In the Christmas holidays 25/6 Poe was down in the Algarve with James and I decided to head down there. My original plan was to go east, do the TET loop around the Sierra Nevada and head back to James. Effectively shortening the route back to Catalonia.
When I got there I realised that plan was never going to happen. The Algarve was bloody cold. The proper mountains were going to be intolerable. So we decided to do a spot of local riding. Our first overnight was, ludicrously enough, the 25th. We, stupidly enough, thought we “would find something open” and didn’t bring any food. I also, stupidly enough, didn’t bring my sleeping bag. We didn’t find anything and it was fucking cold.
What did we have for Christmas dinner, you ask? He had a couple of burgers from a vending machine. I had a bag of nuts. I made the executive decision the next morning – if we were not sleeping at James’ place it was hotels from here on out.
We slipped and slid our way through the Alantejo, which was pure mud. Lots of rivers, lots of fun and for James lots of waiting for me to catch up to his Ready to Race KTM. I would have my vengeance.
But, before that, I did a headstand on the bonnet of a blue minivan.
Out on the trails it’s easy to forget that other people use them. So, about 20 minutes from home base, I crashed head on into a van. Then landed on my feet. If the driver had not been a knobhead that would have been the end of it, because frankly we were both somewhat at fault and the worst his car had suffered was a popped off bumper at one side. But he was a knobhead. We waited for the police. His family all arrived out of nowhere and they all started to express concern the van was a write-off. I think at one point Mr Knobhead even checked his trailer hitch and decided the rust on it was my fault.
The police arrived two hours later and were pretty annoyed with the guy for making them drive out there. We got home cold, wet and after dark.
Inspecting Poe in the light of a new day it seemed something was off. No matter what I undid, aligned and retorqued the handlebars just wouldn’t get straight. Me being me I decided to ignore it and go for a ride anyway. Off we went through the Algarve to the border with Spain. It really is wonderful riding country, it was warm enough in the middle of the day and not too chilly in the mornings and evenings. We crossed rivers, rode steep firebreaks and generally had a good time of it.
On the way back from Alcoutim James stopped at the bottom of a hill, after crossing yet another river. He thought his rear wheel might be wobbly. A quarter hour later we stopped at a petrol station and confirmed that it was. Guess who spent the next four hours going and getting the trailer to rescue the KTM?
You guessed right. The guy with the Suzuki that had been in a head on collision two days before. I’ll leave the KTM stereotypes out of this. Obviously I only had sympathy for my Team Orange riding friend. Obviously.
For the final few days James had to go do some work so I hit the trails on my own. There had been some very heavy rain, so the trails were wet and the rivers flooded. My bike was wonky, but still going. I completed the whole Transalgarviana hiking route from Alcoutim to the lighthouse at Sagres. Part of it is the TET, most of it isn’t – but it is a paradise of trails down there and you’re really spoilt for choice.
My thanks to James and to his wonderful mum Carol. Also to Rui the mech who fixed my dodgy engine before I got there and is fixing my bent triple clamp before I get back. I made some new friends, caught up with old ones and generally had a right good old time of it.
Next up – TET Spain back to to Barcelona, then onwards through France towards England and – ultimately – Scotland!