Day 61: Lagos to Faro | 88km
1 August 2026
With a clean bike but worryingly weak brakes, I headed off as the sun was rising and Lagos was waking up. The air felt breezy, but there was a promise of high temperatures later in the day. As I passed the beach, I saw some people out running and a few cyclists passed me, giving me a nod of respect as they did. With few deep social connections on this trip, these small gestures from strangers take on a bigger meaning. It’s always nice to be greeted by other cyclists, but even better when they are bikepackers, as I know we each recognise the effort the other is putting in. Bikepacking is fun, but it sure as hell isn’t easy.
I passed Portimão and Albufeira on the way, briefly stopping in both cities to grab a snack from my bag, have a drink, and just rest a little before continuing on. For the first time in a while, my body felt quite sluggish, and although it kept moving forward, it was with more effort than in the past few days. Fatigue accumulates, and perhaps it’s because I know I’m close to the finish line that I’m starting to feel it. I made a mental note to buy more snacks for tomorrow to keep myself fuelled.
Like I said, my brakes were worryingly bad, and I didn’t feel confident pushing too much on the descents in case I had to stop suddenly. Faulty brakes are perhaps the most dangerous issue you can have with your bike, so I looked up bike mechanics nearby and luckily found one just 15km outside of Faro and still on the way. The woman at the reception was Polish-Portuguese and very excited to chat with me about the journey. She was herself very interested in doing a longer trip but had never gotten around to it, so I urged her to take the leap. I made a point, however, that going away for over two months on your first bikepacking adventure is probably not ideal. She nodded and said she was thinking something like 1,000km. Wise move!
We had a coffee while the mechanic fixed the bike, but I was curious about the process since I’d like to improve my own mechanic skills. The brake pads were severely worn down from weeks of going up and down mountains along the Camino del Norte, so it was good that I stopped, as the brakes could have stopped working altogether any day. The disc itself was also a bit bruised, probably from hitting something, so he made some adjustments to straighten it out. If you’re thinking about a bike trip yourself, please get your bike serviced by a professional. I’m the first one to try fixing things myself, but the confidence and calm you feel from having your bike professionally evaluated and set up is worth so much. I left the bike shop feeling relieved that I was able to fix yet another issue. Hopefully it’s the last one before the end.
I arrived in Faro pretty early, so I rolled around the centre for a bit since it was too early to check in at the hostel. There were no campsites available, so a hostel it was. The city looked nice, especially the older part, but there was no beach close by, which has otherwise become routine for me to visit each night in Portugal to watch the sun set into the Atlantic. After fulfilling my sightseeing duties, I felt absolutely exhausted and perhaps had a brief thought that I might be getting heatstroke, so I sat down on a bench on the main street by the bay and just stared into nothing. My mind was empty, perhaps aware that I needed all my energy just to mend my tired body.