LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 34 over will be sought.) A small inconvenience of a few hours. Although our bags did not arrive with us, we were reunited later that evening. Since Echappee had our entire itinerary arranged, all we needed to do once we landed was look for Fiona and her big green van. Everything else was already in place — accommodation, transportation, dinner res- ervations, you name it. Every detail was taken care of. Had we needed bikes, those would have been waiting for us as well. With Alte as our base, our rides went a different direction each day. Like petals from a flower, we rode from our central location rarely using a road or trail twice. Being based in one place allowed us to explore what many say is the most traditional village in Portu- gal. The steep cobbled streets led to markets, shops, cafes, churches, parks, and restaurants. We even had time to relax and meet Balthazar, one of the local resi- dent donkeys. Big fan of carrots, that one is. Having given Fiona a vague idea of what we were looking for on our trip (quite frankly, we didn't really know), she took over from there to optimize our time and elevate our experience. And that she did. Each day was much the same and yet altogether dif- ferent. With each ride going a different direction and place, we never knew what we were in for. And that was just fine. Our days went like this: After waking up at a decent hour, we'd enjoy a great European hotel breakfast and download the GPX files to our Garmin cycle computers. It was nice to have the electronic guidance, though Fiona expertly navigated us through every ride. The amount of time she took to research and find these rides is unfathomable. Having a skilled guide (unlike my experience in Girona where I "winged it" with limited success) was priceless. After breakfast and a liberal application of sun- screen to protect our pale winter skin, we'd coast to the Germano Bike Café for another coffee and our ren- dezvous with Fiona. And off we'd go. Our typical ride was just shy of 50 miles at a pace that suited all of us, our elevation maxing out at around 2,000 feet per day. Our climbs were the perfect mix of punchy and grad- ual, most climbs being in the 3-5% range with some steeper punches, but few ever went over 8%. The rides were suited to precisely what we wanted, the option to go longer or shorter, hillier or flatter always available. Our guide was truly professional. I'm sure that she could have ripped our legs off, but she con- vinced us that our speed was perfect for her as well. The roads in the Algarve region are superb — excel- lent surfaces and little-to-no traffic. The few cars you encounter treat cyclists with patience and respect. And the gravel took us everywhere the roads did not.

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