17-22 February 2019

The five days of biking from Lisbon to Portugal’s southwestern corner was not expected to be too challenging. With the exception of one mountain park, with a climb through a pass that is only 625 ft high, the terrain would be fairly manageable with low, rolling hills. But nothing was exactly as it seemed, and Portugal threw us a few curve balls.

Between Lisbon and Sagres, we stayed in fairly remote locations - camping for four nights, and staying in a rural guesthouse on the fifth. None of these locations had internet access. So, here we are in Sagres, catching up on the week’s news.

Two Cliffs and a Mountain (17-18 February 2019, 141 km, 87.5 mi)

Our departure from Lisbon went smoothly. We had scouted out the route to the ferry across the Rio Tejo in advance. So, we were across the river and heading south in short order.

According to the Eurovelo website, the section of the trail from Lisbon to Sagres is “developed”, with Eurovelo signs. But that is not what we found. Following the GPS routes that you can download from the official site, we did not see any signage for the trail or any other indication that we were on a bike route. That made for slow going in the first 30 km after crossing the river, as we traveled through a very urban landscape with lots of traffic and obstacles for bicycles.

Along the way, we also took time to stop at a Maxmat store (like a Home Depot) to buy fuel for our camping stove. We went to a couple camping and sporting goods stores in Lisbon, but no one there seemed to have heard of white gas (i.e., Coleman Fuel). Canister fuel is king here. We also had some difficulty figuring out the name of white gas in Portuguese. Luckily we found a website which told us that white gas is called “benzina” in Portuguese, and could be found at Maxmat. The Maxmat store had what we were looking for - white gas that burns with less residue, and helps prolong the stove’s life.

By the time we reached the edge of the urban zone, it was getting late, and we still had more than 30 km to go. The weather forecast called for rain, starting in the late afternoon, so we decided to skip a side trip we had planned and head straight for the campground near Sesimbra. It turned out to be a good thing we left ourselves extra time.

The turn off of the main highway towards the campground led onto a gravel road, that quickly led us over the edge of a cliff. Literally. Over the next 2.7 km, we descended more than 200 m (about 700 ft), for an average gradient of 9%. The slope topped out at a jaw-dropping 26.5%. Needless to say, we both took it slowly, and walked our bikes down part of the way. Although that may not sound so bad, trying to hold back an 80-100 lb bike on a gravel surface at those gradients is a lot of work. It took us a very long time to inch our way down that cliff face.

To spice things up, when we reached sea level, we discovered that we had to bike uphill at an even steeper gradient, with the slope topping out at a heart-pounding 33.6%. We both biked up the cliff about half way to the campground, before the walking resumed - this time pushing our bikes uphill. We arrived at the campground quite ready for a rest. Our total travel time for the day was 8.5 hrs.

Unfortunately, we forgot to take a photo of the campground itself. It was quite picturesque. The campsites were created using stone walls to terrace the cliff face, making level spots for the tents. And all of the sites were shaded by an olive tree grove. There were hundreds of tent camping spots all nestled together in the terraced hillside, but we had the place entirely to ourselves. That’s one of the advantages of visiting off-season.

After setting up camp and a quick dinner at the campground snack bar, we hiked down to the waterfront harbor, enjoying the scenic beauty until after dark.

The rain didn’t start until after we were in bed, around 9pm. But then it let loose. It wasn’t windy, but the rain pelted down all night long, not stopping until just before sunrise. We were glad to have our big, new tent. We were able to bring nearly all of our gear inside with us, and still have enough room to sleep comfortably. Everything and everyone stayed dry.

The rain brought with it a cold front. So the next few days would be chillier, with highs in the fifties and lows in the forties.

In the morning we had to face that cliff again - it was the only way to get back to the highway. We decided to try our luck on paved roads, going through the town of Sesimbra. The average gradient was definitely more gentle, at about 6%. But there were still steep sections, with the steepest being 22%. We were able to bike to the top, taking several stops along the way. But it took ages to get up that cliff, and we still had a mountain ahead of us.

The second day of the journey took us across the Arrábida Natural Park - a lovely, mountainous area along the coast. A good deal of the trail followed paved roads with manageable gradients. There were also a few gravel sections that passed through rural communities with small farms. Many of the farms had several orange trees growing in the yard, and small plots of cultivated land. The views from the higher elevations back towards the ocean were stunning.

But the riding was going pretty slowly, and it took hours for us to complete the first 30 km. We didn’t reach the ferry in Setúbal until 2:00 in the afternoon.

Luck was on our side when we got off the ferry in Tróia. Suddenly we were traveling on almost flat roads, with the wind at our back! Awesome! We covered the last 48 km to our destination in record time.

However, by that time it was getting late and dark. So we figured that, rather than camp, we’d sleep at a guesthouse. Google showed only one lodging option in Melides, the small town where we wanted to stay. But the guesthouse called Quinta da Sónia did not actually exist. Really, it was clearly in Google maps but no one had heard of it and all we found was an empty field. Uh-oh. It was now cold, dark and raining and we needed a place to stay. So, we started asking around. We heard that Julia’s, a bar, had rooms available for rent.

But finding Julia’s was easier said than done. Everyone seemed to know of it, and each person we asked said that it was about 1.5 km down the road, on the right. Five km later, after stopping to ask three other people if we were on the right track, and backtracking once because we thought we had missed a turn (we hadn’t), we finally arrived at Julia’s. There was no sign indicating we were there, we homed in by repeating asking people where it was until someone said: ”this is Julia’s and that is Julia”, a lady in her in her 70’s behind the bar. Total travel time was just over 9 hrs.

The proprietress didn’t speak English, and didn’t have much patience for our rusty Portuguese, so she called someone from the back room to help out. We managed to secure a room above the bar for the night. They don’t rent many rooms in the guest house, especially in the winter. So Julia’s assistant and her daughter had to make up the beds for us. There was no heat in the room. The only heat in the building was from a downstairs fireplace in the far corner of the building. They had a nice fire going that helped us warm up, which we thoroughly enjoyed after we had cleaned up. We slept soundly when we finally got to bed.

Sand and Seclusion (19-20 February 2019, 133 km, 82.7 mi)

It was cold in our room the next morning, and we had a tough time rustling ourselves out of bed. But we still managed to get on the road by 8:30am.

The first part of the day was easy sailing. For 55 km we biked on paved roads or hard-packed gravel. Our route took us through Sines, a bustling port city with a fishing harbor as well as a major seaport for container ships.

Not long after leaving Sines, we entered the beautiful Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park. This park runs for hundreds of kilometers along Portugal’s coast, from just south of Sines all the way to the southwestern tip near Sagres. It is just wonderful to see such a long incredibly beautiful coastline so undeveloped, a rare sight these days. Although there are a few towns and fishing huts within the park, most of it is quite remote and wild. Little did we know just how much we would have the opportunity to experience this.

Not long after passing through the tourist town of Porto Covo, the route left the paved roads and dove deep into the park. At first the roads were passable by bike, being mainly gravel with patches of sand. But around km 56, the surface started to deteriorate, becoming progressively worse until we were off our bikes, pushing them through deep sand. The sand was so deep that our front panniers bottomed out at times. It would have been impossible to ride the bikes, since we could barely push them at times. According to the map, we were on the cycling route but based on the lack of bike tracks in the sand, no bikes had passed by recently. We started to think that maybe the locals know better since it was very tough going.

By now we were quite far from civilization - at least for people pushing heavy bikes. The scenery was breathtaking. We were traversing mountains of sand alternately covered by low-growing bunch-grasses, succulent plants and shrubs, and groves of pine trees. The sea was never too far away, just over the dunes. And we could hear its distant roar as the waves beat against the cliffs. We didn’t see any other people for hours.

We kept hoping that the trail surface would improve. But after pushing our bikes for hours, we decided that was unlikely to happen. We agreed to bail out of the official EV1 route, and take the shortest path we could find back to pavement - with 3 more km of pushing our bikes. When we finally reached a bumpy gravel road, we felt like it was the most beautiful road we had ever seen. A real road that we could actually ride our bikes on, they really do work better that way.

From there we hustled as fast as we could to our campground in Villa Nova de Milfontes, rolling in around 6:30pm. A ride that should have taken 5-6 hours ended up taking nearly 10 hours.

We had just enough time to set up our tent and unload our panniers before the sun went down. After a dinner at a nearby restaurant, we collapsed into our sleeping bags and slept soundly through the night.

The next day, we didn’t get on the road until nearly 10am. It was another chilly morning, and we allowed ourselves the luxury of sleeping in.

At this point, we decided that following the official EV1 route through the wilds of the park would take too much time and energy, so we decided to stick to paved roads for the remainder of the trip down to Sagres. As a result, we saw less of the sea and more of the area’s agricultural landscapes. We passed through groves of cork trees, eucalyptus, hillsides covered with grape vines, and many fields being plowed and planted with the season’s first crops.

For the first time since leaving Lisbon, our ride took less than 7 hours to complete. So, even with our late start we arrived at our campground north of Aljezur early enough to break out the camp stove and cook our own dinner. This was something we had been looking forward to, and it was fun to finally try out our new equipment. PedalingGuy was also glad to get rid of some of the heavier food items he was carrying. The menu: oranges as an appetizer, with a main course of wild rice cooked in cream of mushroom broth, and little hotdogs added for protein. It was hot and delicious on a cold and blustery evening.

Wind and More Wind (21-22 February 2019, 47.7 km and a rest day, 29.5 mi)

After a restful night, we were up early and eager to use the stove again. We cooked up a hot breakfast of oatmeal with raisins, powdered milk, and chia seeds. It was just the thing to fill us up for a day riding into the wind.

Over night, another weather front moved through. This one brought slightly warmer weather, accompanied by a fierce southeasterly wind - blowing 20-30 mph. Nearly all day we were headed into the wind, or battling a cross-wind that sometimes pushed our bikes around on the road. As if to make the point even stronger, we passed a historic windmill, as well as a field of giant wind turbines busily turning the wind into energy.

It was slow going. Our ride took nearly 5 hrs, and we were totally bushed when we arrived in Sagres. Once here, we found a lovely boutique hotel with an awesome view of the sea. The room even has heat (unlike our guest house in Melides). We’ll be staying here two nights.

After cleaning up, we headed out to town to find dinner, and settled on pizza. We bought two scrumptious pies, and ate more than half (taking the rest back to our room). The toppings were incredibly fresh, and the service in the restaurant was excellent. It was a great way to end the day.

It’s now Friday, 22 February. We’ve had a busy day here in Sagres.

Right after breakfast we headed out for a walk to the Fortaleza de Sagres, a 15th century fort built high on the cliffs south of town. The wind is still blowing at 20-30 mph, and will continue all day. So the walk on the cliffs was quite blustery (click here to see a video of just how windy it was!). But the views of the waves crashing on the cliffs were something we didn’t want to miss.

The rest of the day has been spent on taking care of business, including bike maintenance (adjusting a derailleur and fender, fixing handlebar tape, charging lights), doing laundry, stocking up on snacks for the road, and a few other odds and ends. We’ll have another night in our room overlooking the sea, before heading east in the morning.

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