One day, Gertrud Waschkewitz had had enough. Without further ado, she took a large bag, stuffed the trophies her husband Rainer had collected into it and put them in the cellar. All the trophies that her husband had won in cycling races on Madeira over the years. The trophy collector grins when his wife tells him about it. It's been a long time since the now 62-year-old was able to climb mountains so quickly on his racing bike.
Madeira: climbing skills required
Because if you want to win races on the Portuguese island in the Atlantic, you have to be able to climb like Froome, Nibali and Quintana put together - the climbs are so numerous and damn steep. You could call Waschkewitz a Madeira pioneer; the former amateur racing cyclist emigrated from the Lower Rhine to Madeira 35 years ago. He ran a diving school, founded a nature park, managed a hotel and explored every little road on the volcanic island on his racing bike.
Madeira, which was formed millions of years ago by eruptions from the depths of the Atlantic, is a fantastically beautiful island: rough and barren, then green and lovely, with rugged, rocky cliffs against which the Atlantic thunders. With a plain high above the sea, reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands, with an evergreen rainforest criss-crossed by small, artificial waterways, the levadas. On the coasts, waterfalls cascade into the depths, as does the Rabacal nature reserve - where heather and various types of laurel trees grow and which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the interior of the island, jagged peaks rise up to 1862 metres into the sky, sometimes wearing a delicate white coat in winter, while a few kilometres away, on the subtropical south coast, hydrangeas, strelitzias and ornamental lilies bloom at more than 20 degrees.
Madeira only for mountain goats
Rainer Waschkewitz, the former mountain king of Madeira, no longer tortures himself on the steep ramps of his adopted country. He rents out racing bikes - and expressly warns customers before handing them the equipment.
"I'll tell them straight away: if you come to Madeira and you're not in top shape, you're guaranteed to start complaining soon." And remembers a customer whose physique didn't really look like that of a mountain biker. "But he didn't want to believe me," says Waschkewitz, who handed the man a racing bike with a lifebuoy and triple crank and dismissed him with his best wishes. Afterwards, Waschkewitz tidied up the workshop, treated himself to a Portuguese espresso, a Bica, in the bar next door and drove home from his hire station on the coast. "And then I saw the guy round the next bend but one. He had only just come a kilometre and was pushing his bike," says the emigrant, who has tellingly named his company "Madeira Mountain Goats".
The current best mountain goat in Madeira is Ricardo Hernani Costa Gouveia. He is the one who is now winning the races that Waschkewitz used to win. The unofficial Madeiran champion has been scrambling up the steep ramps of his home country since he was a child. "We don't have anything else here," says Costa Gouveia almost apologetically, before adding: "But I like it, I love it." The 30-year-old says that people used to say that racing cyclists were all crazy. "But that has changed: The more weirdos there are who ride road bikes, the more we're respected."
Waschkewitz can also confirm that there are more and more racing cyclists every year. There are around 70 of them, spread across half a dozen clubs. Around 20 races are held on the island, including the Grande Premio da Madeira stage race. "And some of the guys are really good," says Waschkewitz appreciatively. In the past, most Madeirans were on their road bikes for an hour at most, "and then they drank coffee three times in between."
High-rise buildings instead of bananas
Costa Gouveia also treats himself to a bica on the Portela Pass. And has time to gossip a little about some of his fellow countrymen. "There are some who ride up and down the Estrada Monumental in Funchal a few times, or around the harbour, because those are the only flat routes on the island." The racing cyclists also have to manoeuvre through a veritable avalanche of traffic in the island's capital. That's really crazy, says Madeira's current best cyclist, tapping his forehead.
The only nice things about Funchal are a few alleyways in the old town. The city on the south coast has not developed in its favour in recent years. Hotel castles for package tourists from all over the world and second or third homes for rich mainland sports giants have sprung up. Where bananas were still growing on the hillsides a few years ago, high-rise buildings and ruins are now towering into the sky - there are rumoured to be 20,000 empty flats in the Funchal area.
Ricardo Hernani Costa Gouveia and Rainer Waschkewitz rave in unison about the north, especially the coastal road between Porto da Cruz and Sao Vicente. The cliffs are literally breathtaking: "For every ten kilometres, there are around 380 to 400 metres of elevation gain," Waschkewitz calculates. Ricardo, the Madeiran mountain goat, cranks up the stretches high above the Atlantic as if they were nothing more than bumps in the tarmac. The lonely road leads him over slopes covered in dark laurel forest, the Laurisilva. Then switchbacks wind through lush farmland, between vineyards and terraced orchards. In the distance, occasionally obscured by clouds, the Pico Ruivo rises 1862 metres into the sky. And to the west, the cliffs of the steep coast are stacked up to the horizon in the pale morning light. The landscape is at least as beautiful as the road is steep.
Weather in Madeira: from bright to dramatic
Sometimes, claims Rainer Waschkewitz, Madeira looks like a mountain pasture in Switzerland, then again like the jungles of Thailand. "And if you meet one of the farmers wearing the typical woollen hat with earflaps, you'll think you're in the Andes." The farmers wear these woollen hats not so much because they are so stylish, but rather because they keep them warm and protect them from the rain. Ricardo and his cycling mates check the webcams, which are dotted all over the island, before each of their tours. The only problem is that where the sun was shining on the webcam an hour or two ago, it can be raining by the time the cyclists get there. The weather on Madeira can change within minutes, from bright to dramatic, from glorious sunshine to downpours and back again.
Madeira: drier climate in the south
In the south, which lies in the lee of the north-east trade winds, especially in the summer months, the climate is drier and the weather more stable. And on the south-west coast, racing cyclists will also find suitable terrain, as car traffic has long been on a motorway-like dual carriageway. As a result, racing cyclists only encounter a few tourist taxis on the old coastal road and can breathe in the humid and salty Atlantic air, which smells spicy of herbs and eucalyptus in the hills. Before the tunnel was cut through the mountain to Sao Vicente on the north coast, the coastal road was the main road. It has become correspondingly wide, far too wide for the few cars that now get lost there.
But just wide enough for an untrained cyclist to zigzag over the tarmac up to the Encumeada Pass at an altitude of around 1000 metres. Once at the top, you pump like a cockchafer and suck the fresh mountain air into your lungs. Anyone who has not yet developed a love-hate relationship with mountains in their cycling life: Madeira will definitely do the trick. And as a Swiss semi-pro recently said to Waschkewitz: "I came to Madeira to ride the mountains properly."
On the ride back to the coast, the hard-earned metres in altitude are wiped out in a frenzy. On the descent towards the Atlantic, old cobblestone passages occasionally emerge from the crumbling tarmac. "In the past," says Rainer Waschkewitz, "we only rode 100-kilometre races on Madeira over cobblestones, whereas Paris-Roubaix was a joke." Back then, Rainer Waschkewitz still had his trophies in his living room.
Information about Madeira
Travelling to Madeira
Charter flights depart from various German airports to Madeira all year round, including Air Berlin, Condor, TUIfly and Germania. The flight time for direct flights is around four to four and a half hours. If you book in good time, you can get a return flight from around 350 euros. Flights with Lufthansa or TAP Portugal are somewhat more time-consuming, as you have to change planes in Lisbon on these connections.
When is the best time to visit Madeira?
On Madeira, the so-called "island of eternal spring", you can go for short breaks almost all year round. In summer, it rarely gets scorching hot, while in the mild winter, which can be rainy between October and February, temperatures on the coast almost never fall below 20 degrees during the day; in the higher altitudes, it can even snow in the winter months.
In general, the north, where the north-east trade wind drives humid air towards the mountains, is much rainier than the south. Otherwise, the "eternal spring" is only partially true; from April to August, Madeira is much more in bloom than in autumn and winter.
Accommodation in Madeira
Santana (in the north-east)
Quinta do Furao
Estrada Quinta do Furao 6
Phone 00351/291/570100
Fantastic location on the cliffs, tasteful rooms, friendly staff and good restaurant. Double room with breakfast from 120 euros.
Estreito da Calheta (in the south-west)
Hotel Atrio
Lombo dos Moinhos Acima
Phone 00351/291/820400
Charming small country hotel in the hills with pool and rooms with sea view. Very nice service, delicious cuisine and good breakfast. Double room with breakfast for 100 euros.
Info about Madeira
In Germany
Turismo de Portugal
Zimmerstrasse 56
10117 Berlin
Phone 030/302541060
On site
Funchal
Direcao Regional do Turismo
Avenida Arriaga 18
Phone 00351/291/211900
Food & drink in Madeira
The Mercado dos Lavradores (farmers' market) in Funchal impresses with exotic fruits, vegetables and espada, Madeira's fish speciality. The black scabbardfish from the depths of the Atlantic is fried, boiled, grilled and steamed, often served as espada com banana or with passion fruit sauce. In the simple restaurants, traditional stews with meat, hearty sausage or stockfish (bacalhau) are served alongside fish.
Espetada, a bay leaf skewer with grilled beef, is also on almost every menu. It is almost always preceded by bolo de caco, a garlic bread baked from sweet potato dough. Bolo de Mel, honey cakes, are a great energy snack between meals. The various types of the famous Madeira wine are drunk either as an aperitif (Serical or Verdelho), with dessert (Boal) or with the Portuguese espresso variant Bica (Malvasia). The most popular beer is Coral, brewed in Camara de Lobos.
Bike service in Madeira
Funchal
Freeride
Rua Simplicio Passos de Gouveia 21
Loja B - Hotel Porto Mare
Phone 00351/925/977046
Mountain bike specialist that has also been offering road bikes since 2015; however, only models without triple blades; from 20 euros per day.
Canico
Madeira Bike Station
Rua dos Emigrantes Casa F
Phone 00351/917/244446
Long-established bike station run by German Rainer Waschkewitz in the Four View Oasis Hotel. Trenga hire bikes with 105 or Ultegra components and triple cranks from 20 euros per day.
Madeira literature & maps
Travel guide
"Madeira", Michael Müller Verlag 2015, 264 pages
16,90 Euro
Maps
Compass hiking map 234 "Madeira!", 1:50,000, Kompass maps 2015; 8.95 euros
For orientation
Flower island, floating garden or pearl of the Atlantic - that's what Madeira is often called.
How far is Madeira from Portugal?
The island of Madeira, which is around 20 kilometres wide and 60 kilometres long, is located around 600 kilometres west of Morocco and 900 kilometres from the Portuguese mainland. Like the Canary Islands to the south, Madeira is of volcanic origin; the highest mountain, Pico Ruivo, rises 1861 metres out of the sea. Around 260000 people live on the main island with its spectacular cliffs and unique vegetation, almost half of them on the south coast in and around the capital Funchal.
The Madeira archipelago also includes the seaside island of Porto Santo, around 50 kilometres away, and two uninhabited island groups, the Ilhas Desertas and the Ilhas Selvagens.
Tour character on Madeira
It could hardly be steeper. On average, 350 to 400 metres in altitude have to be mastered over ten kilometres. Only climbers can manage without a lifebuoy and/or triple cranks. For the cool and sometimes damp altitudes of more than a thousand metres, wind and rain protection should be in your jersey pocket.
You should also check your brakes before the extremely steep descents - even Madeira's taxi drivers are said to visit the garage every week. Since the construction of the motorway-like link along the south coast and several new tunnels on the north-south axis, the remaining roads are hardly used any more. Unfortunately, little attention is paid to their upkeep, which makes some departures even more difficult. Be careful after heavy rain: This washes dirt and stones from the slopes onto the roads. Another danger are cows, which often roam free on the side roads.
Routes
Tour 1
Paul do Mar and Paul do Serra
- 75 kilometres
- 3000 metres altitude
- max. 18 % gradient
From Estreito da Calhete, the road descends steeply to the village of Jardim do Mar, then through a two-kilometre tunnel past Paul de Mar up to Faja da Ovelha - the steep road is one of the most spectacular on Madeira. The road continues up and down through the hinterland of the west coast before entering the Serra, which is more than 1000 metres high and offers fantastic views of the Atlantic. Descend towards Arco de Calheta and snake back, climbing again at the end. You can drive round the tunnel from Estreito via Prazeres and Faja da Ovelha, but you will miss the fantastic scenery at Paul do Mar.
Tour 2
Sea and mountains
- 80 kilometres
- 2600 metres altitude
- max. 20 % gradient
The route begins with a descent to Praia da Calheta, from where it leads between banana groves on the old, barely used coastal road to Ribeira Brava - and gains around 1000 metres in altitude. This is followed by a moderate ascent to Serra de Agua before a steep climb up to Boca da Encumeada (1007 m).
The route continues through the fairytale forest of Rabacal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, then over a somewhat bumpy descent down to the south coast and through scattered settlements on the hillside back to Estreito da Calheta. (The route from the Encumeada Pass up to Paul da Serra was closed for a long time, but according to the Madeira tourist office, it should be open again from the end of 2015).
Tour 3
Crass coast
- 63 kilometres
- 2500 metres altitude
- max. 17 % gradient
There are probably only a handful of coastal roads as breathtaking as the one in the north of Madeira in the whole world. If you were to stop at every viewpoint (miradouro) high above the roaring Atlantic, it would take forever. On the other hand, any opportunity to catch your breath should be welcome, as cyclists rarely find such a strenuous coastal road. We opted for the section between Sao Vicente and Santana because - unlike the stretch to Porto Moniz - there are hardly any tunnels to pass through.
Tour 4
Through the laurel forest
- 62 kilometres
- 2700 metres altitude
- max. 15 % gradient
From Santana, the coastal road winds its way through steep orchards and vineyards towards Faial. After a few kilometres, you should take a few minutes to enjoy the view of the Penha de Aguia (Eagle Rock), which rises almost 600 metres out of the Atlantic. From Porto da Cruz, the route then climbs through dense laurel forest to the Portela Pass (670 m), then moderately through evergreen farmland before the road climbs steeply once again - up to 1400 metres to the Paso de Poiso. A challenging forest descent is followed by the final climb from Faial to the finish at Santana.
The GPS data for these tours can be downloaded below:
- Tour 1: Paul do Mar and Paul do Serra (75 kilometres, 3000 vertical metres, max. 18 % gradient)
- Tour 2: Sea and mountains (80 kilometres, 2600 vertical metres, max. 20 % gradient)
- Tour 3: Crass coast (63 kilometres, 2500 vertical metres, max. 17 % gradient)
- Tour 4: Through the laurel forest (62 kilometres, 2700 metres in altitude, max. 15 % gradient)
