Moving on to Portugal.
This one was interesting from the start. It’s a two-day race with a short prologue, held out of a small town in western Portugal — Castelo de Vide. Wes has spent a good bit of time there, they happen to have a race there in that specific town, and it felt like something that needed to be tried. I’d also never been to Portugal, which didn’t hurt. On paper, it all just made sense.
The race itself is split into two very different days. The first leans more mountain bike. The second is more gravelly. The riding is really interesting. Old Roman roads, bits of singletrack, long stretches of doubletrack, and moments where you’re just kind of wandering. I loved the idea of it. It feels adventurous in a way that’s hard to manufacture. People are friendly, bikes are normal, and riding just feels like part of daily life over there.
For this trip, we decided to bring the whole family. Since it was going to be more than just the riding, we stretched the trip out to make it worthwhile, which meant travel got pushed a little close to the start of the race. That’s always tricky when you’re crossing the pond. Long travel days, time changes, and losing basically a full night of sleep. I was already coming in carrying some of the sleep issues from Monstercross, and while I felt like I was making a little progress, it wasn’t as much as I would’ve liked. Riding hadn’t been great either — a few good days here and there, but nothing consistent.
The trip over went relatively smoothly, all things considered, but the sleep still wasn’t there. Losing a whole night is never ideal. Once we landed in Lisbon, the family split off to spend a few days near the coast, and Wes and I headed the other direction to Castelo de Vide to get settled and ready for racing.
First impression: what a cool little town. Classic Portuguese in the best way — white buildings, red terra-cotta roofs, steep narrow streets, a castle perched above it all. Old, quiet, and really picturesque. It felt like another world, and it was hard not to relax a little bit. Going somewhere like that for a bike race is part of the fun. Grocery store runs, building bikes, easy spins, talking, laughing, doing a little recon and generally just enjoying being there.
Riding in Europe — and Portugal specifically — is different than the U.S. Cyclists are treated differently. It’s normal. Drivers expect you. You can connect places in ways that feel natural and adventurous. I love exploring new places by bike, and this checked that box immediately.
When it came time to check in, we were both a little surprised by how big of a production the race was. Really well organized, well attended, and clearly taken seriously. The only surprise was the prologue. What had originally been something in the 30–40 minute range had turned into a 3–5 minute, all-out drag race straight up a steep hill. Not exactly what we’d planned for, but kind of neat in its own way.
They lined you up team by team in a time trial format, announced you, rolled you through a park, and then pointed you straight up. Short, violent, and over quickly. I think we ended up third. Fun, different, and ultimately not something that counted for much — but a good way to kick things off.
