Hi, tandem10,

This is a nice idea. I'm a walker, not a cyclist, so I won't be using your blog much, but I think it will fill a very important little niche in Portugal. One trail I've walked that is definitely suitable for cycling is the Caminho de Santiago from Lisbon to the border (and on to Santiago of course). I can't really think of any places on the walk where cyclists would have major difficulties on the walkers' paths. In fact, most of the caminho south of Porto is on very rural roads, with the rest being on agricultural tracks, dirt logging roads through eucalyptus forests, and some segments of the Roman Road.

There is a Lisbon-based Friends of the Caminho group, named Via Lusitana, which has a website and is very actively involved in promoting the Caminho in Portugal. The pilgrim lodging system of albergues, which is well established on many of the Caminos in Spain and on the Portuguese route north of Porto, is slowly getting established south of Porto. As of today, there are at least 5 pilgrim-only places south of Porto (open for cycling pilgrims as well as walkers) and I have heard plans for at least three more. You should take a look at vialusitana.org. I know several of the most active members, and they are wonderful, energetic people. They are doing amazing things to promote the path -- their website lists email contact addresses.

Also, the Confraternity of St. James, a British Camino group, has some online guides to some of the less heavily traveled caminos, including the Caminho Portugues from Lisbon. You'll find lots of information there. http://www.csj.org.uk/guides-online.htm This would give you information about places to stay and details about the path in general.

Laurie

There is a guy putting together a list of all the "vias" = bike paths which is beginning to look pretty good at http://www.ciclovia.com.pt/index.html and you might like to read Mrs Bilbo's articles on the Ecovia which goes East West across the bottom of the country at http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Articles.php

Hi Bilboburgler

Thanks for that. Funnily enough, I'd just put a post on the blog - http://pedalportugal.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/mountain-biking/ plus a link to the Ciclovia site as it's also got a good list of mountain bike routes for those who prefer off-road.
I didn't know about the Ecovia - I cycled Tavira to Sagres back in 2005 and I don't think it existed then. (Or if it did, I missed it!)