Sagres to Monte Gordo, Portugal: Cycling the Portuguese Riviera

23-25 February 2019

The southern coastal region of Portugal is known as the Algarve. With more than a hundred beaches, it attracts tourists from all over the world. We biked eastward along the coast for three days, experiencing the full range of environments - from small villages to mega-resorts, and from sandy beaches to expansive salt marshes. Along the way, Portugal continued to challenge us physically while offering incredible scenery and the chance to immerse ourselves in the mix of old and new.

Still Living the Old Way (23 February 2019, 64 km, 40 miles)

European hotels generally won’t let you keep bikes in your hotel room. You have to keep bikes in a room that the hotel staff help you access. As a result, we aren’t easily able to do bike maintenance in the evenings. We’re adapting by planning to do some routine maintenance while out on the trail.

Heading out of Sagres, we stopped in the town of Vila do Bispo to top up the pressure in out tires, oil our chains and make a front derailleur adjustment. We found a nice, sunny spot in a park next to a church where we could sit on a bench, and work on the bikes.

A mural in Vila do Bispo, Portugal, near a park where we stopped for some bicycle maintenance. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

The church next to where we worked on our bikes in Vila do Bispo. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

The eastern part of the Algarve, especially from Sagres to Lagos, remains quite pastoral. For most of the day we biked on rural roads - either gravel or asphalt with what looked like 30 years of pothole patches. For the first time since starting the trip, we also started to see regular signs marking the direction of the bike path. That’s because across southern Portugal, EuroVelo 1 aligns with an older path called the Ecovia do Litoral.

Signs for the Ecovia do Litoral have become a regular sight along our route. In southern Portugal, this route has been incorporated into EuroVelo 1. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

As we bumped along the back roads, we passed through steeply sloped hills covered with modest-sized pastures. Wherever there were cows, sheep or goats, you could hear their cowbells chiming as the animals moseyed along looking for the tenderest shoots of grass. The animals were always tended by a person and/or some sheep dogs. Unlike yard dogs that go crazy when they see bikers, and have to give chase, the sheep dogs were all business. If you don’t pose a threat to the sheep or goats, you barely get a glance.

This herd of goats was being used to trim the vegetation along the road, like natural lawn mowers. The goatherder nearby kept a watchful eye on them. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

The pastures were dotted with occasional small, villages, both right on the seashore, and inland from the coast. One example was Salema. A sign in town described how the area had been settled since Roman times, and that the town gained notoriety in the 1800’s by successfully repelling a pirate attack. Even with all the development pressures in the Algarve, Salema retains the feel of a traditional village by the sea.

The waterfront promenade, in the village of Salema, Portugal. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

The further we rode to the east, the more development we encountered. From Lagos to our destination in Portimão, the cities became bigger and more modern, with waterfront hotels, restaurants, and more crowded beaches. We spent the night on the eighth floor of a tall hotel, looking out over the Arade River, towards the sea.

The waterfront fortress in Lagos has Arabic-style arches, dating to the 1600s. It was an important part of the city’s defenses against pirates. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

Opulence Surrounded by Nature (24 February 2019, 77 km, 48 miles)

Today the route of the EuroVelo 1 was a study in contrasts. The route alternated in short bursts between wide boulevards through giant vacation resorts, narrow roads among luxuriously large homes, and narrow gravel roads through more modest communities and the Ria Formosa Natural Park.

Crossing the Arade River as we cycle out of the resort town of Portimão in the morning. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

Reflecting on the bike ride, we found it hard to develop any kind of rhythm that would give us momentum to cover the kilometers. The number of times the road surface changed practically gave us whiplash. We’d be cruising along on a smooth road, only to be tossed back on a potholed back street, a cobblestone section of old town, an impossibly steep gravel grade or a dirt trail. The pace was generally very slow requiring a lot of navigation and constant vigilance so as to not hit a ubiquitous pothole, an unexpected curb, or to navigate one of the constant traffic circles. This was both physically and mentally exhausting. With our pace being slower than normal, we were generally on our bikes from dawn to dusk rolling into camp or a hotel at the end of the day much more tired than we normally are after a day of riding. Despite these inconveniences, the route was very interesting and fun. We felt that we really got to see a side of Portugal that the typical visitor would not see and would highly recommend the trip, especially if you plan short mileage days.

Some parts of the Ecovia/EuroVelo route across southern Portugal include some pretty bumpy, and steep dirt roads. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

The first flat tire of our trip. The Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires are better for paved roads. These Portuguese trails are a bit hard on them. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

Today we entered the Ria Formosa Natural Park - a world-class coastal habitat. At Lagoa dos Salgados marsh, we were able to take some time for a bit of birding. There was a nice variety of shorebirds and waterfowl. We even saw several new species we hadn’t ever seen before.

These Pied Avocets at Lagoa dos Salgados were a new species for us. Note the interesting curvature of the bills. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

The view towards Faro, Portugal, from Ria Formosa Natural Park. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

Once again it took us much longer than expected to cover the miles. In the end, we weren’t going to reach our planned destination of Montenegro before sunset. So we made a decision by necessity, and found a secluded spot to pitch our tent for the night. It was too late in the evening to cook, so we made a dinner out of sardines, crackers, and Nutella. We spent a wonderfully quiet and peaceful night in the forest - one of our favorite overnight stops so far.

Salt Pans and Salt Marshes (25 February 2019, 72 km, 45 miles)

Our last full day in Portugal was spent biking almost entirely on gravel and dirt roads. After packing up our tent, we were soon in the outskirts of the major city of Faro. But the EV1 route doesn’t run through the modern part of the city. It skirts along the waterfront, first on cobblestones through the oldest section of town, then on a beat-up dirt road through a major salt-producing region.

Sunrise at our campsite in the forest. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

This White Stork was displaying vigorously on its nest atop an old chimney in Faro, Portugal. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

It was fun to see a side of the city that many people miss. The old town was a maze of ancient alleyways where you could easily lose your way. And it was fascinating to see the salt works, which are still very much in production. We got to ride along dikes right next to water evaporation ponds, where we saw workers sifting the drying salt, and mountains of the raw product - some of which was being hauled away using front-loaders to fill truckloads with the white crystals.

Traditional salt production, along the coast near Faro, Portugal. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

A worker tending the salt evaporation ponds. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

A small mountain of salt, near Faro, Portugal. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

In the salt ponds themselves, and then later as we re-entered the Ria Formosa Natural Park, we had one of our best days of birding so far. The marshes were full of birds. And many of them were nice and close to the bike path, so we could stop and identify or photograph them with relative ease. We both really enjoyed the chance to see so many birds.

Checking out the birds in the Ria Formosa marsh. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

Black-tailed Godwits at Ria Formosa marsh. This was another “lifer” species for us. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

This Common Redshank wasn’t a lifer, but it’s still a cool bird for us to see. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

Every so often the route would pass through another coastal town. In Fuesta, we enjoyed biking along the waterfront where the port is lined with boats, nets and other evidence of an active fishing fleet.

Fishing boats on the Fuesta waterfront. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

A statue honoring fishermen on the Fuesta waterfront. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

On the flip side, some of the trails through the Natural Park were pretty rough. While the hills were not as steep as previous days, the trail still held a few surprises. At one point we had to navigate an extremely complicated stream crossing. This involved pushing our bikes up an impossibly steep berm onto a active railroad tracks. Push/carrying our bikes across the railroad bridge (which had huge gaps between the ties, big enough to snag a bike tire), ease the bikes down the other side of the railroad berm past a thicket of prickly pear cacti, and then across a plank “bridge” onto safe ground. We only managed this process by working together to push/carry one bike at a time. It was a huge relief when we got both bikes back on the trail.

We carried our bikes across this railroad bridge, one at a time. Between the ties, there was nothing but air - and a drop straight down into the stream below. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

After crossing the railroad bridge, we had to ease our bikes down off of the berm on this narrow, gravel path. Note the steep drop-off to the right, and the “lush” cactus on the left. We took it slowly. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All… — After crossing the railroad bridge, we had to ease our bikes down off of the berm on this narrow, gravel path. Note the steep drop-off to the right, and the “lush” cactus on the left. We took it slowly. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

Of course, at the bottom of that steep berm, we had to negotiate our wobbly bikes across this crevice on these boards. We were glad the boards didn’t buckle under the weight. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

The second obstacle was a washed out bridge. The bridge had a huge bow in it, probably from a flood. And it was blocked off by a solid metal gate.

We biked up to the gate and were wondering what-the-heck we were going to do, when along came a local cyclist. He said, of course you just toss your bike over the gate and walk across the bridge - which he did. But it was not so simple for us. There was no way we could lift our loaded bikes over the gate. We had to fully unload them, heave the unloaded bikes over the gate, walk them to the other side of the bridge, heave the bikes and gear over the gate on the far side, then re-load our bikes. Whew. These are the things that lengthen your riding time on the EV1 in Portugal!

One last lift and we’re over the washed-out bridge. Copyright 2018-2019 by Pedals and Puffins. All rights reserved.

We finally rolled in to Monte Gordo, near the Spanish border. A comfy room in a nice hotel was just the thing to freshen us up for tomorrow’s ride into Spain.