SCORCH III - Portugal's Route 66

After 4 years ... we are on the verge of bringing back the team to ride the N2 in Portugal! 

This is a screen grab of the N2 "passport" you can pick up at the Chaves tourist office

Since our last trip in 2018, which was  an epic 800+ mile ride down the coast of Spain from Barcelona to Tarifa, I've had 2 tours in Portugal and one from Madrid->Porto->Lisbon. I became obsessed with riding my bike in Portugal and completely not obsessed with writing blogs. 😇

You can read the WHOLE Spanish story here -> Scorch 2

So getting back to the N2 which is Portugal’s longest road. The N2, (or Nacional 2), runs from Chaves, just below the northern border of the country, all the way to Faro. The N2 is often referred to as the Portuguese Route 66 which is famous in the US. A first glance on google maps puts it at about 450 miles and 21000 feet of elevation.

So why the N2? 

• 
  Portugal is amazing
• A comfortable distance for a tour at 450 miles
• An ok amount of elevation at 21000ft - i'm going to see if I can take some parallel roads to cut down on the hills[ the ups and downs into towns ]
• it runs north to south - which is epic
• it cuts through 35 municipalities
• there is an official tourist passport that you can get stamped in offices along the way - picture on the right

So now that the rough plan is decided - there is lots to do and lots to plan!

Roads in Portugal are the best