For the run up to Easter we decided to take a week long break away on the wonderful Portuguese island of Madeira, our third visit in less than a year, each time staying at our favourite hotel near Funchal to sample some of the fine weather, great food and local wine while seated each evening at our selection of favourite restaurants. On previous trips to Madeira while walking in the mountains and following Levada trails I kept thinking how good it would be to ride around the Island to head out along the coastal roads and into the mountains. I had recently read an ABR article about some of the islands amazing scenery to the North of Funchal and out further west. Another good review was found in the MAG (Motorcycle Action Group) ‘Road’ publication of a fellow members experience being led by Steve the owner of Madeira Island Motorcyle Rental/Tours. With Helen’s agreement in losing me for the day (she’d be glad of that no doubt!) I contacted Steve and arranged a days riding with him for later in the week, leaving me to pack some biker jeans, boots and gloves in my suitcase, Steve would sort out the bike and supply me with a jacket, helmet and any wet weather gear on the day.
Steve setup a WhatsApp group to confirm arrangements as it turned out he had one other rider joining us from the UK, and we provisionally all agreed Steve’s suggestion of the Thursday looked the better day for weather up in the mountains. The island is subject to numerous micro-climates so Steve’s knowledge of how the weather systems worked would be essential in determining a good days ride. We all met up with him at a Cafe just along from the port near the Cristiano Ronaldo museum, so there I was introduced to Jamie, Steve and Karen. Jamie had recently passed his bike test who now owns one of the new Tiger 900’s, and Karen with her shocking purple hair explained how she enjoys bikes and considered taking her test too was along as a pillion passenger with Steve. Steve led us to a garage facility nearby where we were introduced to our bikes for the day, the easy to ride Honda NC 700/750 range, perfect twins with enough low down torque, kitted out with a top-box ideal for my camera and a few extra layers, we were given our jackets and helmets too. Steve explained he prefers to use open face full visored helmets to save removing them between stops giving good visibility. I was really taken with my jacket a Merlin in a brown classic ‘Trail Rider’ style. The weather was perfect, very little risk of rain, we were soon heading off into the mountains where it soon became much cooler, I was pleased I had my cold killers base layer jacket underneath.
Our morning ride was something quite special, winding our way up into the mountains and then back down the other side to the North of the island with me following behind Jamie and a Steve and Karen ahead. The pace was gentle, with a little care to watch out for gravelly sections and some rock falls we soon found our way facing towards the famous Miradouro da Portella rock formation and wound our way down for a coffee stop in Porto da Cruz. Great fun With Jamie and Karen, both hailing from ‘oop north’ we marvelled at my cappuccino being a bit too pretentious with all of that cream on top. Steve gave us some great introduction to the region, the local sugar cane being used for Rum production and Jamie explaining how he’d been ‘ripped off’ at the famous Funchal fruit market on day one of his holiday, quite the sore point we couldn’t let him forget whenever we passed a fruit farmer on his way to market .. ‘how much?’
I was really enjoying being on the Honda, quite a bit lighter than my GS, and easier to move around, we cruised further round the north side and passed through the village of Santana with the traditional triangular shaped houses with straw roofs. It was good to be with such good company as we stopped by several viewing points along the way to view waterfalls cascading down the mountain, have a chat and the sun warming up more in the afternoon I ditched my base layers as Steve led us to a wonderful spot for lunch overlooking the bay in a very pretty secluded spot. The recommended local chopped meat and chips (can’t remember the Portuguese name) was ideal, yet a little filling for us all we sat and discussed the possibilities of meeting at the hilarious Karen’s Diner in Sheffield sometime, apparently a new themed restaurant where the service is deliberately poor ‘any Karen’ wouldn’t be able to complain. Hilarious!
The remainder of the day was spent riding out west with equally awe-inspiring scenery heading back in-land and south back toward Funchal. I can’t recall the exact route we took, but the benefit of taking a guided tour relieves you of any navigation woes one might have trying to plan a route like this in a strange land. No need to worry about maps or sat-navs, we followed Steve without any issue. The traffic even in and around the city was light and we didn’t lose each other at all. One final stop on the coast for coffee and we were all saying goodbye wondering how it is that time really does fly when you are enjoying yourself. One last ride back to Steve’s lock up to change and go our separate ways, such a great day out with great company. If you find yourself in Madeira wanting to take a ride, look up Steve at Madeira Motorcycle Rentals/Tours he’ll certainly look after you well and tailor a great ride for a good price 👍
