Day 79: Loulé (Cycle)

I discovered that "Visit Algave" has a website of cycle routes. You can find it here. Today's route was a modification of one of their routes, which I changed so that: 1) it started in Loulé rather than Albufeira, 2) re-routed the southern section on to the Euro Velo 1 cycle route, 3) re-routed the end to take in a section of road designated as scenic by the Michelin Road Atlas of Portugal and Spain.

What I discovered is that the section of EuroVelo 1 I cycled is very much a work in progress.

There was sand:

On road cycle lanes

Separated cycle paths:

Cycle paths under construction:

Boardwalks that cyclists are prohibited to ride on:

Gravel/sandy off-road paths:

Paths that were once designated as EuroVelo 1 and now misappropriated:

The rest was on roads without provision for cyclists, much of which is non-cycle friendly. I cycled approximately 38 kilometres of EuroVelo 1 (The Atlantic Coast Cycle Route), nearly all of which is not signposted.

I know I've only cycled about 0.36% of the route but, based on the section ridden by me, I doubt I'll be rushing back to complete the remaining 99.64%!

It wasn't all about cycle infrastructure, I did manage to take this photo on my out of Albufeira:

This one on the run into Silves:

And another at Alte:

I didn't enjoy the EuroVelo 1 route, nor cycling on the N124 from Silves to São Bartolomeu de Messines, on which a car passed by me at the some time as a small truck was overtaking a group of cyclists travelling in the opposite direction - probably the nearest of near misses this year - profanities were directed towards the driver, who happily waved them away! The Portuguese are definitely not as friendly towards cyclists as the French and Spanish tend to be: more like the worst of the Brits!

However, I enjoyed cycling the last 30 kilometres or so: therefore, a 75/25 kind of ride!

• Distance driven: 0
• Distance cycled: 114 kilometres
• Weather: 25°C at 9.30AM in Loulé; About 18°C whilst down at the coast; and 27°C when I returned to Loulé mid afternoon.

Today's route: