To Group or Not to Group Touring Italy with Panniers; Cycling Portugal with a Sag

Nuts & Bolts: PORTUGAL

Riding the cobblestone through Lutz, Portugal, a town that has since disappeared beneath the floodwaters of a dam project.

GETTING THERE: We flew British Air from Boston, via London, to Lisbon. When we made our reservations, we let them know we’d be traveling with bicycles and they informed us they allowed unboxed bicycles if the seats were lowered, handlebars turned, and pedals taken off. For more information, visit British Air’s website at www.british-airways.com FAVORED GUIDEBOOKS: The Rough Guide to Portugal and Eyewitness Travel Guide to Portugal AVOID: Cycling in Lisbon PHOTOS BY RENEE LE VERRIER AND ANDREAS S. MEYER

MUST SEES: The towns of Monsaraz and Obidos in Alentejo

A

ll on our own, my husband Andy and I discovered the best roasted eggplant pizza in Italy. Too small to fit a group, no tour leader would have escorted us to that tiny basement trattoria tucked behind the coin-op laundry. Of course, no guide worth his earnings would have directed us to ride 82 miles with 7000 feet of climbing in one day, either. Self-planned trip plus: awesome dinner spot. Self-planned trip minus: I’d have eaten my shoes at that point. Pedaling with a guided group can be virtually stress-free, since many of the details are prearranged. On the other hand, working out routes and accommodations while riding through a new place with a local map, a translation dictionary, and just a friend or two, can be wonderfully rewarding. I’ve enjoyed traveling both ways. What made us decide to tour Italy on our own? How do I

By Renée Le Verrier

EQUIPMENT: I rode with 700X28 tires; my husband rode with 700X25 tires and wished he had 28s. We rode with triple chain rings which made for a more comfortable ride but not essential in the southern and central areas of Portugal (the real mountains are in the north).

Portugal

determine if I want to go with a group on my next vacation? The deciding factor for me is where I’ll be traveling on my bike. Once the destination is determined, I consider several questions about whether to pannier or sag the ride. I weigh the potential language barriers, size and distance between towns, availability of maps and information, even the time of year. Researching the answers for two recent trips helped me decide to plot our own course for the first — an adventure through Italy — and, for the second, to sign up with an organized tour across southern and central Portugal. ITALY Numerous reputable tour groups offer everyAdventure Cyclist • May 2001

MOST MEMORABLE RESTAURANT: Sim Fem, in Telheiro, Monsaraz, Alentejo (Telephone 066-55-74-71). TOUR OPERATOR: Holland Bicycle Tours. A Portuguese guide, all hotels, maps, cue sheets, and sag support were provided. For more information, visit www.hollandbicycletours.com

Andy in Assissi, selfcontained.

The author in the Italian mountaintop village of Poppi.

Nuts & Bolts: ITALY GETTING THERE: We flew Alitalia Airlines directly from Boston to Venice. We flagged the largest cab in the taxi line, who didn’t blink at loading up our boxes and panniers. The cab driver dropped us at the train station on the outskirts of the city center, where we stored our bikes then walked a short distance to our hotel in the city. GETTING BACK: We flew Alitalia from Rome’s daVinci airport. We rode from our hotel to the airport and wheeled our bikes to the ticket counter. With some broken Italian, we managed to explain we had no boxes and the airline took the bikes with pedals off, handlebars turned, and air released from the tires. For more information, visit www.alitaliausa.com

Italy

FAVORED GUIDEBOOKS: The Rough Guide and Open Road Publishing’s Italy Guide AVOID: The northeasterly coast; traveling in August. MUST SEES: The towns of Gubbio and Urbino in Umbria EQUIPMENT: We had triple chain rings: a must for the mountain passes. We rode with 700X28 tires, which were handy on those old stone-based, gravel-covered Roman roads. MOST MEMORABLE ACCOMMODATION: Torre di Bellosguardo, Florence (email: torredibellosguardo@ dad.it or phone 055-22-98-145). Reservations are a must.

thing from the luxurious to the basics on a cycling trip through Italy. With the abundant information available on all aspects of travel in this country, however, my husband and I felt that, with some solid homework, we could tackle this tour on our own. And since we’d started planning early — in the early spring for a fall trip — there was plenty of time to learn a bit of the language and study some maps. Language I’d traveled only to English-speaking countries in the past. In my earlier days of bicycle travel, language barriers worried me. I fretted that I wouldn’t fully experience a place if I couldn’t communicate with the shop owners and innkeepers. And heaven forbid if I didn’t know just what the menu listed in a restaurant. But, Italian. Ahh, the music of that language. I found learning Italian akin to learning the words to a new and beautiful song. I mail-ordered a set of cassettes to play in my car while commuting. The package came with 10 tapes in the complete course, along with a study guide. The tapes were geared toward students traveling in Italy. I found that closer to my style of travel than that of a business executive, which was the intended audience for another series of tapes. While the tapes focused on pronunciations, proper usage, and a variety of phrases, certain guidebooks highlighted the basics. Together, they taught me how to ask for a double room con bagne (with a bathroom) and understand the response about size, availability and price. I was so eager to try out my newfound skill, I reserved a room in Florence over the phone a few weeks before the start of the trip. Adventure Cyclist • May 2001

I rambled through my requests in my best Italian and the concierge confirmed it all back to me — in English. I guess my American accent gave me away; but at least I had said it all correctly. Besides, even in the cities where waiters spoke fluent English, we always started in Italian. And without fail, the Italians seemed to appreciate it. Routes The glorious cacophony of sight, sound, smell, and taste that is Italy delighted our senses. Besides wanting to pedal through the villages dotting the countryside, the big cities also figured high on our agenda: Venice, Assisi, Florence, Rome. Based on this mix in priorities, we decided to zigzag our way across Umbria, and over passes into Tuscany. September was a good time to be cycling. In each village, the markets brimmed with lush, ripe figs, peaches, grapes, plum tomatoes, greens, and eggplant. And the weather! It was 70-80 degrees and sunny. We hop-scotched medieval cities: Ravenna to Urbino to Gubbio to Assisi. By mid-trip, we stopped in Florence, then passed through Sienna on our way south toward the finale, through Bolsena to Rome. Riding in the main center of Venice is not permitted, so after a few days of recovering from jetlag and wandering about on foot, we hauled our loaded bikes over numerous canal bridges to the outskirts of

Riding out of Siena, in Italy’s Tuscany region.

the town. From there, we began our journey. By taking various ferries and riding along the Lido — the stretch of peninsula between Venice and the rest of Italy to its south — we avoided having to leave Venice via the big industrial city of Mestre to the north. The Lido proved flat and pleasant. But from Chioggia, the first town on the mainland, akin to a mini-Venice, along the coast to the inland city of Ravenna we encountered 50 miles of the Ft. Lauderdale of Italy. To our right, a never-ending strip of friedfood joints and swim apparel shops. To our left, rows upon rows of beach umbrellas. Happily, however, from the moment we turned inland, the views opened up and the roads narrowed and became less traveled. Steeply rolling farmland of grapes, sunflowers, olive and fig groves stretched away from either side of ridge-top roads we cycled, which were often old Roman roads. The climbing (we averaged about 3,000 feet per day) tended to be gradual and wellgraded, with plenty of time to take in the scenery. Nothing quite matches sunny afternoons swooping down switchbacks past fields of grapes at a steady 25 mph. In Rome, the riding was different, though equally exciting. With so many mopeds zooming about, drivers are accustomed to moving through traffic alongside two-wheeled vehicles. We quickly learned

that by first studying exactly where we needed to go and then confidently claiming our space in the road without getting in the way of anyone, maneuvering through Rome was not a problem. Accommodations We chose to travel from inn to inn rather than camp. Traveling in September allowed us the freedom to wheel into a village and find comfortable, yet inexpensive, accommodations. The only places where we felt compelled to reserve a room in advance were in Venice, Florence, and Rome. We aimed for the three-star or two-star hotels — not too fancy, not too scary. Rates were reasonable (roughly averaging $60/night, slightly higher in Venice and Rome). In Florence, however, we splurged on Torre de Bellosguardo. A 15th-century castle with a 13th-century spire, Torre de Bellosguardo had been converted to an exquisite inn. Frescos remained on the walls of the main hall; antique pianos adorned every common area (one of the pianos, according to the owner, once belonged to Mendelssohn). And, it was true to its name, beautiful view. Located at the top of a hill less than a mile from the center of the city, rooms opened out to sweeping vistas of Florence. Having a tour guide along would have

Adventure Cyclist • May 2001

been a plus at times. But discovering Italy on our own proved a rewarding adventure. PORTUGAL Not a Third World country, but also not yet an industrialized nation, Portugal sits partly in between: it exudes old-world charm, while it is in the process of emerging somewhere in the order of the new world. We decided on taking the trip to Portugal only three months before its start in May. With so much that seemed unknown, and much less time to prepare, touring with an organized group seemed a better fit for this trip. Our group consisted of 16 people, mostly from New England and California. We met in Lisbon, where one should never, ever, not even in desperation, consider bicycling. Drivers routinely hopped curbs and swerved through holes in traffic barely the size of their tiny European cars. The tour was not a luxury tour, nor did we carry our own gear or camp. The leader, a Californian, organized the group, then connected up with Holland Bicycle Tours in Europe to secure a sag and Portuguese guide. The leader had arranged all accommodations and had created detailed cue sheets, including cultural highlights of various towns. All breakfasts and a number of dinners were provided, all at local cafes and restaurants. A few dinners and all but two surprise picnic lunches were on our own. The tour was set up as a less luxurious one, in part, as a cost savings and in part to force us into the culture. We stopped in shops for sandwiches and fruit and interacted with locals. We needed to pay attention to the cue sheets and locate places on our maps to be sure of turns, since the van was neither a rolling closet nor momma goose. Language The study guide that accompanied my mail-order language tapes (a set of only two) described Portuguese as having its spelling roots in the romance languages; at a glance, it looks like French or Spanish. However, the book went on to describe the pronunciation as a whole different matter.

In Portugal, poppies lined the road outside Evora, enroute to Beja.

Portuguese may look like French or Spanish, but it sounds like an Eastern European language. It is one of the most difficult languages to learn. Despite touring with a native Portuguese guide, I still felt it important to memorize a few phrases. It’s an awful lot of fun to sense being pegged as the obvious American tourist then wave and greet a passerby in her native tongue. Each bom dia (good day) brought a genuine smile and a return greeting. Routes If touring Italy meant experiencing the magic, then cycling Portugal was a discovery of the unexpected. The splendid Portuguese coast boasted windmills overlooking the sea. Along the Spanish border, castle after castle awaited our exploration. And inland, though the olive groves hinted of the Mediterranean climate, the landscape looked more like parts of Wyoming. Open rolling fields were dotted with sagebrush and an occasional tree. Then, we’d leave the

Wild West for pockets of cork plantations that opened into vast spreads of wild poppies. The weather in Portugal in early May is wonderfully conducive to cycling. The temperatures ranged from the 60s through the 80s and but for one day of rain, it remained dry. The biking actually started in Evora, a town west of Lisbon. We all gathered our bikes and belongings onto a chartered bus for the hour-long drive out of Lisbon. The route from Evora led us through Beja and Moura, en route to the magnificent mountaintop village of Monsaraz, where we spent an extra day. From this blissful town of whitewashed homes and shops, with its ageold castle remains and a bull ring, we passed through numerous other castle towns on our way to Fatima. We traveled through Estremoz and marveled at the castle walls in Marvao and Castello de Vida. The route ended in Obidios, just north of Lisbon. The roads, while never dangerous, were not as smooth as we’d experienced in Italy.

Adventure Cyclist • May 2001

Like Italy, though, most villages nestled atop hills. The big difference: cobblestone. Nearly every town we rode into lined the entrance roads all through the center and back out again with cobblestones. On bikes, their quaintness lasted about a day. Then it moved into mild annoyance. Those with narrow tires learned to dread the stones. Consider fairly wide tires for riding through Portugal. We encounered very little traffic on the roads. While the routes were well chosen — some simply spectacular — each of us carried detailed maps along with our cue sheets. Occasionally, we made up our own routes, either because we craved a few extra scenic miles, wanted to castle-hop, or because we missed a turn. The terrain began fairly flat, then became rolling, with some big hills. What we gave up in flexibility for this group ride was made up for in convenience. When one of us left his passport in the previous night’s hotel, the sag driver went back the 30 miles to retrieve it. And, it was a lot

The view of Obidos, Portugal from the local castle.

easier shopping for hand-painted pottery knowing the sag van would carry it. Accommodations I admit that I did not do the homework I did for Italy once it came time to prepare for Portugal. And yes, I was just a little lazier on this trip. The accommodations were part of the package; I didn’t need to learn how to ask for a room for two with a bathroom, or where we could store the bikes for the night. I knew there’d be guide to handle the details. Having the hotel reservations all lined up for us did give us a touch more time to wander about the towns, visit churches, shop, and stop in a bakery or two. One can’t go wrong eating in Italy. But Portugal boasts its own delights. In particular, the cheeses and cheese tarts or queijadas are a specialty.

The hotels ranged from somewhat lush to one that was, well, low on towels and heavy on dead flies. On average, though, they were clean and comfortable. All but one night’s stay included a private bath. Having a Portuguese guide (who spoke fluent English) gave us a few other advantages. He led us to a pottery shop to watch the beautiful dishes and vases being turned, fired, and painted. It’s not a commercial spot, tucked away in what looks like a barn. Only a native would have been able to provide us that experience. In addition, he introduced us to foods we may not have tried and took us to a fantastic restaurant, Sim Fem, in an old olive factory that was not listed in any of the guidebooks. Discovering Italy’s magic on our own added to the lure of each hilltop village, even if one of those villages lay 82 mountainous miles from the last one. As for the guided tour, easing our way with a group along Portugal’s Spanish border and west to the coast was a peaceful way to experience the country’s charm. Which way will I travel on my next cycling trip? That all depends on where I’m heading. ● Renee Le Verrier wrote “A Bike for Anna” in the April 1998 issue of Adventure Cyclist.

Riding the windmill-lined coast road from Nazare to Obidos, Portugal.

Adventure Cyclist • May 2001