I was nervous about today’s ride as there was an unknown element and it was going to require a lot of power due to the climbs I was taking on.
I left town down a fast 3 mile drop into the Coa Valley where I crossed a bridge over the Coa just before it enters the Douro. I was on the N222 which is 222km long and starts in Porto, it ends 10km after the bridge but only after a 1000ft climb up to Almendra, The climb was a steady 5 – 9% and it was enjoyable because it afforded great views up the Douro valley.
After a small town called Onjos the gradient lessened and the road moved away from the Douro but the view got better, looking across vineyards with farms and mills in the undulating fields. At the end of the road there is a signpost where I stopped and took a picture of my bike – this will be repeated when I come back in May to do the full N222 not just the last 10 miles.
The road ends because it turns out of the Douro and meets the N332 from the south. At this point the N321 also intersects, this road is a dead end and goes 8 miles further up the douro where Almendra train station used to be (8 miles out of town !)
This was the road I took as there was a track which I had researched and thought I could get through on a bike, the track ran 4.5 miles after the road ended and connected me to the N221 near barco D’Alva. So I headed off past a sign saying Dead End 10km, the road was awful and it was going back downhill quickly, it reached a bend where it did multiple turns and there was a huge rock quarry I had to get past, this part of the ride looked more like the moon than the beautiful Douro. Once I got past, the road dropped about another 200ft and then turned into a lovely little valley. I thought I spotted an eagle, but then another and another two – they were Black Vultures and a line of them stretching about half a mile passed me, maybes 30 or 40 in. The road ended at Villa Auri which you can rent on Booking.com and it’s in a spectacular bend of the Douro, the view is sensational. But the track was there, it was wide and relatively flat and I only had 4.5 miles to get to Barca D;Alva. The track afforded more fantastic views for 2 more miles before it turned away from the river and uphill, it became gravelly and the gradient hit 20% for a short period – I was pushing by this stage, it settled , I rode a bit, then repeat and after a second steep section I was almost there, before I knew it I was back on tarmac and my gamble had worked.
A fast 2 miles downhill to Barca D’Alva where I stopped for lunch – now this is a really pretty Portuguese village, it’s as far as the cruise barges come uo the river so I guess it gets overrun with tourists in the summer, but toady it was quiet. Theres a pretty bridge across the Douro here but also there used to be a train line and there is an abandoned station, not only that there is anther river, the Aguedo which runs into the Douro. The abandoned train line goes through town and over an abandoned bridge across the Aguedo into Spain on the other side. Yes Barca D’Alva sits on the corner of 2 rivers between Portugal & Spain.
After lunch I had an 11 mile ride on the Portuguese side of the Douro to the Spanish border, which in fact is a huge hydroelectric dam and Saucelle. This was my second worry of the day – I now had a 1600ft climb out of the Douro up the Category 1climb the Salto de Saucelle which has multiple switchbacks and gradients between 7 to 12 %
I didn’t think I would be able to cycle it, especially after the days exertions and carrying the weight of panniers I was, but I managed the first section to the first switchback without knowing this is the steepest bit. I then worked my way up to the top stopping briefly about 3 times – I had ridden all the way up, I was proud of myself. An uneventful 16 mile ride along the plateau to Aldeadavila de la Ribera followed and I was at my hotel bang on 6pm as my schedule had forecast ! Oh and the other worrying thing was I actually lost an hour crossing the border as Spain is an hour ahead of Portugal.