Portugal Trip 2021

A way over due trip to visit family, but while I'm at it might as well bring a bike, my Kona Hei Hei, my family has been telling me the place is bike crazy! So a good time to reconnect with family and get some riding in.

What I found was the most organized trail system was in Sintra just northwest of Lisbon. And lucky me that's just happens to be where my nephew Wes lives, someone to show me around. For starters this place is not flat, so bring your climbing shoes! On the first day of riding we found a road climb up to an old church on top of a hill with a kicker of a hill, 25-27% grade for about a half mile. The mountain biking was great, long climbs with super fun downhills and well marked. A great variety of riding in the hills mostly but did find a fun trail that when all the way down to the ocean that really opened up the diversity of riding in the area.

The next area that I explored was the Serra de Estrela, only about an hour by car from Viseu the city I was born. The first ride was from the village of Maneigas to the highest mountain in Portugal, hate to say much bigger climb then I expected and maybe the biggest road climb of my life. A 14 mile climb with an elevation gain of 4,200 ft, but did fine some trails on my way down to Maneigas an old cobalt stone road that turned into a technical trail that was super fun and challenging. The next day also found some more climbing, a dirt road that when along the top of a mountain range with many views, but it started with a bang the GR-50, a long distance trail that runs through Portugal, A two mile climb that ran a 15-20% grade to a fire look out then turned into a rolling dirt road where you could enjoy the views. Really great to check out a local mountain range so close to family.

The last area to explore was Geres National Park in the north of Portugal on the border of Spain. Very pretty area, but still some great riding to go along with the wonderful views. Did a fair amount of road riding to check out the views, but did come across the GR-50 again along with some other trails to mix it up and get in some trail riding each day. Geres was the prettiest area of my trip but also the wettest, parts of this area seemed like a rain forest.

Really enjoyed my trip to reconnect with family and check out the riding. The riding was great very bike friendly country and a lot more hilly then I expected, so bring your climbing shoes and enjoy the wine and the espresso's. A truly wonderful vacation.