Madeira has shed its blue rinse reputation to become a hiking, trail running and mountain biking honeypot. But dropped-bar cycling? It won’t be usurping the Canaries and Majorca in the cycling escape popularity stakes just yet, but our January visit unearthed plenty of less-visited tarmac and off-road excursions for adventurous road and gravel riders alike. Especially those who relish climbing…
The fact that Madeira’s famoussits 1,000km from the Portuguese mainland in the Atlantic Ocean. Yet the rewards once you climb into the mountains north of the vibrant capital of Funchal are worth experiencing the calf-shredding pain for (alternatively, pop your bikes on the cable car to Monte to avoid the 20%+ gradient climbs out of the city).
