Portugal Spring 2014 - Not for the faint-hearted...

[Pumpy]

You may remember my last Portugal report in which I strongly advised all trail riders against visiting the country.

Well, I believe that everyone and everything deserves a second chance and so, at the end of April, we headed towards the South-Western part of Europe again.

This time we were eight (at least to start with...):

RickA and Timpo, the usual suspects that you find on almost every Portugal trip

Riding an X-Challenge and a 690 respectively

Recidivist Possu

On his 690

Almost local boy Euskalherria

On his mighty 990R

Portugal newcomer Owdknacker

Floating on his 400EXC

VTwins4me

Riding (ahem...) his 950SE

Tim from Guernsey

On his XTZ660

And your reporter with her CRF230F

This will be a tale of -

An amazing choice of the most diverse trails wherever you look

Great teamwork

Scary hill climbs

Slippery slopes

Deep river crossings

Dodgy river crossings

Near misses

Hard work

One incredibly lucky bastard

Brief nudity, which some viewers may find upsetting

Picturesque countryside

Enchanted places

Fantastic views

History

and Prehistory

Some impressive engineering

Of course, fabulous food

Superb accommodation

Exciting nightlife

The wonderful local people we had the privilege to meet

... and brilliant camaraderie

I hope you are looking forward to the next episode now...

 

[Pumpy]

The plan for this year's adventure was already hatched during the last October trip: Timpo and I discussed possible dates and I, completely smitten with Portugal, went off on a mission to gather my own Dirty Girls group for the next tour of the country.

Well, although all the ladies I asked were really interested, they couldn't make it in the end for a variety of reasons: Sarah Teach and Dr JM injured themselves, Danielle&Janice rather greeced their own, Welshbird became Romaniac, Pix preferred to jet around the globe, Laouen had some minor conference to attend, Karin didn't think her husband would be too happy if she went off into the wilderness with us - that's to name just a few. Others didn't even bother to get back to me. Hey-ho, maybe another time. I don't really mind being the only female...

To make keeping up with the boys a bit easier for me, I thought I'd take my little CRF230F this time rather than the still pretty lardy DRZ - and my wonderful personal mechanic promised me a home-made luggage rack for Christmas.

It all started with the (already very sophisticated) subframe extension

... and some scruffy BMW pannier frames from eBay

After hours of heavy welding...

... and hard work...

... my bike had the most beautiful luggage rails in the world!

Preparations also included a meticulous inspection of my wheel bearings (ahem...) and all other consumables to avoid the recurrence of any embarrassing incidents that you may remember from the previous trip...

On the last Saturday of April we loaded the van and went to pick up VTwins4me

His SE and belongings were carefully squeezed between Possu's 690 and my CRF, all our equipment and the kitchen sink...

Men have their uses, it's hard to deny!

And then we headed to the south coast to board the Norman Asturias, a budget ferry run by LD Lines, which fitted perfectly with our holiday schedule and was initially around £300 cheaper than Brittany Ferries.

Well, the journey out of Poole harbour was very pleasant...

The famous chain ferry running between Sandbanks and Studland...

... connecting Bournemouth and Poole with Swanage and the Isle of Purbeck and thereby saving a 25-mile road trip

The British coast is just lovely - we should go there more often!

Old Harry Rocks

And that was the end of the niceties - the remaining 28 hours of the crossing turned into a journey from hell with the roughest seas I have ever experienced! I'm prone to motion sickness and, in preparation of my next South America trip which will be mainly spent in wobbly mini-buses meandering over the Andes, I had developed an elaborate three-stage plan to tackle the waves: 1) a roll-on stick based on essential oils, 2) wrist bands working on the acupressure principle, and 3) the pills I'd bought last year in Santander before boarding the ferry...

Remedies 1 & 2 failed miserably and in the end it was too late for the medication to take effect - after turning alarmingly green, crouching in the lounge chair and having to use the abundant paper bags constantly replenished by the ship's crew, Possu managed to drag me back to our cabin, where I spent the rest of the passage in bed feeling sorry for myself and feeding the fish (a German euphemism...).

We docked in Santander at 22.00 hrs, three hours later than originally planned and completely knackered. Steve saved the night by vigorously driving the 280 miles to Bragança without a single tinkle stop. At 2.00 in the morning we arrived at the Cepo Verde camp-site - the gate had been left unlocked for us, Tim and Iker had secured two of the lovely cabins and a few beers for those who needed it.

Phew - finally! We had reached the promised land, it didn't rain and tomorrow would be a fantastic day!

Or wouldn't it?

To be continued...

 

[RJC]

So you also like the north side

 

[Timpo]

So you also like the north side

In a word, yes!
The northern regions are un-tapped. the quality of tracks suits those who like technical riding, so slower bikes with tricky trails. The south (Alentejo) is faster, with prairy type tracks and sand, so suits faster bikes.
I have taken to the north, the people, the food, the wine (Douro) and it is so easy to get there from UK, under 30 hours if you use Plymouth to Santander crossings by Brittany Ferries.
I could live there, and maybe one day I will.......!
T.

 

[Hustler]

Excellent introductions and even pictures, and names, of the team which always helps to follow the story as it unfolds.

And if you ever find your luggage rack for your CRF surplus to requirements then please, please let me know.

Thanks very much, on with the report.

 

[Possu]

Despite a series of traumatic events that will come to light later, I had a great time, thanks to Timpo and Pumpy for organising it. Also thanks to to the rest of the group even though I didn't get to ride with some of you very much.

Anyway, I didn't take many photos but did take a fair bit video, probably enough for 5 video clips, the first of which is below, those of you lacking taste in music may wish to turn the sound down if you can't appreciate Hank Williams.....

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mtMD_pjIIeE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As others have said, the ferry crossing was a nightmare. I'd been forced to eat Rick's dinner as he couldn't face it, only to see it all again within an hour or so.. Once docked in Santander, a quick four drive to Cepo Verde saw us arrive in the early hours, thanks to Tim & Iker for ensuring the gates remained open.

A few hours later and we'd finished breakfast and were unloading the vans and getting ready for 6 days of riding. We fueled up in Braganca and hit the trails, with Timpo in the lead but it wasn't long before we were split up, with me tail-ending Tim. We found ourselves alone in a small depression (literally for Tim) with his Yamaha's clutch slipping badly after climbing a steep overgrown hill. Having freewheeled back down again and with hills on three sides and a river in the only other direction and no other way out, I walked across the river to find a way to access the road we could see. Once the escape route was agreed on, we got both bikes across and I followed Tim as he nursed the 660 back to Cepo Verde.

Once there, I left him to meet up with the others in Chaves, about 90-100km away, taking the fabulously twisty N103. I soon learnt a valuable lesson - don't f@ck about with your GPS whilst riding - I looked up to find, to my great surprise & horror, that the tarmac went left and I'd carried straight on at 40mph in to a gravel and grass verge that ended with a 10ft drop in to an olive grove! The bike slid away from beneath me but I hung on to the 'bars and dug my knees and boot tips in to the ground to act as anchors, there was no way the bike or myself were going over the edge. Fortunately I managed to stop with about a metre to go. Once I dusted myself down and had a word with myself, I carried on, paying a bit more attention to where I was going than the GPS this time.

Faint scrapes in the gravel left by the l/h handguard and my boots:

Bit close for comfort:

Excuse the crappy images from my phone.

To be continued....

 

[RJC]

In a word, yes!
The northern regions are un-tapped. the quality of tracks suits those who like technical riding, so slower bikes with tricky trails. The south (Alentejo) is faster, with prairy type tracks and sand, so suits faster bikes.
I have taken to the north, the people, the food, the wine (Douro) and it is so easy to get there from UK, under 30 hours if you use Plymouth to Santander crossings by Brittany Ferries.
I could live there, and maybe one day I will.......!
T.

The north is for enduro the south is for baja!

You already know more of road tracks that me, and I live here.

But I must confess never like off road on bikes!

 

[Timpo]

You already know more of road tracks that me, and I live here.

Many a Welshman has said that to me too.....
I have had help from Paulo Rodrigues (Braga), Ramiro Martins (Porto) and Luis Lourenco (Carcavelos, Lisboa), all members of ther Nomads Trail Club Portugal.

 

[Fanum]

This is what a ride report SHOULD be like

tuned in for more

 

[RJC]

Many a Welshman has said that to me too.....
I have had help from Paulo Rodrigues (Braga), Ramiro Martins (Porto) and Luis Lourenco (Carcavelos, Lisboa), all members of ther Nomads Trail Club Portugal.

Ok now I understand

You're close to me, I can see in the pics, Viana do Castelo, Valença, Caminha, Gerês!

Next time pass by Barcelos!

 

[Pumpy]

And if you ever find your luggage rack for your CRF surplus to requirements then please, please let me know.

Ok, Hustler, I've made a note - you are third in line...

Thank you very much for your kind feedback!

 

[Pumpy]

I can see in the pics, Viana do Castelo, Valença, Caminha, Gerês!

Well spotted, RJC - full points!

But I must confess never like off road on bikes!

Why not?

 

[Pumpy]

This is what a ride report SHOULD be like

Thanks, Bill, that means a lot to me...

 

[RJC]

Well spotted, RJC - full points!



Why not?

Only do it once, in a CRF 450 in that evening think a fall about 15 times, so I decide put a end on my career

 

[MiGSel]

Looking great, more more

 

[Possu]

I reached Chaves ahead of the others and promptly arranged rooms for the evening @ 30 Euros per room with en-suite & breakfast included. I'm then joined by Tim in his Jeep. He's about to start his second beer when we're rudely interrupted by a call from Lenny & Timpo telling us that Lenny's 400EXC has died and it's been towed to a small town about 15km north of us. We jump in to Tim's Jeep to collect Len, leaving the bike chained up in a fuel station overnight.

Once back in Chaves with a weary Len, we met up with the others and find that Rob's damaged his left knee when the lardy 950SE slipped after exiting a river crossing.

We settled in to our rooms before heading across the road to the Copacabana restaurant where we all order the recommended dish - basically a large platter pf sauteed potatoes and 7 steaks - for two to share! Prior to this we're given plenty of salad and local bread as a starter. The food was excellent and including a few desserts, several soft drinks and 3-4 bottles of wine and several beers, the bill came to a ridiculous 15 Euros each, I think we'd have paid double that in the UK for the quantity and quality of food we'd all enjoyed.

Tuesday morning saw Rob stick to the road and Tim give Lenny a lift to his bike to see if it could be resuscitated whilst the remaining five of us headed on to the trails with the aim of reaching Gerês that evening, a small picturesque village next to some lakes. Unfortunately my 690 conked out on me whilst tail ending Ela. On checking the plug I could see a decent spark, same symptom I'd had two weeks prior to the trip. The only option was for Ela to tow me on the 690 with her CRF230F to a bike dealer in Chaves, something she was dubious about as she'd never towed or been towed on a bike before. Using a combination of various straps from my front Kriega loop to the extended CRF subframe, both she and the CRF did an excellent job of towing me 18km to Trasmotos (http://www.trasmotos.com/) on the outskirts of Chaves. They displayed a prominent KTM sign so I hoped a quick diagnostic check would highlight the problem, alas they did not possess such equipment so I explained the problem via Ela's Spanish / Portuguese (Spanuguese?) only to find the bike fire up as soon as I tried. Talking to the shop owner, I soon realised it was a fuel starvation problem caused by me having rerouted the fuel pipes after fitting a Tractive shock from Rally Raid just before the trip. Despite missing out on most of that day's trails, I was glad we'd found the problem and the towing experience had been good for Ela.

We met up with everyone as planned in Gerês with the exception of Len, who having failed to breathe life in to his EXC, had recovered it back to Cepo Verde with the assistance of Tim, his Jeep and his trailer. Len then decided that he'd stay at the campsite furiously whittling away bits of wood in the production of Gandalf-like staffs and clothes pegs, some of which apparently ended up on sale in the campsite shop, I believe that this was Len's way of getting in touch with his "inner Gypsy" although our main concern was that on our return, he'd want to sell us some lace and read our palms for an exorbitant fee or, deciding that cash was needed to fund the repair of the KTM, start taking lead off the local church roof and stashing it in Rick's van in his absence.

With no photos to post, here's the second video of the Portuguese trails:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/F1wYct7G8ow" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Pumpy]

As always, I'm a bit behind with my report...

Monday morning dawned sunny and warm, the birds were singing outside the cabin (some since 4:30...

), and we, refreshed and in high spirits, started to get the bikes ready for the trails

Breakfast was served at 9:00 and looked even better than on the advert

The real thing

Raring to go

We said "Até logo" to our hostess, camp site manager Susana...

... and were off into the wilderness - where we soon reached the first river crossing of the day

Fording is slightly easier when you have long legs, so Tim was not too bothered by the challenge

Timpo was over in no time and Rick followed without hesitation

Lenny

Possu, gentlemanly riding my CRF across

Keep going, please, keep going...

No problem with so much expert guidance...

Then it was Iker's turn

Who thought he'd explore a different route (there is always one...

)

Mmm, that's deeper than I expected...

A bit to the right...

Lean over...

Maybe not that far!

Again, why you shouldn't go trail riding by yourself

If in doubt, give it some throttle

Even with soaked trousers, Steve and Timpo cut a fine figure...

And that was the last I saw of my Possu for the next eight hours!

To be continued...

 

[(RIP) andrewgsadv]

Looking forward to your next instalment Pumpy. Enjoyed your last trip so subscribed to this one. Oh to be trail riding again. Them were the days.

 

[Possu]

We spent the evening of Tuesday 29th at O Chana, a lakeside hotel with large bunk type rooms and an excellent restaurant where I later found myself eating casserole of Chicken Gizzards, which was very tasty. In my eagerness to stuff my face, I managed to spill a load of sauce down my fleece:

Hence this pic of the owners wife cleaning me up:

The gizzards were followed by excellent pizzas in addition to the usual bread and salad. During the course of the evening we were honoured by a flying visit by none other than Chris Bright, Timpo's better looking twin brother:

The following morning saw us meet up at a local cafe as the O Chana didn't serve breakfast:

Within a few minutes of finishing breakfast and hitting the trails, we found ourselves on an incredibly slippery uphill, rocky trail almost in the town centre. I struggled and had to rely on Uncle Rick's muscle power and a short tow rope to get to the top.

With Tim heading south to Jerez to watch MotoGP, Rob sticking to tarmac, Len whittling away back at Cepo Verde and Iker also staying on the road that day due to an existing ailment, that left Timpo, Rick, Ela and myself on the trails where we had an excellent time riding awesome trails ranging from boulders to gravel and hard packed dirt with everything in between.

Here's the third video of the week's riding:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BdlR5r2ABtg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

One of the highlights was crossing a small concrete dam, shallow to the left but covered in water and up to 2m deep to the right. The hard part was getting the bikes and luggage past a post and around the 90 degree bend and on to the dam itself as shown in video 1.

As the afternoon progressed, the mist and drizzle came on, Ela had decided to stick to tarmac and set a route to Melgaco, that evenings destination, on her GPS. Due to her not checking the parameter settings, she soon found herself back on the trails with the rest of us and faced with a 10 mile trail consisting mainly of large, loose rocks, uphill a lot of the way and with a fairly long and steep drop to the left with nothing but a protective Gorse bush as a barrier. At one point the CRF nearly went over the edge and whilst trying to recover the bike, the previously mentioned loose rocks gave way beneath me and down I went, saved by the Gorse to ride another day:

As we entered Melgaco we received a text telling us the chosen hotel was full and that Rob & Iker were a couple of km away in Peso. A pleasant evening looked to be in front of us but this was ruined by the appearance of two dodgy looking Portuguese guys but more about that later.

 

[RJC]

Guys, next time let me know u r here, thers a place next that we can have a great "champarriao" and a few tipical snacks