Me and five Welsh mates planned to do the ACT Portugal route. We caught a ferry from Plymouth to Santander then did a road burn to Braganca which was the start of the ACT route.
Upon reaching the Algarve the plan was to ride the Nacionale N2 road back up through the middle of Portugal and head into northern Spain to ride the TET Sections 5, 6 amd 7 before heading back to the ferry. The trip was a total of 16 days. Here's how it went ......
ACT route day 1 - Braganca to Torre De Moncorvo
The day began with an early alarm clock at 7:30 ...... and with a raging hangover after so many beers last night. Taffy is officially barred from uttering the words, "six more please, large ones".
We headed down for our breakfast which was the usual continental affair and very nice but I could just about manage a ham roll, a banana and a piece of cake, with several cups of coffee!!
A quick search on Booking.com for some accommodation for that evening at our destination returned a few options so with a snappy descion made and that booked were were good to go.
We luggaged up the bikes and headed for fuel to top up before making the short commute through the town up to the Castle which was the start of our ACT Adventure. A quick pic of the bikes lined up at the start (a requirement if you're wanting to get your ACT Finishers sticker) and we were off.
The route headed in a southerly direction and included - on the harder route which we chose - crossings over two Roman built bridges in the foot of the valleys.
It wasn't long before we hit the trails and it became quickly apparent that dust was going to be the order of the day, and lots of it!! often to the point that despite leaving a decent gap between riders you were literally sometimes riding the trail blind cos you couldn't see it for dust.
The other thing that was in abundance was sun, and heat. When we left the hotel it was close to 30 degrees and it was a consistent 34-36 for most of our riding day with the highest temps hitting 41 degrees when we were in the valleys on the Roman bridges.
Despite being the shortest day of the planned 5-day route it was probably the longest based on the technicality of the route - descending and ascending the valleys.
The scenery along the route was superb and varied - vistas that reached as far as the eye could see, rolling hills with farmed land on the hillsides the small local villages (seemingly deserted) with their cobble paved streets to skirting the edge of a reservoir and looking up at the suspended road bridge that ran across it. All of it varied but amazing. A beautiful country so far.
Our final off-road section leading to our destination took us up over a vista point with amazing views and it was probably the best trail of the day twisting and winding up the hillside to the summit then descending on the far side down into Torre De Moncorvo - they left the best till last.
By this point it was 6pm (and still 29 degrees!) and we were all tired and hungry so with the power of Google we found a restaurant that had pictures of their dishes and we were sold on the steak, egg and chips so we made a bee-line, got a table and after a little lingo struggle between us and the waitress we were finally rewarded with a lovely meal.
From the restaurant we headed to our accommodation which was on the outskirts of the town. A 3 bedroom villa with a pool ...... but the pool was a further 2 terraces up the switchback road. Despite being weary I took the hike up and wow, what a view!!! An infinity pool overlooking the town in the valley below. The water was warm having been bathed in the sunlight all day. What a great end to a fantastic day.
The Romans certainly built their bridges to last well. I doubt the elegant modern concrete structure will last as long.
Don't envy you the dust or the heat but better that than cold and wet and your grin speaks volumes
