#11: [20-Jun-19]

#9: [14-Oct-12]

#8: [09-Dec-11]

#7: [30-Jun-11]

#6: [07-Jul-09]

#5: [28-Nov-07]

#4: [18-Jan-07]

#3: [30-Dec-03]

#2: [22-Apr-03]

#1: [02-Jun-01]

25-Feb-2017 -- This is the first out of six reports reaching confluence points during a bicycle trip from Lisbon to Ciudad Real.

Friday after work I took a direct flight from Zurich to Lisbon arriving there at 9 PM with one hour delay. As usual, I had brought my bicycle with me, such that I could directly cycle out of the airport. For coincidence, my previous flight was to Sardinia where my trip began with the visit of 39°N 9°E, and this time 9°W at the same latitude.

I cycled northwards for about 10 km and spent the night in a simple bar-motel in Santa Iria (30 km south of the confluence point).

The next morning was extremely foggy along the Tagus (in Portuguese Tejo) River. My glasses constantly filmed over at the inner and outer side such that I had to stop several times to see the road in front of me again. But as I left the river valley by climbing the hill to the confluence point, I got above the clouds.

At 8:50 AM I reached the confluence, which is generally easy to reach. The only problem was to climb the short but steep grade from the road up to the flat plateau with a vineyard where the confluence is located. Although I had been within 20 m already, I cycled a farm track upwards up to a distance of 160 m, where the track had reached the same level as the field. Then it was a cakewalk to approach the confluence on foot. Only the last 10 m were a bit tricky when I had to find a way through high reeds.

The confluence is located just 10 m from the wall of the Quinta do Palhas. This is a fine place where events like weddings take place.

After the visit, I had to leave the nice and sunny site of the confluence and ride down into the sea of clouds again at River Tagus.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to a road: 20 m
• Distance to a track: 20 m
• Distance of bicycle parking: 160 m
• Time to reach the CP from Santa Iria: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Time at the CP: 8:50 AM
• Measured height: 11 m (somehow wrong, probably measured from the air pressure sensor instead from GPS coordinates)
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
• Position accuracy: 3 m
• Topography: hilly
• Vegetation: reeds, wine, grass, thorny blackberries.
• Weather: sunny, 17° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The River Fog Confluence

The story continues at 39°N 8°W.