Biking across Portugal

In 2013, Rodrigo thought it would be a great idea to cycle almost 620 miles of the Trans-Amazonian. That’s the road that starts in the north Atlantic coast of Brazil and ends in the interior of the State of Amazonas (3,550 miles in total). He planned everything carefully for a year. It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. But he only thought of warning his mother about it two weeks before leaving. She told him “the worst thing I could hear”: “What do you want me to say?! Are you really going?!”. Yet, off he went. And he hasn’t stopped since then. Once he moved to Portugal, he cycled the whole country several times. And never goes alone, because this is his wonderful business. There are many people who want to get to know Portugal with him. How could they not?

His love for the two wheels comes from childhood. “My father had a connection with cycling. Whenever we traveled, he would always take us on a bike ride. He thought that was a way to bring us into direct contact with the places we went to. I took it more seriously and started going on longer trips with friends, like doing the Trans-Amazon”, which was part of his period as a student at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute. Later, he became an economist.

When he settled in Europe and started a bike tours company, the old expression was confirmed: “If you do what you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life”.

What’s more, like so many Brazilians, his remote roots are here. “Portugal has always represented the emotional memory of my grandparents. They were from Trás-os-Montes, in the north of Portugal, and Lisbon. It’s funny… Just the other day, I was riding the bus with my four-year-old daughter, and a lady picked her up to help her. She had my grandmother’s face! She looked exactly the same!”. Everything then combines perfectly in Rodrigo’s passion for bicycles and for this country.

Should we go along on a ride with Rodrigo? Of course we must.

“Portugal is a beautiful country with lots of possibilities for cycling. I like to connect places. There’s an interesting city here and another one there. How do we find routes that make sense to link these two worlds? Actually, there are lots of cycle paths here. You can practically cycle along the coast from Porto to the Algarve. That’s fascinating.”

“The coast of Portugal is incredible. There’s a route I take that starts is Nazaré and goes all the way to Cascais or Lisbon… You see the full force of the Atlantic hitting the waves, the cliffs, the wineries… It’s very surprising.”

The itineraries Rodrigo organizes are always unexpected combinations. For example, the one from Cascais to Sintra, just a few kilometers from Lisbon. “Cascais is a city that has art galleries, it’s by the sea, it has all that beach life. Then there’s the Sintra mountain, kind of mysterious, mystical. And when you get to Sintra, there’s another bucolic, romantic beauty. Connecting these two worlds by bike is incredible.”

“The Alentejo region is amazing too. Around the city of Évora there’s something very interesting: old train tracks transformed into cycle paths, for about 40 miles. The Costa Vicentina is also very interesting. What’s very important is to understand what the traveler likes. Some want to ride 60 miles in a day. Others prefer shorter routes. Either way, you can organize a great program. Stop at Michelin-rated restaurants or have a picnic. Explore monuments. Stay in a wonderful hotel. The routes are predefined, but we design each trip in a different way.”

But is hard to ride all this? Not at all!

Rodrigo’s fleet consists mainly of electric bikes. That’s what makes the difference. “The electric bike democratizes it all!”.

“It’s good for anyone with an active life. Even if you’re 75 or 80 years old. The electric bike makes it possible for everyone to get together and do something fun. There’s no reason not to come and ride a bike! And it’s always comfortable and safe.”

What’s more, each ride is never the same, even if he takes the same route. “I often joke that my clients are like characters in a TV series. Every day is a new episode, because the setting is kind of similar, but each one has their own story!”

OK, Rodrigo, you’ve convinced us! Let’s go!