Day 1: Toronto to Faro then to Farreira do Alentejo

I left Toronto on Air Transat on Tuesday the 24th in the evening. The flight was very good as usual, and big thanks for the fantastic treatment and service from the crew on TS232. Unfortunately my excitement to be finally actually going meant that i did not sleep at all on the flight.

Arao from Soulful bikes met me in Faro at 7:30 local time. I had only packed carry on luggage and breezed through airport customs in roughly 15 minutes from landing to leaving the airport. We travelled into town to their offices and completed the paperwork, i geared up and was on the road by 8:30 starting my solo adventure. Cant say enough good things about Soulful bikes. The rates are reasonable, the bike was in good shape, and the route planning and assistance prior to hitting the road was incredible.

I fought the morning traffic in Faro for 30 minutes or so before getting to the outskirts of town and picking the the N2. Once i was out on the road i had to stop to reposition my phone holder and take out the lining in my jacket as the temperature had already climbed to 18 degrees.

The Honda NC750X from Soulful Bikes.

The NC750X lacks a bit of power, but it handles very nicely, and as i was about to find out, handling on the roads climbing altitude into Alentejo is what really counts. These roads are amazing! Surface is good, although not always perfect, but the way the roads twist and turn and the changing altitude keep your attention squarely focused on the task at hand. The roads are also empty. This road would be absolutely packed with bikes and cars at home and far exceeds anything i have ever ridden in Canada.

You can see from the speeds that i was not pushing hard at all, but still had to grab a pinch of "surprise" front brake here and there.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/1d37dd_8d52eeb4c4964d4280953fb093c1b8c3/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Once the climb was complete the views were increidble.

After the climb into Alentejo.

It was at this point that my lack of sleep started to really affect me and i had to make a couple of stops along the road for the fabulous coffee that is served all over Portugal. Coffee was all of 1 Euro by the way.

Once on top of the climb, the roads changed and were not as technical as they had been, but i still was directed by the route Arao had planned for me to some great locations.

View of the valley below the dam.

The hydro electric dam just south of Ferreira do Alentejo

After the dam, i headed into town through a tree lined highway looking for some food and of course a Caneca of Super Bock. Late lunch was fantastic, and the guest house was clean comfortable, and like most things in Portugal, very reasonably priced.

Charcoal grilled chicken, rice, salad, fried potatoes and beer all for $25 CDN. Love this place.

I had a quick wander around town, but was far too tired to do much exploring and headed back to my guest house to call it an early night.

Cool tiny little church in town i wandered by.