Just over two weeks before the start of the 26th Portugal de Lés-a-Lés road trip, everything is ready for the great adventure promoted since 1999 by the Portuguese Motorcycling Federation. The registration period ended this Sunday and the itinerary book is being finalized, with this year, for the first time in the history of the largest mototouring marathon in Europe, it will be available in electronic format in addition to the traditional paper version.
Technological innovation that will not waste all the richness of historical and legendary details, natural or architectural, scenic or gastronomic, to which adventurers are accustomed, but rather add a practical electronic navigation aid. This is through the DMD2 App created by the Portuguese company Thork Racing, completely free, and currently only available for devices with the Android operating system. The electronic application can already be downloaded on Google Play, and it will be possible to access the ‘road-book’ and other route data at the time of the Technical and Document Checks on June 6th in Portimão.
Additional help on the most demanding routesWith features that will help in navigation, without fear of missing the correct route, but without losing the enriching explanations about the fauna and flora of each region crossed, the DMD2 system will gain added importance in the 3rd and final stage. This is because on June 9, on the link between Covilhã and Penafiel, there is practically no straight road. It will be the shortest stage with about 370 kilometers, but also the most demanding, requiring more hours of driving.
Crossing the most imposing mountain range in the national territory, the mototourists will start by tackling the curves that will lead the caravan to the 1500 meters of altitude of Nave de Santo António before descending to Manteigas, entering one of the municipalities with the best-preserved forest in Portugal. With the North on the horizon, a return to a road used 20 years ago, in the 5th Lés-a-Lés, until Gouveia, enjoying the beauties of Serra da Estrela before entering the Beirão plateau via Fornos de Algodres.With the great adventure approaching its end, time for new mountains, passing through the Távora river valley, descending to Pinhão – which holds the record for the highest maximum temperature in the country – climbing to Sabrosa, passing through Vila Real, Alvão mountain range, Lamas de Olo and Poio Valley towards Cabeceiras de Basto. From this land that always welcomes motorcyclists so well, we climb on the map to the northernmost point of this Lés-a-Lés, with a visit to the fabulous DiverLanhoso extreme sports park. And from there to Vizela where the traditional “bolinhol” can be enjoyed in the garden of the Thermal Park, created between 1884 and 1886 and which has a number of giant trees like no other Portuguese park or garden. A true lung of Vizela where we can begin to reflect on another presence in Portugal from Lés-a-Lés, thinking about arriving in Penafiel after driving as many hours as it would take us to reach the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen. And, with the blessing of Our Lady of Sameiro, crossing the finish line in an edition for adventurous and tough motorcyclists, regardless of the machine used. Because Lés-a-Lés is, as always, an adventure for all motorcycles, but not for all motorcyclists…
