This post recounts the first day of my Portugal End to End cycle tour with Peak Tours in May 2023.

For once, a major cycling adventure began with a coach ride. After a lovely day in Porto (recorded in this blogpost), I was on my latest Peak Tours cycling holiday, the Portugal End to End.

The ride began from a dam high in the hills near the Spanish border. We had a drink and snacks, and prepared the bikes for a hilly first day’s ride.

I was concerned that my lack of training would make today a tough one, but was relieved that I was able to pace myself on the initial 10 miles or so. I became familiar with my Garmin pinging to let me know I was in my bottom gear – don’t go looking for a lower one! I’ll never be a great climber, but as always I took pleasure and surprise in seeing how far we’d climbed. (The photo below shows our starting point far below.)

We enjoyed the delightful sight of passing a herd of cows being led along the mountain road, accompanied with the sound of their bells. Later in the trip, we’d hear similar sounds from goats in the fields.

After about 10 miles, we crossed another dam, Venda Nova, in similar brutalist concrete. (In the coming week, we discovered that Portugal and Spain do not believe in elegant dams that enhance the landscape.) Soon after, we had our first challenging climb on a rough surface. That suited my gravel bike, if not my fitness!

I was intrigued by this apparently faded industrial village, which contrasted with the rest of the day’s landscape. But I was also looking forward to lunch, as my fuel from breakfast and the brew at the start was rapidly diminishing. I had misheard the distance to lunch and stopped to take an energy gel to keep me going. I could have done with rocket fuel: a little later we made a sharp left turn to face a brutal (if short) climb. I resorted to my usual tactic: stop for a breather every now and again!

Lunch when it came was magnificent, at the Adega Nariz do Mondo, which reminded me of a French auberge. We were offered plates heaving with meat and salads: just the fuel I needed after running low during the first 23 miles. But I went easy on the meat, as I didn’t want to be too busy digesting the feast while I needed to cycle!

I enjoyed the session after lunch. Peak Tours promised a lot of downhill cycling today and so it proved.

Now came the nicest surprise of the day: a seven mile odyssey along the old Tâmega railway line, converted to a cycle route and footpath. We joined it at Arco de Baúlhe, seen above, and I quickly found that it was not a flat route. (Those old steam trains must have worked hard!) It was lovely to see the old stations left as they were, including water cranes for the thirsty engines toiling in the heat.

I had been cycling on my own since lunch, and it was a pleasure to come across fellow riders chatting at the afternoon brew stop at the old Mondim de Basto station.

We now had just a few miles to cycle on this last day. We left the old railway to swoop over the river into Mondim de Basto, and a climb up out of the valley towards our hotel, the Aqua. I was pleased to see the sign for the hotel, not realising we had a stiff climb including a cobbled driveway to the hotel! One final, slightly precarious ascent: carrying our bikes upstairs to their overnight resting place.

Dinner was enjoyable and sociable, in a room that looked like a banqueting suite in a hotel with wonderful views. We had survived the first day.

Read day 2: Mondim de Basto to the Douro

The day’s stats

43.7 miles, 3,992 feet climbing, 4 hours cycling, average speed 10.9mph.

The day’s highlights video