One of my favourite sights in Portugal is the huge variety of wildflowers that carpet the countryside in spring as the combination of warm sunshine and damp soil triggers an explosion of growth. Although, this year there's so far been rather a lot more dampness than sunshine! Like most of the northern hemisphere, spring in… Continue reading Blooming Marvellous… At Last
Sunshine, the sounds of cicadas and birdsong, the smell of hawthorn blossom and cistus bushes, carpets of wildflowers...today's ride was like the best of spring and summer rolled into one. Combine all of the above with almost traffic-free roads and you might begin to appreciate why I just adore cycling in Portugal's Alentejo at this… Continue reading Pure Bliss – Sunday Ride In The Alentejo
We're flying back to Portugal this afternoon to get ready for the next Pedal Portugal guided cycle tour - this time for a new route. The Border Castles Tour goes through some of my favourite bits of the Alentejo. We start in Évora and over the next 10 days do an anti-clockwise circuit into the north-east corner of… Continue reading Ready To Ride
Here's some inspiration for anyone thinking of a trip to Portugal... not my work but a gallery of photos from Bulgarian rider Nora Gavazova. I was able to help Nora with some route advice while she was in the Alentejo earlier this year and she kindly sent me these pictures. She's also added some useful… Continue reading Alentejo gallery
It's taken a few months of work but the first Pedal Portugal guidebook has just been published. As far as I'm aware there are no other guides like it so hopefully it'll be a hit! The Alentejo Circuit is now out in both both print and Kindle versions - and hopefully will be number one in… Continue reading First Guidebook
I've been checking over some of the touring routes on Pedal Portugal and decided something was missing from my Alentejo Circuit... the beach! The Alentejo has some of the prettiest and least developed bits of coast in southern Portugal so it seemed wrong to completely leave it off a route designed to give cyclists a… Continue reading Let’s Go To The Seaside!
So what do you fancy? Cycling through remote villages that look as if they haven't changed in centuries, blasting across the Alentejo plains to get to the Algarve or pottering up the coast of Portugal? After several months of work, I've at long last completed my overhaul of the Touring Routes pages - which include all… Continue reading Ready To Ride
If you like wide open spaces, roads that stretch off into the distance... and not too much traffic, then the Alentejo has got to be one of the best parts of Portugal for cycling. Over the past couple of months, I've been giving the Pedal Portugal site a major overhaul - finally getting round to… Continue reading Open Roads
Got a few updates for you today - the main one of which is that I've finally got round to setting up a Facebook page for Pedal Portugal. If you've got time, come and say hi (and like it if you like it!). I'll be using the page to keep people updated on any changes… Continue reading Going Social
I've had a couple of queries recently about options for hiring bicycles in Portugal and it's prompted me to update a couple of parts of this site - with new pages on bike hire and guided tours. I wouldn't say these offer an exhaustive list of options but they might give you somewhere to start.… Continue reading What, No Bike?
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