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This post is for Friday’s ride, a couple of days late due to poor WIFI availability.

66.3 miles, 862 metres climbed, 979 metres descended, average speed 13.62mph, max speed 27,43mph. Yet another clear sunny day.

The lovely old Beira Rio hotel had the most architectural bike park of the tour so far, cobbled of course.

By a democratic vote we started a little earlier than usual to try and avoid some of the hot afternoon sun, forecast to be 36C. My choice was for the extra time in bed but the early start turned out to be a good call.

Today’s ride was what Bruno, my good French friend and blog commenter, might call a transitional ride. Not the hilliest but one which covered a good distance, at a reasonable pace and on long straight roads. The down side was that the surfaces were generally not very smooth. We popped into Spain for a few miles where the brew stop was taken.

At times it felt like being on the top of the world surrounded by mountains in the distance – until the next turn or undulation when the road kicked up to reveal -another top of the world.

After lunch I saw my first stork’s nest of the trip. Probably vacant at this time of year.

There was a long sweeping descent down into Mertola which sits on the banks of the Guadiana river and downstream of the wetlands of yesterday.

A bit of navigational trouble led to a short walking tour of some of the cobbled streets of Mertola before finding the hotel. The Garmin Sat Nav is sometimes difficult to read in bright sunlight – my excuse anyway!

After leaving from the architectural bike park this morning we ended at up at the bike park with the steepest, cobbled access of the tour. Not one to be ridden up to.

A good day which could have been more comfortable.

57.25 miles, 1372 metres climbed, 1387 descended, average speed 11.1 mph, max speed 33.3 mph, average temperature 26C.

At breakfast and the briefing there seemed to be a tinge of sadness that a great tour was coming to an end. The weather forecast was the same as it had been every day so far and was confirmed when we left the hotel.

Our first climb of the day was the walk back up to the bike park and the briefing close to the local mortuary. An omen?

The day was characterised by a series of climbs, some quite long, in and out of  valleys. The route to the brew stop, in the small village Igreja de Penedos, was across wide open country.

I came across this colourful bindweed type flower as I left the village.

I haven’t mentioned it before but we have come across several instances or road kill. Some quite large badger type animals but also frogs/toads and snakes. Today I saw a couple of very small snakes slithering across the road.

Lunch came at 35 miles in a cafe nestled in a bend of the Odeleite river. Chicken and pork in large quantities was barbecued and served under the veranda. Suitably fed we were straight into a 4 mile climb offering some great views of the valley we had left behind.

As we continued the vegetation became greener with lots of pine trees.

The last 10 miles were a smile-inducing descent into the outskirts of Tavira where we gathered as a whole group. Suitably attired in our Portugese Tour shirts we headed off, as a peleton, on the last 3 miles to the end point on the beach. Lots of hugging, a mug of celebratory bubbly and a dip in the sea.

 

A great end to a wonderful tour and in the company of some lovely, interesting people. All made possible by the unstinting efforts of the the support team of Dylan the leader and Mark, who took turns to ride as sweeper or get our bags to our rooms each day, and Wendy who kept us fed and watered the whole trip. A huge Thank You.

A few stats of the trip.

626.7 miles or 1008.6 km ridden,  44,406 feet or 13,535 metres climbed.

Some final thoughts.

This has been my 5th tour with Peak Tours and has, like the previous ones, been a voyage of discovery. The scenery has been varied and breathtaking at times, from steep sided valleys with terraced vineyards, to wide open plains surrounded by distant mountains. The traffic-free route has passed through sparsely populated villages and towns with brightly coloured buildings, along narrow winding lanes lined with dry-stone walls and followed long, straight, undulating roads, which seemed to go on forever. The hilltop towns, with their panoramic views of the roads just traveled, have been spectacular and well worth the effort of climbing up to them. The Portuguese people in the hotels and restaurants have been friendly and welcoming and we received the occasional  word of encouragement from villagers as we negotiated their cobbled streets.

As usual the support and encouragement of my fellow riders, as well the Peak Tour guides and head office staff, has been first class.