When we first read about the European divide (www.europeandividetrail.com) we were instantly keen...an amazing adventure planned and plotted by someone who had done a lot of research and knew the area. An adventure with a gpx file to follow. A route that linked the most remote trails of Europe together. We were hooked.
For what seemed like a long time we started to plan. We organised work and life around taking 9 months off, got new bikes, better bikepacking kit and made our plans a reality.
We must have talked about our plans alot and inspired a few people along the way, as our friend Craig decided at the last minute to come along with us for our first month.
We made the choice to fly with Emirates from Auckland to Lisbon as they don't charge extra for bikes and give you 30kgs of luggage per person.
We decided to book an airbnb closest the airport. The lovely host picked us and our bikes up over 2 trips and drove us to the apartment. We celebrated Debbie's birthday the next day with delicious Portuguese tart and amazing coffee at a funky Cafe. We walked the streets and did the normal tourist site seeing but were pleased to leave the busy city the next day to start our more remote bike journey. We don't really make very good tourists!
Day 1 Lisbon to Sines 152km Well, we always knew...cities suck but at least the traffic was polite. We followed the Eurovelo route on a few bike lanes and some ferries and it was amazing following a gps, but it was still a little busy and crazy and not what we are about. We had a lot of headwinds but made it down the coast a bit and camped at an average campground for 18 euro per tent. Bit of a rip off but we were new to the game and still in suburbia.
Day 2 Sines to Vila Do Bisbo 128km beautiful riding foggy and fine. Guest house 40 euro per room. Casamaestro . Lots of eurovelo trails.
We were now near the start of the European Divide Trail a 7700km bikepacking route from Portugal to Norway. Here's a basic daily summary of our adventures to date on the European divide.
Day 3 Vila Do Bisbo to Cabo de sao Vincent which is the south western most point of Portugal then to Rogil. 115km on the European divide. Stunning ride beautiful coast perfect day beautiful guest house Royal Blue ocean guest house. 60 euro for 3 people. Loved today but lot of wiggles.
Day 4 Rogil to Santana de Serra 85km A mixed bag of a day. A series of diverse terrain . Lots of ups and downs. Mud Mud mud on narrow trails, rain them sun. Lots of trees, forests, wide open spaces and a dam. Felt remote and into the depths of Portugal
Found a basic guesthouse for 10 euro each .
Day 5 88km Santana de serra to Senhora de araselli.
Flowers flowers flowers, pigs! Met Susana in Castro Verde whose husband rerouted the Portugal sectionof the European Divide trail to avoid private land and dogs. More affluent and fertile lands here. Flowers were a highlight. Lots of ruins. Best campsite ever sheltered from wind top of hill great views. Running water. No big climbs easy day.
Day 6
Campsite at church to just before Santa Barbara de casa. 107 km. We crossed into Spain today which was a bit of a buzz. Great coffee and pastry in Mertola Very hot 🔥 day today. Rolling countryside. Tuna pasta with vegetables and port from portugal for dinner.
Day 7
Campsite to Aracena 96k.. lots of steep hills and single track . Beautiful forests and majestic Eagles. Stayed in hostel 45 euro.
Day 8 found gas in Aracina. Had coffee and toast Met Henry from the Netherlands. 97km today on relatively easy roads. Camped before Cazalla De La Sierra
Day 9 Beautiful flowers. Cycle ways, orange and groves olive groves and huge solar energy farms. Castle on the hill. Camped just out of Alamodovar del rio 122kms on the cycle path. Very hot day. Swam in river. Filled water at pub. Lost lots of elevation today.Terrible night sleep due to a concert with techno music going until 4am.
Day 10.
Up early due to public walking and biking trail. Had a second breakfast in Cordoba. Rode through a marathon course in the centre of town. People cheering and runners everywhere. Pushed on to martos as we needed a good nights sleep and a shower. Stayed in Casa rural in Martos 122kms for the day. Happy to be inside in a quiet place. Great zzzz. 100 euro.
Day 11 Martos to just out of Jodar. 108 km. Great day with mtn views and towns every 20 kms or so. Beautiful riding. Big towns are no fun 😕 lots of people exercising. Sardines and capsicum for dinner. Swam in a river cooled down in Fountains. Beautiful olive grove camp for the night. We were treated to an electrical storm. Incredible lightening thunder and some heavy spots of rain. Great sleep 😴
Day 12
Campsite to Rambla secat Refugio absolutely stunning ride today. 75 kms. Beautiful town of Cazorla for 2 coffees and bread 🍞 with tomato and cheese 🧀 big climbs and a 900 metres hike a bike. Unbelievable vistas today. Cycling does not get better than this. Found lots of fuenzas (water fountains ) today. The Refugio has water, a table beds and an amazing view. Some locals stopped in to look at the hut and craig got three cans of beer off them. Happy days. This is why we do this stuff for days like this.
Day 13
Cows, Thar, deer, sheep, wildcats. Met Stefan who is running the European divide with a pram named Olaf! Amazing scenery to start. Loved the Highlands. Lots of Refugios on the way. Got a bit complacent with the trail after a couple of days of blissful riding . Got smacked just before and after Silas as the trail got a bit rough and rutted. 110 kms. Camped on top of hill just out of Riopar outside some old ruins. Delicious dinner lettuce olives capsicum chickpeas chicken.
Day 14
Great sleep under castle. Wonderful riding on roads and some awesome single track. 👏 Lovely trails today 2 coffees and 2 lots of toast at 12.00pm. 120km. Lots of rail trail on the Don Quoite trail.Treated ourselves to an airbnb in Abacete.
Day 15
Albacete to hill just before villar Gordon del cabrel. 84km Debbie feeling a bit off today. Easy riding through grape vines. 🍇 and orchards. Have bugs for the first time which is why we are camped on a hill tonight .Got moved on from our hilltop by the ranger . Found another campsite off the road deep in the trees out of sight. Great sleep. But our first cold night 🌙 we learnt to take our warm clothes to bed with us.
Day 16. Started the day with a downhill then our usual coffee and toast. Ok riding through grapevines and orchards. Things got real in the afternoon with a 10km climb up into the start of the mountains ⛰️ . Camped high again but happy to be back in the Mountains. 102km.
DAY 17
Cold but Primo riding day. Had jackets and gloves on for the first downhill. High in mountains. Serene and peaceful ✌️ got our first puncture / sliced tyre on the descent. Had to pop in a tube. Stopped for a cold drink on the way into Tereul . Accommodation and restock in Teruel. 76kms
Day 18 Teruel to
Waited for the supermarket bike shop and hardware store to open for a restock of supplies cold morning 3 degrees at 8am. Great little town full of history and culture. . Got bike sorted at amazing bike shop. They had rab gear and knew our friends Alba and Ricardo
Nice exit out of town then up to the Highlands some short steep rocky sections. Wow we then went into a canyon. So amazing so beautiful. Made it to Aliaga for the night in a municipal ca
mpground . 85kms.
Day 20 Castelserras to just out of E molar. What a day ! We dropped from 1200 to 97 metres today. Had a bit of everything tail trail rocky downs and ups . Rivers vineyards olive groves. Did a big shop in Mora d ebri and headed out of town to camp in the forest 101km today.
Day 21 campsite to Mont blanc.
Great sleep awesome breakfast then a bit of mtb trail then 12km of smooth sealed road . Then whammy into a rough walking track. We certainly earned our first coffee in Povoleda. Huge vineyards in this area. Holy moly things got real this afternoon. A very technical hike a bike along a mountain Ridge and then down into Mont Blanc Catalonia. Mind blowing day.
73kn 85 euro for accom. Fonda Bohemia pivot. 2nd dinner out
Day 22
Mont blanc Catalonia to 30km outside manressa.. Had a bit of a slow start as we wanted to look at the old city. The old city was absolutely beautiful Then had a brain fart and headed out of town the way we came in. Doh. Eventually got back on track and into the day. Big day of ups and downs. Pretty slow going but lots to look at on the way. Passed thru Igualada which had amazing mtb tracks leading into it. Lots of old castles to look at but a hard day in the saddle. Steep rocky climbs. Did a quick shop in town then got back into it and did another 10kms before setting up camp. Lovely wine with dinner. Campo viejo Roija tempranillo 3.99 euro
78kms tough day.
Day 23
102kms
An easier day to make progress with smoother roads and less steep hills. Lots of towns today which is always a bit bitsy. Had the best surprise when our friends Ricard and Alba tracked us down for an impromptu picnic. They had coco bread and chocolate which went down a treat. Did a shop in Vic before heading up to a national park and dam to camp. Managed dinner then the rain came in. Rained all night.
Day 24 85km
Camp by dam 12km outside of Vic to Olot
Rained all day but luckily the trail was kind and smooth and it wasn't that cold. Booked an airbnb on Olot then put heads down to do the 80kms to town.The dams were so low so we can understand why the people are pleased to see rain now. Stopped for coffee once we reached the first town at around 5pkm and it was so hot and satisfying. As we entered Olot we saw rotisserie chickens and devoured one🐔 before checking into our airbnb and getting dry and clean. Bliss. It's amazing how good a hot shower and shelter is after camping out in the open for a couple of nights. Craig will leave us here. Sad to see him go as he has been great company 😞.
Day 25 Olot mooching in the rain. Happy to be indoors.
Highlights
The European divide trail is a real highlight and better than expected. We were worried that we wouldn't feel remote enough but this trail takes us to very remote areas on a wide range of trails from walking tracks, hikeabikes to groomed trails. We have travelled on very few roads and no busy ones. The Spanish mountains were definitely our highlight so far with the coastline of Portugal coming a close second. When you are up in the Mountains with no people around, just you and nature and you have all your food and gear with you, it is a very special feeling.
Food
We eat muesli and fruit and yoghurt for breakfast with a coffee. Then generally stop for another coffee mid morning. Lunch is bread, cheese, salami, tomatoes, avocado. Snacks are pastries or biscuits. Dinner is usually a one pot wonder with pasta vegetables and tuna or sardines. Wevr really enjoued some big salads with olives, chickpeas, eggs etc. We occasionally have a bottle or cask of wine 🍷 as a treat. Chocolate and biscuits are a staple after dinner treat.
Most worn items
In Portugal and Southern Spain we were sweltering in the heat. We worn our Rab Cinder liner bike shorts and Cinder crank shorts and a long sleeve top to protect us from the sun. As we have moved to colder climes we now live in our Rab Cinder ridgeline tops and our Rab Cinder kinetic jackets and overpants.
Musings
It's amazing how little you need to be content. As long as you are warm and have shelter and food then life is good. Travelling like this makes you really appreciate things like warm water and a bed.
The slow life is so good.
There is very little rubbish in Portugal and Spain as they have rubbish and recycling bins everywhere. It's so wonderful. We saw our first takeaway coffee cup after a month of riding. Of you want a coffee you sit and drink it.
Sleep
We generally camp out 2 nights then find accommodation with a hot shower and a washing machine.
Words of wisdom
If you want to do something, lock it in the calendar then work towards it to make it happen.
