Category: Spain & Portugal End-to-End 2024
-
Abrantes to Sertã – 48.1k, 925m climbed
Like Tom’s Best Man speech in Four Weddings and a Funeral, today had ‘something for everyone’. We knew about the stonking climbs and hair-raising descents before we set off. But when I planned the ride, I’d been expecting intense heat, not a stiff northerly and squally rain showers, like the one about to hit us…
-
Ambling around Abrantes
Of the various explanations we’ve seen for the derivation of Abrantes’ name, the most attractive is ‘made of gold’ (aurantes). It might even be true. What does appear to be true is that it formed part of a string of 12th century fortifications known as the Linha do Tejo. Its hilltop castle (closed on Mondays,…
-
Montargil to Abrantes – 54.8k, 281m climbed
Team Bernard reached an exciting milestone today. When we last crossed this river two weeks ago, just north of Cáceres, it was the Tajo. But a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. When we left our cosy cabin in the early morning chill, the only water we had to worry about…
-
Escoural to Montargil – 77.5k, 753m climbed
We discovered last night that the adjacent petrol station not only doubled as our hotel reception, but also served breakfast, so this morning we joined boiler-suited farm workers for our café com leite and torrada. Importantly, we also discovered that, unlike in Spain, toast in Portugal is served pre-buttered and without jam or tomato. It…
-
Ferreira do Alentejo to Escoural – 62.1k, 620m climbed
I’m happy to confirm that, although there was a bit more climbing today than yesterday, there were no montes grandes (per last night’s wine label). Having left early to beat the heat, we broke our own record, arriving at our destination before sanduiche o’clock. Today’s filling was queijo with a delicious scraping of quince jelly,…
-
Almodôvar to Ferreira do Alentejo – 67.9k, 422m climbed
Fortunately for our legs, today’s ride was about as different to yesterday’s as it could have been. Yes, we still started on the N2, with its avenues of eucalyptus… And miles of scrub either side, dotted with stunted oak trees. But the hills had vanished – this was the view this afternoon, looking back the…
-
Faro to Almodôvar – 80.4k, 1,237m climbed
So how are you doing the end-to-end of Portugal? This is the general idea: Starting from Faro: (Technically the water taxi wharf was the furthest south I could get) We’ll make our way to the country’s most northerly point, which, according to my calculations (and I’m making the rules here) is the old customs post…
-
A Means to an End
Getting two bikes and their riders from Tarifa to the start of our Portugal end-to-end in Faro turned out to be one of the most challenging parts of our Iberian adventure to date. After much fruitless research into Andalucia’s public transport network, we concluded that hiring a van was the only way. That meant an…
-
Spanish Impressions
So what was it like? I hear you say. There are so many highlights, it’s hard to pick favourites. For me, it would be the epic scale of the scenery, under cloud-dotted skies. Jonis picked the silence, high on the meseta on a windless morning. From our vantage point, you couldn’t see a single building,…
-
The Last Leg: Zahora to Tarifa – 66.7k, 477m climbed
Spain end to end complete ✅.Team Bernard have pedalled 1,196km from Bilbao in the north to Tarifa, Spain’s most southerly point. And this time I had someone to celebrate with This last leg was not a long ride, but we were made to work for our podium place.The summit of Cape Trafalgar was cloaked in…
clairedavieswriter 