Mondim Madness 2024 with Adventure-bike.be

When: 27 April - 04 May 2024

Where: Mondim | North Portugal

Level: Medium

This tour brings you straight into the hearth of North Portugal. Imagine green mountains full of vineyards, rivers covered with boulders and authentic mountain villages that are connect with cobblestone roads. In this area, everything is made out of stone, the houses, the bridges, the old roman roads, the fences,… But more important for us, also the tracks! So set you suspension soft, train your mussels and get ready to eat rocks!

Four out of six nights we will be spending at Quinta do Rio, a rural camping ground at the Mântega river, 5km’s from Mondim do Basto. The camping is only accessible by gravel roads and will not be open yet for other customers so we will have the whole site for ourselves. The owner, a dear friend of us, Jochem, used to organise 4×4 tours and also is a biker. So no boring rules here. In Quinta do Rio, we’ll be staying in cabins, spread out over several terraces, as this us to be an old vineyard.

We realise that riding enduro for more than 3 days can be tiring and hard on the body as well. This is the reason we opted to do a 3-day excursion to Vieiro do Minho in the middle of the trip. After the first technical day in Mondim do Basto, we’ll head to Vieiro do Minho by fast and smooth tracks that will only take about half a day. In Minho we’ll be staying in a small family run hotel with a beautiful pool, surrounded by nature. After a technical but scenic day in Minho, we’ll head back to Jochem’s place by smooth backroads the day after.

So the whole trip will be a variation of technical and smooth days. We honestly think the Mondim Madness tour is the best of both worlds. You will have technical and physically demanding trails combined with beautiful scenery and spectacular mountain ranges. So a little pain, for lots of gain!

Day 1

Arrival in Porto Airport late in the evening – Transport to Quinta do Rio with private shuttle bus – Quick beer and fried snacks on arrival. Bed time.

Day 2

Breakfast not to early – Soft ride to the fuel station and a short loop to Penedo das Grades to get used to the terrain. Lunch at the restaurant close to the camping ground In the afternoon some more technical tracks around the Quinta to get a better view on the level of each rider.

Day 3

Breakfast at Mondim before leaving off to Viero do Minho - Smooth tracks with the option of more technical and rocky climbs - Fast wide tracks that end at Taberna do Parque with entrecote for lunch. After passing at Casa do Penedo, we will be descending the mountain range before arriving in the hotel – Here you will be giving the choice to relax at the pool or do some hill climbs close by – Diner in the restaurant, next door, which is also part of the hotel.

Day 4

Technical loop around Minho towards lake Venda Nova – On the way we’ll cross the highest point of the Cabreira mountain range, visit some old mines and after the lunch we’ll cross the famous Ponte da Misarela (with huge waterfalls) – Back at the hotel it’s time for a pool party and of course diner.

Day 5

Breakfast not too early – A technical start with some single tracks over huge boulders that soon turn into smooth trails again – Descending back to Quinta do Rio where Jochem will await us with fresh pizza’s.

Day 6

Last day where people can choose to chill at the camping ground or head to the Fisgas do Ermelo by motorcycle – A canyon with huge waterfalls and pools where you can dive in – Toast to a great adventure and last meal with Jochem.

Day 7

After cleaning the bikes in Mondim, we go straight to Quinta Raza for some wine tasting of famous Vinho Verde. Soup and snack at the camping before taking the cab back to Porto – Flight back to Brussel, back to civilization!