OCTOBER RIDE.

ASB GROUP RIDE and LUNCH
Tuesday October 29th
Meet at

BP Service Station, Exit 11 on A22 (Boliqueime)

From A22 Exit at Junction 11.

See NEXT EVENT page for more info.

  GRAVEL ROADS RIDE EVENTS      

see the Gravel Roads page

Algarve Senior Bikers Defy Hot Alentejo
Bike and Beach Summer Tour, August 2024

 Four bike and beach lovers in Portinho da Arrábida:     The beautiful praia fluvial at the Sorraia river    (from left to right).Walter, Thomas, Carina, Peter                       Photos by Walter Kollert

Riding a motorbike with protective gear in the Alentejo summer heat, with temperatures
reaching 40 degrees Celsius, takes some stamina! The best way to overcome this challenge
was to combine motorcycling with a cooling dip in the Atlantic and some of the scenic river
beaches inland.
The bike and beach summer tour of the Alentejo started with four ASB members meeting in
Cercal and travelling via Santiago do Cacém to the famous Comporta beach to cool off from the
afternoon heat. Continuing north, we took the ferry across the mouth of the River Sado to
Setúbal. The next day, we paid an early morning visit to the rich Mercado do Livramento, which
sells every vegetable, fruit, fish and seafood imaginable. Still in the cool, misty morning we
drove through the winding roads of the beautiful Arrábida National Park, where we had
magnificent views of Lisbon to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.
After a slow, relaxing drive through montado forests, we took time to visit the Fluviário de
Mora aquarium and take a relaxing dip in the Sorraia River. We stayed overnight in the pretty
town of Arraiolos, famous for its handmade woolen carpets, and enjoyed local delicacies at the
excellent O Alpendre restaurant.
The next morning we visited the Italian Renaissance fortress of Evoramonte, a little reminiscent
of Frederick II's Castel del Monte in Apulia. It is a unique military building in Portugal, built in
the 16th century, with a square ground plan, with mighty towers at the four corners, decorated
with Manueline-style ornamental elements modelled on ropes.
After this cultural excursion, we drove along some beautiful country roads through olive groves
to Lake Alqueva, where we had another swim at the clean river beach of Azenhas d'El Rei, on
the border with Spain. The weather got even hotter as we left the lake for the romantic village
of Monsaraz, where there were fewer visitors than expected. From Monsaraz we went on to
see the impressive concrete dam that impounds the Guadiana River, creating the largest
artificial lake in Europe. We spent the last night in Moura before heading to the praia fluvial
Minas de São Domingos the next day, where we had another swim in the crystal clear waters
and completed our tour of around 900km through this beautiful region of Portugal.

Walter Kollert ASB Tour organiser.