July 2, 2025
Day 9: Beja to Alcoutim
Road closed!
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Route data and details. Please note that I only rode 92km not 102, I will correct this when I get home but I’ve met haven’t managed to combine two different tracks that I made and can’t get it to work properly. Due to the road closure we had to divert by a van a few kilometres.
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/303110284
Another 5 am alarm call, but again I woke up early several times so I was up about 0445. I had bought some snacks for breakfast but struggled to get those down. I really wasn’t hungry but I knew I needed to eat.
We managed to depart on the dot of six pretty much straight onto a 11km stretch of major road, sometimes dual carriageway, but with a very wide shoulder and zero traffic. We then pulled off onto a service road alongside and rejoined where would’ve taken the original route which saved us about 9km on the 100km we were meant to be doing originally. Due to the heat, the route was changed to try and keep the time down.
There were no significantly difficult climbs today, certainly none that I had to walk up, but there was plenty of overall ascending, just long slow drags. We stopped after about 25km for coffee because we were all missing our morning coffee. Six coffees in a Portuguese petrol station freshly made totals €6!
Shortly after this we turned off to the right and had about 25 or 30km of stunningly beautiful Portuguese countryside, very dried out but looking somewhat like cowboy films from when I was a child or Scottish Highlands depending on the view! Scottish Highlands are rarely that dry though.
Back on the regional road at the 67km point we stopped at the café that I recognise my last visit here about 20 years ago when I cycled in the opposite direction. More snacks and drinks, the we got a message from a few kilometres ahead. There was a road closure and after a wait about half an hour to get clarification that we could not actually get through we decided that we would have to shuttle people on a diversion route that instead of taking 25km to the finish point will take 42km. Steve put five of us in the van and car and took us to the 20 or kilometres that would still give us 25km to finish on a different route. The rest of people who did not get a lift all decided to do the full 42km. So their total for the day was 112km, which is a lot to do before lunch when it’s 38° at lunchtime!
We had been promised the last 10km downhill into our destination, which was a slight exaggeration but certainly the last 5km and were down a beautiful sweeping mountain road with massive bends.
The hotel is a tiny notch down in terms of quality with some of the other ones who stayed up but still very good with a beautiful pool overlooking the river which faces onto Spain a few hundred metres away. We spent the afternoon sitting by the pool reading and a few people did the zip wire which goes from Spain back into Portugal, making it the only one that goes back in time due to the time difference. We all went for a team meal in town together which was lovely although very hot eventually.
Tomorrow is our last day of cycling, slightly short only 60km, but it is still 60km of slightly hilly terrain and it will still be quite warm in the mid to high 30s. But we feel we’ve got enough time to leave a little bit later and get a proper breakfast in the restaurant here.
Today's ride: 92 km (57 miles)
Total: 619 km (384 miles)
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