A ride from Arcos de Valdevez to Sistelo by the beautiful Ecovia de Vez, with return by the main (tared) road. If you are planning to repeat this ride, please note that, while bikes allowed in all Ecovia, some segments are walking only and non-ridable at all. It is possible to make it with a bike (I did it :-) ), but sometimes you have to push the bike by hand and some sections are definitively not easy. Up to Km 13.7 (please note that I use as reference for distances my own ride, so please check it to understand the location), the Ecovia is mainly smooth and ridable, either in the wooden walkways or in the trail, with a few exceptions where some stones or roots imply some attention and, in a few cases, to take the bike by hand. At Km 13.7, you may notice a steep ascent. In fact, it is not a simple ascent, but a steep and reasonably high staircase where you have to carry the bike in full weight (check photos of the stairs at this location of the ride. See also note 1 at the end of this description regarding a possible way to avoid the stairs). After these stairs, you have a small section of tared road (which starts again with a steep ascent), which returns to the trail at Km 15.4. From here to the beginning of the Sistelo circular walkway (which starts at Km 19.7), the trail has several sections which are non-ridable (due to roots, stones, or steep ascents) and where full attention is required. The short section of 600m between Km 19.7 and the stone bridge at Km 20.3, while mostly composed of wooden walkways, is often too steep to ride. The last 300m after the bridge is an even more steep ascent to Sistelo center by a narrow street with an old and quite irregular stone pavement that, again, is impossible to ride. These final 300m, where you have to push the bike by hand, are quite challenging (don’t be fooled by the idea that they are “just” 300m :-), check the photo at Km 20.5). I would say that a better option is to cross the river at Km 19.7 and go by the main road to Sistelo. Or, still better, just lock the bike somewhere near Km 19.7, walk the circular path from there to Sistelo and return by the main road to grab the bike on return. The return to Arcos, by the always descending main road, is a pleasant and easy ride. Only on return you fully understand how much climbing was required to reach Sistelo… Another option is to follow this path on the opposite direction: go to the center of Sistelo by the main road and return by the Ecovia. I preferred to start hard in the morning and have the easy ride on the return, but you may choose the other way around… Note: in order to avoid the stairs at Km 13.7, you may possibly try to leave the Ecovia trail at Km 13.2 near Bispeira (sattellite images suggest that this is possible) and switch to the tar road before the stairs.