Ponta Delgada is the main town of the Azores, on the south coast of São Miguel, a green volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic. The town is laid out along the sea, with black basalt and white limestone pavements in patterns that make the streets look like a drawing, and three big arches, the Portas da Cidade, mark the old entrance from the harbour. Fishing boats, whale-watching boats and ferries come and go, and the island's wealth once came from oranges, then pineapples, which are still grown in glasshouses and are sold in the market with a sweetness you will not forget.
Outside town the island is a lesson in volcanoes. West of Ponta Delgada the road climbs to the rim of Sete Cidades, a huge caldera holding two lakes side by side, one blue and one green, with a village on the shore and hydrangea hedges along the road in summer. East, the Lagoa do Fogo sits in a crater high in the middle, and further on the valley of Furnas has hot springs, steaming vents and a stew, the cozido, cooked underground in the volcanic heat. The oldest tea plantation in Europe, at Gorreana on the north coast, still produces tea on the hillside, and you can walk through the rows.
The riding is very good, and also very wet. The roads wind up and down the volcanic slopes between stone walls, cattle pastures and forests of cedar and Japanese cryptomeria, with tight bends and sharp gradients, and the views change with each ridge. Cloud can drop to the road in minutes, and the island is famous for having four seasons in a day, so a waterproof layer is not optional. Cows are moved along the roads by farmers, and slow vehicles, sudden fog and wet cobbles in villages are the hazards. Spring and early autumn are comfortable, and summer is warmer and busier, especially in August.
Ponta Delgada, with about twenty thousand people in the town itself, has all the fuel, food and services you need, and stations are spaced around the island but not in every village. Fill up before you head to the remote crater roads. Try fresh grilled limpets with garlic and butter, a local treat, and a slice of the island's cheese, and finish with a coffee on the waterfront.