Italy

Last day today and the battered body is ready for a rest - the comfy bed was very hard to leave this morning!  The first part of the ride was a speedy pootle on the flat (sorry bum again), with the final cappuccino served by a very beautiful Italian man in a deserted seaside resort. After negotiating the last big town and opportunity for Italian drivers and potholes to do their worst, the ride became a stunning rollercoaster along the coastline. Sadly lunch was a mediocre bowl of pasta in a restaurant with terrible muzak, instead of a yummy picnic and Bob joined in the sulk by getting his third puncture.  The end of the ride was however rather fabulous, finishing at the bottom of Italy at a beautiful lighthouse with a glass of Spumante. Bob was treated to a clean with copious baby wipes before being packed into his bag and Rusty and I had a delightfully chilled beverage or three watching the sun go down. And so it ends, after almost 1000 miles of pedalling up and down an awful...

Fortunately today was a much better day on the bike! Maybe it was the bucket of red wine that helped me to sleep, but the body was much more cooperative when we set off. It also helped that the ride to the coffee stop was beautiful and relatively traffic free through olive groves and past stunning trulli (hobbity stone houses) The coffee stop was in Ostuni that is known  for its whitewashed old town (and another puncture for Bob) We then headed back to the deserted, out of season seaside for a paddle and a picnic with gelato, happy day. Obviously we then had to have the daily joy of pedalling through a city (Brindisi) to give the Italian motorists their opportunity to terrify a cyclist. Then another 20 miles of flat riding aka bum furiously protesting, before arriving at our gorgeous hotel in the middle of nowhere. Masseria Coccioli has been completely restored by a Swedish couple and is just what a weary cyclist needs - cold beer, swimming pool, comfy bed, great food. Just one mor...

Today was not a good day, the ride could be described as Russian roulette with terrible Italian drivers and I was grumpy mcgrumpy. I was stiff, sore and tired when we set off and had barely warmed up when we arrived in Matera, the ‘city of stone’ and unbelievably awful drivers. We left the bikes with the van and Wally on guard duty, then had a wander around the UNESCO listed ‘Sassi’ houses. All very interesting and beautiful but I’m not entirely convinced it was worth the terrifying cycle ride. A Nutella doughnut and cappuccino vaguely cheered me up and then it was off to bounce along the potholes for 30 miles to lunch. Bizarrely the location chosen for today’s picnic was in a grotty play area next to a horrible apartment block. I ate my lunch at warp speed and pedalled off on my own to get the riding over with. The last 17 miles managed to be straight, boring, potholed and scary with the final straw being lunged at by a snappy terrier. My only photo from the ride is suitably grumpy wi...

I suspected that the 84 miles today were going to be tough and I wasn’t wrong! The day started with a spectacular sunrise and we managed to stay dry all day, woohoo. The first 25 miles were like riding around the fens at home, completely flat, but with a delightful Italian style road surface - ouchy. Apparently there were flamingos out there somewhere but I just saw bird like things (terrible eyesight!) At the first stop after trundling along at 17mph, the battered body was refuelled with two cappuccinos and yet more cake. There was then quite a rude climb through vineyards and olive trees. Lunch was next to Castel del Monte, a hexagonal castle on top of a hill, obviously more climbing! The final 31 miles of rolling hills were a battle of mind over aching body and I was very relieved to remove my bum from the saddle. Rusty had fun trying to find a parking space and then the accommodation which is in the centre of the old town. He was really not impressed but he was dragged off to do a ...

I was looking forward to a spectacular rollercoaster ride along the coast in the sunshine today, but the weather had other plans. After a suitable amount of faffing, a decision was made to get going and fortunately the sun came out.  The coastal resorts were like ghost towns so the 1st stop was at a castle fortification with a beautiful view of the dramatic coastline. The clouds looked increasingly ominous... I was desperately hoping they would blow away but the deluge began on a descent and I had to give myself a good talking to as I crawled my way down. Unfortunately one of the other riders had a tumble and is rather bruised and battered,  but luckily no serious damage. We regrouped at a bar and I wrung my socks and gloves out and drank two cappuccinos - I have drunk far too much coffee on this trip! We then had a 20 km climb to lunch which warmed me up but I was so hungry by the time I got to the top. Then another descent around multiple hairpins, fortunately in dry conditi...