This post recounts the eleventh, final day of my Portugal End to End cycle tour with Peak Tours in May 2023. Read Day 10: Moura to Mértola
We were about to set off on the final leg of our marathon ride across a great European country. Today would be a hilly day, but first we had time to relax on the terrace outside the hotel before collecting our bikes.
These colourful buildings have been such a feature of our Portuguese odyssey. They bring a vibrancy to almost every village and town. Tavira was no exception.
We were climbing most of the morning, but after ten days on the road we were ready for it. Even better, the pesky headwind that soured much of yesterday’s ride had gone. The headwind gods had taken pity on us after the massive sacrifice we gave on the road to Mértola.
The riding was interesting too, with rivers, hills and at times open fields. I had one final Garmin moment entering the village of São Bartolomeu de Via Glória, following what I thought was the Garmin’s instruction to turn left in the village. A moment of doubt was confirmed when the others, following me, went the other way!
After 15 miles, we had our final brew stop of the tour. Gilda had done us proud as usual, with snacks and drinks at a church in the village of São Miguel do Pinheiro.
Not long after the brew, we had our only real rain of the holiday. I put my rain jacket on for the first time, but as always found myself far too hot. As I remembered from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2019, I’d rather get wet than feel like a boil in a bag chicken. In truth the rain here was pretty light and didn’t last long.
One curious feature of today’s ride was the regular police road blocks. At the first one I thought I was being waved over, but the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) officer was actually directing the car following me. We never found out what the police were looking for.
Further along, we were told to halt to allow a number of motocross riders to cross the road as they raced to the valley below in a cloud of dust. Soon after we saw our first sign for our destination: Tavira.
It was a pleasure to descend to our lunch stop at Casa de Pasto Paraiso da Serra. This reminded me a little of that splendid lunch stop on the first day: good, simple fuel. I went easy on the meat, but enjoyed a coffee to sustain me on the final climbs of the tour.
We were a select band who set off for the sea: Julia, Kevin, Peter and me, along with guide Fernando. For the first time we were the backmarkers – the slower riders having set off two hours before us from Mértola. On these final 23 miles I was struck by the very hilly hinterland of the Algarve’s coastal strip.
As we neered the summit of the four mile climb from lunch we saw Kevin waiting for us. We assumed he was allowing us to catch up, but he was holding his saddle and seat post, which had sheared off. He was very lucky it didn’t happen at speed on a descent. We voted that he should continue on one of the spare bikes, but he understandably chose to complete the journey in the van.
This was a special moment: our first sight of the sea. We still had a few more short climbs, but we’d soon be freewheeling on our descent to Tavira, as seen below.
The rest of the riders were enjoying their drinks at a cafe on the edge of Tavira. The plan was that we’d ride as a group to the finish on the coast. We jokingly called the cafe the holding pen. It was a nice moment as we knew that we’d done all the hard miles.
We set a very slow pace through the old town – I joked that we’d not been this slow all tour, even on the hills. But it was fun.
After the old town, we rode on a causeway between the salt beds that are such a feature of this part of the Algarve coast.
This was the moment our Portuguese odyssey ended, with sand beneath our wheels. Gilda offered us mugs of bubbly, and we celebrated our achievement.
Julia was determined to mark the end of the epic adventure with a swim in the sea. A few of us took her lead, but I was the only one of the men to do so!
We wheeled our bikes to the hotel, and underwent that strange transition from cyclist to vaguely presentable civilian. We were staying at the Hotel Vila Galé Albacora, a smart venue on the waterfront. After 11 days of routine it was nice to know that there was no pressure to wash clothes or prepare for the next day’s cycling.
It was a convivial evening, first over drinks on the outside terrace (though I needed a hoodie to ease the chill of a brisk wind off the sea) and then over dinner. Adam, Julia and others paid tribute in prose and verse to the untiring efforts of Sam, Gilda and Fernando in making this such an unforgettable tour, along with Lee and Steve at Peak Tours HQ for the usual immaculate pre-tour organisation and communication.
As day became night, and I stood on the still waterfront, I reflected on our adventure. To adapt the words of that ear worm song from the early days (see day 6), these had been amongst the ‘best days of our lives’.
And here’s the highlights video showing the whole tour – in four minutes!
Post script: Tavira
The following day, Libby, Peter and I explored Tavira (the town was an hour’s walk from our hotel). It was a good decision: a fine place to while away an hour or two over coffee and lunch. We found an excellent restaurant (Mira Cafe) for a tapas lunch. Sipping my coffee I was surprised to see a 1914-18 war memorial. (I didn’t know that Portugal took part in the Great War.)
As we walked back to the hotel, the salt beds were at their vibrant best, glowing red under the hot afternoon sun. Later, as my plane climbed away from Faro airport, I saw similar features along this Atlantic coast. Salt has been extracted here since Roman times, and is still mined in the hills above the coast.
Portugal has been a revelation, and I can’t wait to return.
Enjoyed reading about my Portugal adventure? You can find my day-by-day accounts of earlier cycling tours below, including highlights videos for all the Peak Tours trips.
Highland 500 2022 (Peak Tours)
Way of the Roses 2021 (Peak Tours)
Ertblog 
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