Rui Fernando Coelho is the personification of slowness on a bike. Seen from a distance, he doesn't seem to move. Perhaps this is a question of his age? Above all, it is probably a question of the material and the load of arm-length pieces of cork oak bark. "Adeus, Rui! Take care - we let our legs circle faster again, quickly picking up speed in this vast landscape of archaic beauty, which is also known as the "terra do pão", the land of bread, because of its endless fields of oats and wheat.
Cycling in the Alentejo can be like surfing: You have to take the waves the right way, with enough momentum to glide over them at a steady pace. One wave and then another until you become one with the landscape, whose meadows blossom in white, yellow and purple in spring. Gorse colours the edges of the roads yellow, with the rich pink of the Judas trees glowing in between. The plains are dotted with olive trees, holm oaks and cork oaks, the only shade for the sheep and black pigs, whose meat is used to prepare Portugal's most famous dish: "Lombo de Porco à Alentejo".
You can find these tours in the PDF download:
Route 1: The road of wine
(122 kilometres, 1,040 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of nine percent)
Évora - Foros do Freixo - Redondo - Aldeia da Serra - Estremoz - Évora-Monte - Azaruja - Igrejinha - Évora
Route 2: Wave ride through farmland
(92 kilometres, 576 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of five percent, twelve percent to the viewpoint in São Bartolomeu)
Évora - Torre de Coelheiros - São Bartolomeu do Outeiro - Viana do Alentejo - Estação de Alcáçovas - Évora
Route 3: Hard at the limit
(94 kilometres, 1,723 metres in altitude, maximum gradient 15 percent)
Portalegre - Reguengo - Alegrete - Rabaça - São Julião - Portagem - Marvão - Barretas - Castelo de Vide - Carreiras - Portalegre
Route 4: Cool off in the reservoir
(81 kilometres, 853 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of seven percent)
Portalegre - Fortios - Alagoa - Castelo Verde - Barragem do Póvoa - Castelo de Vide - Alvarroes - Portalegre
Downloads:
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