LOCALadk Magazine

It was cold — the coldest morning of 2023's winter so far. Because of this, Whiteface was operating at lim- ited capacity. With skiing off the table for the morn- ing, there was just one thing to do: plan an adventure. Portugal had been on my short list of places to visit for some time. Thinking that the southern part should be plenty warm come April, I fired up my computer for some research. The previous fall, I took a spectacular solo gravel bike trip to Girona, Spain, so building on that theme seemed like a great place to begin. A brief Google search landed me in the Algarve Region of Southern Portugal. After ruling out some of the larger bike touring companies, I stumbled upon Echappee-Por- tugal. Something about their site caught my eye, so I composed a quick email to their contact with some basic questions. It didn't take long for them to reply, suggesting a phone call for the following week to see just what I was looking for and advise accordingly. The wheels were in motion. Time to recruit some friends. The dates for the Guided Gravel Adventure didn't quite mesh with some people's schedules, and others had prior commitments or work responsibilities. But my friend Donna was game, so off we went to iron out some details. Enter Fiona. Fiona is a British expat now — living full time in Portugal — and the founder, proprietor, and all good things Echappee - Portugal (soon to be called Paradise Cycling Tours). Her message suggesting a conversation materialized while I was once again on Whiteface, this time warming up at the Midstation Lodge. Her enthu- siasm was amazing and contagious. The desire to take our quest over the top was obvious. I signed on in an instant. When the subject turned to the weather and she said she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt while I was in full ski clothing, it was a done deal. A few more emails to button things up and all that remained was waiting for departure. Echappee was happy to provide as little or as much help as we needed. Once we had our plane tickets, Fiona had the rest in order. Although they can arrange high quality rental bikes and equipment, we opted to bring our own gravel bikes — my Specialized's latest Diverge STR and Donna's Santa Cruz Stigmata. This was primarily a gravel riding trip, but there would be paved road riding and some single-track trails. These bikes would handle anything we'd encounter. Our trip would be based in Alte with our rides beginning and ending there, so bike packing equipment was unneces- sary. Faro Portugal is not the easiest destination from Lake Placid, but United has flights with 2 connections at reasonable cost from Burlington, V T. This mostly uneventful flight — the best kind — was marred only by a short connection in Lisbon leading to a missed flight to Faro. (For future trips like this a longer lay- "Being based in one place allowed us to explore what many say is the most tradi- tional village in Portugal. The steep cob- bled streets led to markets, shops, cafes, churches, parks, and restaurants. We even had time to relax and meet Balthazar, one of the local resident donkeys." - Kenny Boettger

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