TandemHearts

In August , we gave up our mountain biking ways for a week in the Azores. We took Easy Rider’s Azores road biking trip and had a great time. This trip was as different from our others trips as it could be, while still being a two-wheel adventure. First, the Azores are islands 1,000 miles West of Portugal. Second, this was a (mostly) road ride. Third, we gave up camping and stayed in hotels. Happily, this trip also had a couple of things in common with our previous ones: great guides and beautiful scenery.

Getting to the Azores isn’t too difficult, if you are on the East Coast. Boston and Providence both have strong communities of Portuguese decent, so there are flights a couple of times per week to the airport in Ponta delgada on Sao Miguel. With family connections between the islands and the US, most of the travelers were visiting relatives. I guess this is a regular thing because several passengers brought boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts – presumably to fill a craving from a relative in the Azores.

The five-hour red-eye from Boston left us almost completely wiped out when we arrived. The guides took us to the hotel in Caloura, where we promptly took a nap. Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch, picked up our rented Trek 750 bikes and took a shake down ride. This ride was definitely a sign of things to come – 5 miles around town gave us 450 feet of climbing. I don’t think there is a flat road on the island. This ride also gave us a taste of the quality of the pavement on the island. Frankly, they need to repave lots of the roads. Even with 38mm tires, which we needed, we were routinely pounded during descents. Probably 10 percent of the roads on the trip were in terrible shape. This doesn’t count the short sections of cobblestones that we had. I count those as “quaint”. Dinner this night was at a local restaurant, where Veronica discovered “fish rice”. It is actually a fish stew, with fish, shellfish and crustaceans, complete with legs, shells, eyeballs, etc. Throw in some rice and there you have it. Veronica says it was great, but with some disassembly required.

Breakfast each day was served at the hotel and typically was rolls, bread, yogurt, eggs, cheese, ham, jam and coffee. The local breads and cheeses, in whatever form, were always excellent. As a bonus, the Portuguese know how to make coffee. None of that burned, over roasted junk that we get so often in the US; just smooth bean juice goodness. On the first full day, we set out for Furnas, with a stop in Villa Franco do Campo. This brought us a total of 20 miles riding, with 1,900 feet of climbing. This was a typical ratio of distance to elevation for the trip. To do all the riding for the trip, you need to be a strong intermediate rider. Fortunately, the van was always available for anyone who preferred to shuttle up any of the large hills. This worked out well and makes the trip a viable choice for most riders.

On the third day, we rode a loop up into the hills and back along the coast. This ride included about 10 miles of well-groomed dirt road that took us up into the clouds and an evergreen forest. We had lunch at a park on the coast that had the most amazing array of flowers, or so we thought at the time. During one of our trips to Hawaii, somebody commented that Hawaii is lush and green but doesn’t have much in the way of showy flower. The Azores is lush and green and has flowers. Hydrangeas are everywhere, but the real show is in the gardens that the residents have planted. The park where we enjoyed lunch was perfectly manicured and offered jaw-dropping views of the coast. This was a long, hard day. Even so, it was a beautiful ride of 50 miles, with 5,800 feet of climbing.

Happily, the next day was a non-bike day. We had planned to do a short, optional, loop but it drizzled and rained much of the day. . We spent the day wondering around town and visiting the gardens behind the hotel. We started the day with a dip in the hotel’s naturally heated outdoor pool. The pool is big enough to be called a pond and is located in the hotel’s garden.

The next day’s trip out of Furnas started, as always, with a big climb. We rode to Ribeira Grande, where we had lunch in a restaurant that had a stream running through the middle of it. Lunch was briefly interrupted by what we all took to be a very low flying jet. It turned out to be a new hydrothermal vent next door that is being developed for power generation. After lunch, we rode up to the over look of Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake). The only thing that was burning was my legs. This was a long, grinding climb. The pavement was great and the cloud cover kept the temperature moderate. After catching our second wind and enjoying the overlook of the lake, we zoomed down to Rabo de Peixe. We stayed up late playing pool, having lots of energy after only 35 miles and 3,500 feet of climb.

The last day on the bikes was another tough ride. We kept mostly to the rollers on the coast, until we arrived at the climb over the hill and down into Sete Cidades. The little sign at the bottom of the 2-mile climb casually says, “10 %”. I don’t know if the whole climb was that steep, but most of it was. The sign going down into Sete Cidades also said, “10 %”, which would have cheered me more if we didn’t have to come back up that way after lunch. From the top of the hill it was a down into town, enjoy lunch and climb back out of town. Fortunately, the climb out wasn’t as long as the climb from the coast. Lunch was a picnic on the shore of Lagoa Azul (Blue Lake). Lagoa Azul is connected to Lagoa Verde (Green Lake). On a sunny day, the two lakes used to be two very different colors. Unfortunately, fertilizer run off is now causing algae blooms in Lagoa Azul, the color difference isn’t what it used to be. The day we were there was also mostly clouded, so the lakes were not looking their best. Even so, once again, every climb offered great vistas. After we climbed out of Sete Cidades, we took another well-groomed dirt road for a few more miles up to an overlook of Lagoa Verde. The descent from there to Ponta Delgada gave us some of the best pavement of the whole trip and we were flying. 46 miles and 3,300 feet of climbing for the day left us invigorated, not exhausted.

At dinner that night, one of the guides ran into an old friend. We forgot to ask why, but this old friend had an accordion with him. As we walked back to the hotel, he accompanied us with local songs. Things really picked up when we stopped and he played Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca. That’s a tough piece and it gave us a new appreciation for the musical potential of the accordion. Next he shifted to something a little more sing-along, the Beatles’ “Yesterday”. Thom seemed to be the only one who knew any of the words (and only two thirds at that), but it was a little surreal to be standing on a street corner seeing Beatles’ tune with a guy who spoke no English.

Our flight out was in the late afternoon, so we had all day to wander around PdG. It was a good day to be off the bike, because it was the warmest day of the trip, with highs in the upper 70s and almost no clouds.

This was a wonderful trip. The only meal that we thought was just “OK” was the one night we were on our own to pick a restaurant. Our guides were great. One is a photographer who lives on the island, while the other lives in Lisbon – where he writes for a mountain biking magazine. The weather was partly cloudy and highly variable. The clouds kept the temperatures right for riding, so we didn’t mind. The rental bikes were geared well for the climbs, but we appreciated that we had brought our own saddles.