We were up early and had a bike running time of 08.00am, we left a pretty chilly morning and cloudless sky in the Algarve. We wound our way back on some of the fastest sweeping roads we have ever seen as we made our way toward the Alentejo region. We took an early sign post towards Beja that took us onto a brilliant road with bend after bend, this truly was a wonderful day whilst scrubbing right over to the edge of our tyres. There is no match in the UK to liken this experience. 

Our first fuel stop came and went and we were soon into another section of corners. Bends you can only dream of, as we worked our way further north through Evora and then up to Estremoz for lunch. Having found the square where we had been before we looked up the little snack bar where we all had a fine lunch. Another bargain, how the hell do they make any money? Not our problem as we did a runner after leaving 30 euros in case they made a mistake. But of course they hadn’t, this is how inexpensive inland Portugal is.

Running out of fuel

Off again and this time we found the rugged terrain of Nisa, the giant boulders just looked like they had been placed there by giants, how on earth could these be here like this? It is amazing what views you actually see when you are travelling inland on roads where tourists don’t usually see. Not too long before Nisa, we encountered our first problem finding fuel. After coming across a small village where the fuel station had long closed down forever, we had to travel another 12 kms to the next town. This proved too much for the R6 and it finally came to rest 2 miles short of the next garage. 

I set off to find the garage and unlike the UK they don’t care what you put fuel in, I emptied my 1 litre water bottle and filled it up with petrol to take back to the group. It wasn’t long before the fault of no fuel was rectified and we were all back at the same garage with full tanks again.

After a short break we were off again and this time found a motorway heading north to give us the final run into Guarda. This is so that we had an early finish and time to enjoy some down time after a long day in the saddle. The bar in the hotel was open and we enjoyed the relaxing evening that ensued, partaking in an evening meal at the same restaurant as we used on the way down. 

We all enjoyed our final evening over a glass or two of vinho tinto and retired back to the hotel for a well deserved sleep, ready for another early start in the morning.

About the riding

For the majority of the riding around the Algarve the speed was steady while we were out and about, it was a bit of sightseeing and training but everyone was happy to just enjoy the riding on empty roads.

The ride back was not going to be slow and everyone wanted to get in some extra training at a higher speed on the fast twisty roads. The only person who was worried was Cat as she was not that confident. She had Steve to look after her, so it was decided that she would not be put under any pressure to go in front, instead she could ride at the back and know she wouldn’t be left behind as the other instructor would be looking after her.

A great day’s riding and a good pace was set by each rider, they were certainly improving during this trip. It was nice to see them develop.