Buffer zone 3 and Part I

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Buffer zone 3

   Pico Island rises out of the Atlantic in the central Azores as a single enormous volcano, and its summit, at about 2,351 metres, is the highest point in Portugal. It is a country of black lava, small stone-walled fields and a sea that is always close, with the great cone usually wrapped in cloud above you.

   Read the complete Buffer zone 3 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Buffer zone 3 is where the day begins. Next is Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Cult.

2. 2. Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Cult

   The vines on Pico grow in a basalt maze. For five hundred years, the islanders have built tiny walled enclosures called currais out of black volcanic stone, each one just big enough for a few vines, to protect the plants from salt wind and sea spray, and the result is a landscape of thousands of small rectangles covering the rough coastal lava plain, mile after mile, with parallel walls running down toward the sea. UNESCO listed this vineyard culture in 2004, and the sight of it from the coastal road is among the strangest and most beautiful in Europe. The grapes ripen in the heat that the black stone holds, and the wines, especially the white Verdelho, were once shipped to the courts of the Russian tsars.

   Read the complete Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Cult write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Cult comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Part I.

3. 3. Part I

   Part I belongs to the protected vineyard landscape of Pico, the Azorean island dominated by a single volcano, and it lies on the northern side, between Cais do Pico and São Roque, with Madalena a bit further west. It is the other face of the island from the sunny southern slopes, a coast where the sea beats against black rock, the cloud sits low on the pasture, and the fields are small and green. The place is best understood as part of a long strip of cultivated lava running along the shore.

   Read the complete Part I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 33 km into the recorded legs you reach Part I. Next is back through Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Cult.

4. 4. back through Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Cult

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Cult write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Cult, late in the day. Next is Buffer zone 3.

5. 5. Buffer zone 3

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Buffer zone 3 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Buffer zone 3. That is the ride.