad and sat on the street enjoying the atmosphere.
There were lots of people about but I felt the need to sleep, so returned to hotel for an early night. I was very impressed by this town though and there seemed to be a lot of money around with many good shops and some good cars, especially the Vauxhall cavette with Audi badges!
Pousada Vitoria 60 reais inc brekkie.