December 2020

First contact with Jérôme Cousin, (thanks Seb for the introduction), then a professional at Total Direct Energies. The basic idea? To work on product development on Matchy.

The contact goes rather well, we're quite "straight", which allows us to move forward without "bullshit".

Living in Portugal, he extols the virtues of the country for cycling. To be honest, at first we weren't Not entirely convinced. The discussion progresses, and a few weeks later Fiona launches Echappée Portugal, the first images are nice and the possibility of gravel and/or road cycling is appealing Curiosity.

May 2021

We managed to travel to Girona with 18 people, a real success. It was an enriching first experience for us, and it makes us want to offer more trips to new destinations. Since each step is a new learning experience, we are committed to living each new adventure in a different way.

We're going to fine-tune all of that. It's always complicated to organize things in the middle of the season, which is a busy period.

August 2021

The dates are set! We're ready to offer a new short format to our loyal La Brigade members. A 3-day weekend, all on road bikes.

October 2021

Early departure, the plane takes off at 6:10 am; the advantage is that with the time difference, we land We arrive at 7:15 am and are in Loulé at 8 am.

Time for breakfast in town, picking up a few words of Portuguese, and getting a taste of the cost of living with this very cheap breakfast. All this in the rising temperature; we're already missing our down jackets and jeans from this morning. It's worth noting that we've gone from 3 degrees Celsius in Annecy a few hours earlier to over 20 degrees already.

We collect our rooms, the bikes, and at 11am we set off for this first day, 85 km and 1100 m of elevation gain to get warmed up and discover the hilly hinterland.

We don't Let's be honest, for us it's a real surprise, and definitely a favorite. You remember when I told you I wasn't convinced about the destination. That's probably what makes the discovery even better (a bit like Dewey, a Malcolm in the Middle reference: "I wasn't expecting anything, but I was still disappointed"). but conversely)

We enjoyed a break at a small local bike café; the weather was beautiful and warm, so we ended up having to buy water at a small supermarket. A great start to the trip! We had time to relax by the pool when we got back. The rooms were clean and the hotel was in a fantastic location. The stay was off to a great start, especially with the pre-dinner drinks on offer. Caneca (a large beer) and grilled fish—ready for day two.

Day two, after a good breakfast at the hotel, including some pasteis de nata (cliché, of course), a little over 100 km On the agenda, we have the climb of THE local mountain, Malhao. We start the day with a visit to the local market; after all, there's more to life than just cycling.

108 km in total with almost 2200m of elevation gain, a great route for an end-of-season ride. The main objective was to have a good time together and enjoy the mild weather, as winter arrives far too quickly here!

Two things in particular make cycling very enjoyable. The road surface is just perfect; the Loulé region is quite wealthy thanks to tourism, and all the roads are in very good condition.And as for traffic, there's practically no one on the roads, and the few cars that pass by respect us. And any cyclist in 2021 is aware of that!

In addition to that, the profile is varied and quite playful, it's a bit like a slide, allowing each brigadier to challenge our young guide Tomas in every turn.

In addition to that, in the evenings we get to eat at small restaurants carefully chosen by Fiona, and hear local anecdotes from Jérôme. The Medrohno in particular (which varies from 35 degrees to 70 depending on the restaurant, beware of danger).

Last day already!

Another chance to vary the route. A bit flatter, heading towards the coast. It's a nice change of scenery, very pleasant. We discover the beautiful village of Tavira where we stop for lunch. "Tosta Mista," the local toast, and knowing how to order a beer and basic food, we could have stayed another week. Unfortunately, it's almost time to go back.

We can enjoy the pool a little longer, a shandy in hand. There are so many memories, as the stay was enriching despite its length. The sunshine was a real source of energy. The cost of living, the warm welcome, the roads, and the relationship with Fiona and Jérôme made this break very pleasant.

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