Just over six years ago, I began work on the Pedal Portugal website. This post continues the story of how it all came about. Part I explained how my wife Carolyn and I arrived in the county for the first time in 2005 as part of a year-long tandem trip - and how we fell in love with… Continue reading A Portuguese Love Affair – Part II
The Pedal Portugal website has now been going for six years - I wrote the inaugural post on 18th August 2011 for what was then a pretty basic site. Since then, it's fair to say that Pedal Portugal has come to play a major part in my life. As well as maintaining this site and trying to… Continue reading A Portuguese Love Affair – Part I
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
It's now day four of the first ever Pedal Portugal guided tour...and it seems to be going more or less to plan so far. The weather's been kind, my group of riders is great and we haven't had too many hiccups. Just a few flat tyres on the first day, a snapped gear hanger, and a… Continue reading Algarve Tour – Photo Gallery
There are many reasons to love being in the Algarve in the winter - the lack of tourists, cheap wine, Portuguese cakes, almond blossom, being able to buy two large tuna steaks from the supermarket for less than €4. And that's before I even get on to the cycling. One of the biggest draws has to be… Continue reading Saturday Ride
It's all turning into such a tough job. Getting ready for my first cycle tours means I've got to check out all the stops along the way - visit the hotels, the restaurants etc. Oh, I really feel I should ride the routes again (what a shame). Just in case any of the roads have been dug up or… Continue reading Research Is A Tough Job
The next Pedal Portugal guidebook - 'Cycling The Algarve' - is on its way and I'm looking for test riders interested in trying out some of the routes. The new book will basically be in three parts. The first will be a touring route based on the existing Algarve Adventure, which is a six-stage route… Continue reading Test Riders Needed
Over the past few years I've spent many, many hours carefully putting together route maps for cyclists coming to Portugal and putting them on the Pedal Portugal website - but now Google seems to have messed up the lot! What is it with these companies that feel they have to keep changing things? I used the old version… Continue reading Oh Google Maps… Why, Why, Why?
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 used to think Michelin maps were good but I'm beginning to have my doubts. It's not so much faults with what they do show, more all the stuff they leave out. I've spent the past nine days exploring the north-east corner of Portugal, trying to work out new day rides and touring routes to… Continue reading Mapping Frustration
Pedal Portugal 