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Cork Trees, Turbines and Cobbles

Day two in the Algarve: a 215 km loop from Silves over the Monchique hills to the Atlantic coast and Vila do Bispo, then home along the south coast. Read the ride.

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Cork Trees, Turbines and Cobbles

The old arched bridge over the River Arade in Silves in early morning light.

The old bridge over the Arade, Silves

A white stork standing on a huge nest built on top of a wooden telegraph pole above dry farmland.

A stork keeping watch from its pole top nest

A large cork oak beside a climbing road, its lower trunk freshly stripped to bright red-orange wood.

A freshly stripped cork oak on the climb

View down a wooded valley of the Monchique hills from a hillside road works site, with a yellow digger in the foreground.

Road works with a view, above Caldas de Monchique

A quiet road climbing between tall conifers under a blue sky, with the rider's shadow on the tarmac.

Shadow selfie on the long climb

Freshly harvested cork bark stacked high and being loaded by workers, with the sun flaring behind the trees.

The cork harvest, stacked and ready to go

Rider's-eye view of the handlebars, with a Garmin showing 400 m elevation and 2 km to the top of the climb.

Just after nine: 400 m up, 2 km to go

A wind turbine silhouetted against the sun on a scrubby plateau, with more turbines and a lone pine in the distance.

Turbines on the plateau above Carrapateira

A whitewashed baroque church with a bell tower and steps up from a cobbled pavement under a bright sky.

The church at Vila do Bispo

Rider's-eye view over the handlebars and Garmin down a narrow street of rough white cobbles with manhole covers, in Vila do Bispo.

The cobbles of Vila do Bispo

Looking down from the road over a crash barrier to a sandy beach and turquoise sea, with an old ruined building near the shore.

Looking down on Boca do Rio

The white Igreja Matriz de Barão de São João with its twin clock towers behind a cobbled square, with a signpost to Bensafrim.

Cobbles and the twin towered church at Barão de São João

A large umbrella pine overhanging a quiet lane lined with white walls and houses.

Umbrella pine on a back lane

Small fishing boats moored in the Arade estuary at Ferragudo, with a sandy beach in front and Portimão across the water.

Fishing boats at Ferragudo

The rider's long evening shadow beside rows of vines behind a fence and an open gate.

Long shadows past the vineyards on the way home

Cork Trees, Turbines and Cobbles

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