2023-STAGE 8 | MONCHIQUE - VILAMOURA

This is it... last day! And I am excited/knackered/happy/anxious to be finally at the point where I can not have to keep packing by stuff up every morning, shovel food into my mouth at an all too early breakfast and lubricate my nether regions to prevent me needing a new behind. This is the day when I stop worrying about having to keep enough in reserve for tomorrow. I assemble all my remaining matches and resolve set fire to them all on this last day. I will try join the fast group and hang on as long as I can.

Today is different to the last few days as the wind is not going push us along. It will come from all directions because of the route shape. My Portuguese race buddy Tony helped design the route and he says it is ‘not too tough’. That of course is code for ‘it is a bit tough’  

We set off and I am surprised that my wave stays together for the first 20K. This is great! We cruise along the edge of some drainage ditches where there is no possibility to overtake and if you miss a turn or have a lapse in concentration, you will drop 3 feet into a concrete lined stream. Definitely a hospital pass if that happens. We all make it out OK and then we hit the narrow trails in the hills and the group starts to splinter. I do my best to hang on and that lasts about 30 minutes but the front group are just too strong.

I let them go but continue to push hard and soon I drop the group I am in and am solo again, Seems to be the story of the week for me. No audiobook today, just sweat and heavy breathing. I am going well and none of the usual suspects overtake. I catch most of the previous wave starters so I feel more confident and continue to push. The legs are good on every hill. 

The route is excellent and winds though little hills and valleys through the parched Algarve countryside. We wind our way around some almost empty reservoirs. It is only May and the place is dry as a bone. I can’t imagine how this place will survive a long hot summer. 

The route has a lively surprise for us with some fast flowing single-track alongside a dry river.  If you get stuck behind as slower rider here, you are going to stay there as there is no possibility of passing. Eventually it ends, I climb out of the valley and then straight downhill again for a second dose of single-track. I am having a ball on my own belting along at my own pace.  

I see smoke in the distance and figure there must be a fire somewhere. Ten minutes later, I pass a field by the track in flames and come face to face with an enormous fire truck with a team of firefighters trying to douse the flames. There is a helicopter in the air waterbombing. This place is a tinderbox just waiting for a spark to set it off. I wonder if they will have to stop the race if fire blocks the route.

On the outskirts of Villamoura, I finally see the sea and let out a woop! You can smell it. It’s all but done with a final 10k push. The organisers have one last surprise for us. We hit the coast about 3k from the line and we are forced to ride along the top of the sandy clifftops. The soft sand is a bugger to pedal through but the views and sea breeze make it all worthwhile.

I roll into the finish strait side-by-side with a Norwegian guy that I have been duelling with for the last 10K. The racing is done for us so we don't sprint. Someone pops a finishers medal around my neck, the race groupies (read family members and staff) whoop it up a bit and I get off the bike for the last time. I head for the bar and rehydrate on Sangria and boy does it taste good!

Al is still on the course as he starts after me each morning so I go back to cheer him over the line. It doesn't take long and we join for the finish pics. All being the usual shy wallflower that he is, channels his inner Bolt.

2023-STAGE 7 | ALBERNOA - MONCHIQUE

Today I face my demon….at least that’s the way I remember it from last year. This stage for me was the hardest last time round so I am treating it with a lot of respect. It is a long hilly one at 148K and nearly 2200M ascent. It is effectively 2 stages in one with a nice rolling first half through some very pretty farmland and a second half that has all the climbing and heat. I had an awful day last time round and I am determined not to repeat.

I set off as usual at the back of my wave and pretty soon the main group is away over the horizon and out of mind. I get my audiobook on and begin the grind. I resolve to hold back today so I can finish strong tomorrow.  No way in hell I want to repeat last year.

The day starts off pleasantly warm but the mercury keeps ratcheting up throughout the day. The last water stop is at 85K and there is nothing again till the top of the last hill so there is a queue to fill up at the fountain. I’m feeling OK at this point and have some energy but not as much as I would have hoped. By now, the temp is 32C and I am coping OK.

Al comes past at about Kilometre 90 full of beans so I wish him well and send him up the road. He has a different plan to me :-) Later he tells me that he looked round at to the top of the 3rd last climb and could see me on the lower slopes. He is on a mission to gain places today and I hope he doesn’t burn too many matches. The last day is not without its challenges.

I grind out the 3 last climbs and have a mild feeling of euphoria when I crest the last one. I have put last year’s mushroom cloud behind me and can now give the rest of the race all the remaining beans. I blast down the hill for the last 15K and to the finish line, beating last years time by 30 minutes. This is all of course due to the tailwind and lack of punctures :-)

The Stage Video

Some stage stats:

2023-STAGE 6 | ÉVORA - ALBERNOA

Today’s stage is billed as a ‘recovery’ stage. It is only 110km long and is flat and fast. Its weird to say that….when does 110k get to be a ‘short’ MTB ride? It’s a late start for me at 1032am and I take my time over breakfast. As hotel breakfasts go this one is pretty good. The later start also give me time to wake up to get an appetite going.

I wend my way to the bike park and get the beast ready for the day, select the GPS race route, check the bike over and fix the route sticker to the top tube to give me an idea of the course profile and where the water stops are.

Then off to the start and of course it is business as usual with the racing snakes and I let them charge off into the distance. With a big stage tomorrow(146k and 200M climbing) which caught me out last year, I am determined to go easy and save my strength. It’s a warm day with a tailwind so its not hard to keep a good tempo without working too hard. I am on my own for most of the day again except for a spell with ‘Big John’ from SA who is quite difficult for me to ride with as he doesn’t keep an even pace. Racing down the hills to get a run at the next uphill and then slowing down. He eventually gets lost in a town and I confess I am OK with that as I can concentrate on my own thing.

At 77K I catch up with one of the racing snakes who has blown. We know each other and I invite him to take a tow till he recovers. We stop in a town for a restorative coke and to fill up with water and who should appear but Al on the back of a train. I quickly load my backpack and chase after them and try to get a free ride home. It’s only 25k to go so if someone else is going to do the work, I’ll take a freebie :-). 

I suck on my newly filled drinks system after a kilometre but disaster…. nothing doing….not a drop coming through :-( No point in riding on in this heat with a pack full of water but no way to get it out so I drop off the train and fix it. By the time I do so, they are a long way down the road and there is no way to catch up without absolutely flogging myself so I continue at solo pace. It’s an easy fast ride through olive groves and vineyards on ochre clay.

I cruise into the finish having saved as much energy as I could hope for. Al places 26th and I get 28th which is a big surprise to me. I’m not racing for a place but just to finish strong on the last stage. That’s what I keep telling myself anyhow :-)

The stage video

Some stage stats & map

 

2023-STAGE 5 | CASTELO BRANCO - ÉVORA

530am the alarm rings and I crawl out of bed after possibly one of the worst nights sleep I have had in a long time, The AC in the room is pathetic… just like last year. I spend a very sweaty 5 hours trying to get some sleep before the longest day in the saddle for the whole week. I head for breakfast and force myself to eat but it is a real struggle. I feel a little nauseous but continue to shovel it in.

Race start for me is 732am and I line up with the guys and wait for the gun. They charge off in to the early morning sun and I decide the pace is just a bit too hot for me. At Km 3, I see one of the racing snakes thumping his saddle in frustration. His dropper seat post has failed so that is his day done. You cannot ride 196k sitting on a low seat like you were riding a child’s bike.

I pedal on as there is nothing I can do for him. It looks like it is going to be a long day. We have a strong tailwind and the temperature is not expected to go above 28C so that is all great news for me. The weather gods are on my side this week. Riding alone today is not such a big issue as if there had been a headwind. Solo riding into the wind for 200K would be abysmal. I hope to catch a few of the stragglers from my group as I am pretty sure they wont all be able to handle the pace. 

It’s a long day and so I break the ride up in my mind into chunks and give myself a little virtual pat on the back each time I do 50K. About 100K, I hear a voice behind me and it is one of the guys who set off with the racing snakes but couldn’t keep up. He has apparently been chasing me for a couple of K and we decide to ride together. He is a big guy with a big belly and clearly likes his beer and steak….I would have said Rugby rather than Cycling. He rides like monster with not much regard for pacing. Every time somebody faster comes past, he jumps on the back and pedals like a demon until a hill comes and blows up. Eventually, we jump on the back of a fast group and I stay with them but he drops off. I stick with the group for about 30 minutes until I realise that I am probably cooking my legs so I drop off and pootle at my own pace to rest before the next opportunity to get a free ride. 20 minutes later, the Swedish express comes past and I repeat the process. This makes the day go a lot faster (literally too). 

This when I notice the camera is gone, At dinner that night, another rider tells me they saw it splattered on the road, obviously run over by a car :-( My camera is roadkill…sadly there wont be any more pictures from the road. RIP Insta360 GO, you were a great little gadget.  This is now obviously an upgrade opportunity. ;-)

I close on the finish line feeling good. It’s been a good day at the office and I finish the course about 1 hour faster than last year, all courtesy of the tailwind. I place 25th on the day and Al comes in in 67th.  The leader (in yellow-right)  broke the course record by nearly an hour!

The stage video:

Some stage stats:

2023-STAGE 4 | PENHAS DA SAÚDE - CASTELO BRANCO

A short 85k dash to the next stopover is the plan. I get signed in and get my GPS tracker and get ready for the green light. We say goodbye to the Ski station and head downhill for about 20 kilometres. Is is fast and furious and not a little dusty. My descending is improving as I seem to be doing a crash course (no pun intended) over the past 3 days. My confidence is coming back after an enforced layoff since the accident in February.

I am seeing quite a few more people today, probably because it is such a short fast stage and the starting intervals for the different waves are relatively small. It is great to have company on a beautiful day like this, There are South Africans all over the place and I hear many enquiries about how Ireland will fare in this years' world cup. 

We have a nice little distracting yak to avoid talking about upcoming hill and roman cobble descent and just then the race leaders yellow jersey blasts by jumping all over the bike and tearing up the hill. He is going 50% faster than us. Some people make this look too easy.

Then my troubles (or excuses if I'm being truthful) start. My GPS goes on the blink at a junction and says I am about 100M off the track to the right and stops updating. This is a problem as this a GPS guided race. There are no track markers and you need to have a complete GPS track for your day. I consider restarting the device but then I might not have the track to prove I did the first half. Bugger. I decide to carry on following some guys and hope it sorts itself out which it does in about 5 minutes. 

Then my gear shifting starts to play up and I stop to adjust.....and suddenly Al is there. He has caught and now passed me! I think he must be giving it some gas today because I know I am riding at the pace I set last year, 'Maith an Fear!'....as the say in Gaelic. I tell him to keep going and I will handle my gear problem and I do, but it keeps on happening and I keep on stopping to free it up.  I lose contact with the group I was riding in and am on my own again. The dust is buggering up my gears so I need to get the parts changed at the end of the stage.

I make a schoolboy error by not topping up my drink supply at the last water stop at 50k and it catches me out. I go dry at 75k and have to soften the pace a little for the last bit. By stage end, my mouth is like the Sahara.  

All in all, a great day for Al and not actually too bad for me. I lose a couple of place in the GC and Al gains 4. Everyone is now focused on the 'Big One' tomorrow. 196k  is apparently the longest single day in a multi-day stage mountain bike race.

The stage video

2023-STAGE 3 | FORNOS DE ALGODRES - PENHAS DA SAÚDE

The start today is different. My whole wave starts and rides together for the first 5k. The reason is obvious of course, its all downhill on mostly paved road so everyone can keep up. This is billed as the hardest stage as there are 2 long climbs over 1000m each and in places steep. Most people I talk to are worried about this one. The cut off is set at 6 hours and 30 minutes. 

The the fun starts. We start climbing the mountain we have been looking at since yesterday evening, After a hard day in the office yesterday, my legs are taking their time to wake up so I cruise along at a steady pace and wait for the muscles to switch on. This takes ages and I begin to suspect I might have tried too hard on the first 2 days. Too late to do anything about it now. 

I join a small group made up of 2 South Africans and Frenchman and we roll along together for a few kilometres. Then I see that 2 of them struggle to navigate and keep making wrong turns so it ends up being just 2 of us. That's the trouble with this race, you have to keep looking at the GPS and some of the directions are downright sneaky, It doesn't help that the map in the GPS is out of date and there are many more tracks on the ground than are marked on the map. Less haste, more speed is my mantra at junctions.

We grind our way to the top of the first mountain which takes almost 3 hours. This is a hill that keeps on giving. There is a section of Roman Cobbles which are essentially boulders laid in the ground which are just brutal to ride up. Most people resort to walking this section as it is quicker and gets the weight off your bum which is a welcome relief.

Over the top is when the course for today joins back on the track of last years route and it is a fast rubbly descent that goes on for ages. At least 10 riders overtake me on the descent. They are flying but I don't dare try to keep up. I cant afford to crash again so I tell myself that I might catch them on the next climb. Fat chance....I'm on my own again.

A quick pitstop at a fountain at the bottom of the last climb to reload my drink system on onto the last grind of the day. I throttle back and tell myself to conserve energy for the rest of the week and just keep pedalling. I clear the forest on the lower slopes and then the track opens out to reveal the mountainside has been burned black since last year. All the trees and bushes on this side of the valley have been turned to cinders and charcoal. Must have been an inferno up here.

Eventually, I reach the plateau at the top where I have a palpable sense of relief at making it, legs are tired but OK, my back is aching but not terminal and I feel that I have got over the first major obstacle in this race. Only one more (relatively) easy day and we will be half way....but best not count those chickens yet.

I finish the stage in 40th place and Al in 49th. My conservative approach to the day (and my crappy descending) loses me 2 places overall so now I am in 31st. Al retains his position but seems determined to move up the rankings. 

The Stage Video:

The Route & Stats.

2023-STAGE 2 | PESO DA RÉGUA - FORNOS DE ALGODRES

Today is new to Al and I both. This stage route is not the same as last year and by all accounts it is a little harder. Its a little shorter but with a lot more climbing. In fact, it is pretty much all up and down starting from the gun. We climb out of the Douro valley through the vineyards and see the valley from above. It is magnificent and I take the time to get the camera out to grab a few snaps.

But it is relentless....so I throttle back and stick to my plan to grind it out without burning any matches. The group goes away from me....but not very far. I can see them most of the time. I even catch some of the guys who strtted out a bit too quickly and cannot hang on at the pace of the leaders. After an hour, I have gone precisely 10 Km. After 3 hours 30 Km....this is hard going. The views are jaw dropping.

I keep passing and then being passed by the usual suspects who either miss turns and have to come back or climb slower and decend faster than me. Some of these guys can really handle a bike downhill and I am not in the same league. I am also also a little nervous about dumping the bike and ending up with more broken bones so I take it easy and tell myself that I am sticking to my game plan and will eventually catch them at the end of the week. 

You know you are on top of something when you go past a forest of wind turbines. 

The route is probably the best one day mountain bike track I have ever ridden.  

We climb from one valley to the next and each one is different.  I never knew Portugal was this beautiful.  Terraced vineyards, terraces, pine forests, weird rounded rocks, crusty stone villages, ancient stone bridges and roman cobbles. 

At the end, I am feeling pretty good given how hard the day was and I think I have preserved a good deal of my strength for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Time will tell. I finish the stage in 32nd place and Al in 47th and we both move up the overall rankings slightly.