Anyone been to Lagos, Portugal recently?

gaz047

Hi, I'm off to Lagos in a couple of weeks and am hoping to get a couple of rides in whilst there. Just wondering if anyone has been recently, what the routes were like, which hire company you used/would recommend (won't be taking mine) and if you had a guide/group?
I've seen a couple of promising looking sites (algarve bike hire, Lagos bike rent(seems to be just mtb's available?), And megasport.
If anyone can give us a heads up on any of the above, that would be greatly appreciated
Cheers
Gaz

priory

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/ma ... marmaliser

I did this about 4 years ago. the small roads in the hills are very nice for riding. some steep climbs and rather hair-raising twisty descents with big drops onto rocks at the sides if you come off.
I could not get bikely to work properly on the mountain above monchique which seems to called foia, but that is where to go if you like big climbs
marmalete and monchique and odiachere have cafes and there are other cafes in villages along the way.
great apple pie and coffee at the dam of the reservoir which is a nice diversion
. I took a folding bike and appreciated its rugged tyres because there are networks of whie roads , unsurfaced and rocky , which are nice to explore slowly.
As you enter lagos along the west bank of the river heading south there is a big fish restaurant , set up like a large naffi canteen, that is worth eating at.There are innumerable restaurants.
I did not spot bike hire places.

gaz047

Thanks for the reply and route Priory. That was the sort of distance/terrain I was looking for, so will be my first route. I've not managed to find out much more so am likely to hire and then go exploring. Thanks again
Gaz

priory

there are ordinance survey style 1:50000 maps I have seen, but they will be expensive and I did not see them for sale. They are are a dense mass of contours. Road maps 1:100 000 are in the newsagents and you can find your way about with them but they do not give you much warning of the hills. I think marmalete is about 400metres and monchique seemed much higher . if you go up foia that is well over 2000 feet . As said above you have descend carefully and you will want to look at the map and the view, so it can be slow going. I would allow for 10mph rolling . You don't want to be up in the hills in the dark. When you hire the bike ask if there are any club runs planned that week.
The beaches east of the river are superb.
We went on a dolphin-watch boat booked at the town quay booths which was very good.

PS you can look at a profile on bikely which shows foia is 3000feet. I thought it was hard work on my Dahon.

bigjim

Take some dog deterrent. last time I was there, packs of loose dogs were a nightmare.

team47b

I go to Lagos for lunch sometimes, 80k round trip.

Head up to Mochique, Foia, Silves,Alferce

Something most people don't tell you, Lagos has a train station in the centre of town, trains are cheap, bikes go free, no need to book, so you can go anywhere across the Algarve from Lagos to the Spanish border. You could get the train to Quarteira and follow the volta do Algarve etaps north of Loule, plenty of hills! You could also PM Ron Stuart he will know more about this as he goes to see this event.

Maps and etapas:
http://www.voltaalgarve.com/?page_id=46 maps

Need to know anything specific, PM me.

I have in front of me a leaflet for Mega sport, they deliver anywhere in the Algarve, they have alu or carbon road bikes

Web wwww megasport.pt
Tel 00351 289393 044

gaz047

thanks for your reply's;

Priory - thanks again, i only managed to ride one day, but really enjoyed it. went to monchique as an out and back.
hard work in the heat, but the road surface and lack of cars made it really enjoyable, id forgotten what smooth roads were!! we went on the dolphin watch boat too and we were kept company by a pod of 5, quality!
BigJim - no wild dogs thankfully!
Team47b - thanks for the info, shame im back home now! i actually used megasport and they delivered a full carbon bike with 105. no issues at all with the bike, was set up right and just had to hire a helmet and pedals (just took a bit to get used to continental braking!!)

many thanks
Gaz

team47b

Sorry gaz didn't look at the dates :oops:

Hope you had a great time, at least the weather was not too hot. Roads are actually a bit busy this time of year!

Amazing how easily changing the brakes around is sooo confusing. I actually prefer the front brake on the left along with the front shifter seems more logical. And for a right handed person back brake on the right and the more used rear shifter is easier.