Back on the road, but in a different way!
Every year, as part of the celebrations that happen once a year marking the county's anniversary, one of the main roads accessing Lisboa (my country's capital) is closed to automobiles. It just closes on the part inside the council, but that's more than enough to enjoy the road in a way we normally can't.
The Marginal is one of the main roads accessing Lisboa, going from Cascais to the capital, following the coastal line. It's a beautiful scenic road, used by thousands of cars daily, that can at least admire the river Tejo and where it connects with the Atlantic ocean, while they (sometimes) despair in the car queues.
Driving through the Marginal one can see the several beaches that we have in this part of the country, and while I tend to avoid them especially in the weekends, they do come in handy when we want to get some beach time without having to go far! But this time, the only driving was the one done by the bicycles!
How cool it is to be able to ride without the cars??
Apart from closing the Marginal, the council also organizes a ton of initiatives throughout the traject, from fitness to leisure time for the kids.
As for me... I took the opportunity to grab my bike and drive all the way to the end of the blocked road!
This is a beach in Paço de Arcos, and up to this day I still have no clue why the hell someone decided to place that kind of fountain there! Can't think of anything special going on there.
One of the reasons why I wanted to get the bike was to ride to a place called Jamor; it's a sports complex turned into an awesome place for a walk, and I still hadn't been there since all the rehabilitation was made (and that was years ago!), although I can't count the times I passed by.
As the road starts to ascend at this point (and the blockage was just until the top), there is a huge promenade following along the sea. And at least on this one you can actually ride a bike (this county still has some moronic laws, and in a similar promenade you can't ride a bike in most hours of the day, during the Summer... talk about ecology and sustainability!); so promenade it was!
(I did ride the road up to get a photo of that lighthouse before heading back to the promenade!)
After riding for a couple of kms... finally arrived!
This first photo translates to "Jamor urban park".
In this entrance, a wooden walkway transports you from the sidewalk to the park grounds. From there, there is a bicycle route following along the lake, in a circular fashion; plenty of people come here to run, or just to escape the confusion of the nearby city!
There's plenty of stuff to do here: rent a boat and have fun in the lake, mini golf, archery, tennis... there's sports for everyone!
Apoart from the urban park, Jamor is also where a high-performance athlete center is, although I dont have a photo; and there's also an olympic sized swimming pool just a few meters away.
The illumination towers in the background is where the national stadium is, where the portuguese cup final is played.
You even have infographics abut some of the fauna and flora you can find here! I love what they've done to the place; we can't have enough of these green spaces. You can even birdwatch AND canoeing at the same time!
After riding around a little bit more, it was time to start the journey back.
Although this event happens evey year, it had been several years since I took advantage of it, since I work a lot of Saturdays as well; so it was great to finally ride here, especially in this weather.
And to finish in style... still got time to try and break the speed limit on my way home! 😁
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