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For those in the Lisbon/ Central Portugal region; My family and I are moving next month for my job, office is Queluz and will most likely live somewhere between Lisbon and Cascais or maybe even Costa Caparica depending on what we find. COVID has not been kind to by workout regime (or weight) and hoping that the change of scenery will help me regain the fitness I used to have. I have a few questions regarding the Tri/Cycling scene there:
1. How friendly is traffic to bike commuting? Do many people do it outside of Lisbon proper?
2. Do I need to join a tri club to race? On the federation page, it looks like there are bunch of tris nationally but not all seem open to anyone.
3. Best places to SBR in the area?
Would love to connect once settled in the area and restrictions lowered! Thanks!
I'm no longer living in Portugal or Lisbon for that matter, but I can try to help.
- It mostly isn't friendly at all. I lived downtown so every time I cycled I had to go out towards the riverside to then go either towards the Parque das Nações or Estoril/Sintra. It was always scary. It's a European capital. Lots of cars. No two ways about it. That said, the N6 all the way through Cascais then the N247 up to Guincho is a lovely cycle. You can then climb up to the Serra de Sintra through that side (IM Cascais 70.3 bike course) or you can climb the serra through the other side - Estoril, Penha Longa, Linhó and then go down and back to Lisbon through Guincho. I preferred that.
You'll also be a "short" car ride from Setúbal and the Arrábida mountain range which is lovely.
2- you'd need to be a federation member. Some competitions are only open to clubs but many are open to anyone. If you want to be one of the cool kids you kind of have to. If you mostly just want to enjoy and partake of longer distance stuff you probably don't have to.
3- swimming pools if/when they're open, whatever is closest. BaÃa de Cascais, careful about the boats. Any beach east of the BaÃa will be ok for OWS. Seaside won't be swim friendly very often.
For running I mostly went to the marginal, either east or west bound depending on what I felt like. Lots of people run there. Also Monsanto is very popular for both running (including trails) and cycling (I did a bunch of hill repeats there). Check out the Strava segments for clues.
4 (extra)- plan a road trip with the bike to explore the Estrela, Freita and Gerês mountain ranges.
Btw, roadie etiquette in Portugal is awful. Older people are friendlier. Also friendlier up North.