Friday, May 17th
Ride Profile (My Garmin)
The day started much better than the previous day ended - sunny, no wind, and everyone in better spirits. Except that we had to do an extra 10 km to get back on route, and we also had to climb the first 500 meters of the day, starting just down the road.
The day started much better than the previous day ended - sunny, no wind, and everyone in better spirits. Except that we had to do an extra 10 km to get back on route, and we also had to climb the first 500 meters of the day, starting just down the road.
It seemed to be a day made for climbers, but "old" climbers - Derick, Tony, David, Brian and Rob led the pack to the top of the first climb, only to run into a flock of sheep just after to summit:
Then there was a break-away which was eventually re-united at the first coffee stop for the day. TD and Trevor caught up, but Trev was suffering from a swollen ankle for which TD had some dodgy drugs"
The road continued down hill for about 10 km and passed through some quite poor areas, most notable from the quality of the buildings and the amount of uncollected rubbish beside the containers at the side of the road.
After another couple of steep climbs, we eventually returned to the coast where we had our first glimpse of Sicily in the distance.
The descent to Bagnara Calabria was almost as good as that to Amalfi a few days earlier. There was another cycling group struggling up the hill in the opposite direction, and it turned out most were Australians cycling from Palermo to Como. I stopped to chat with one, and in the process lost sight of my ride group for the day.
Descending int Bagnara, I entered the town down a steep road and came to the beach where there were neither restaurants nor cyclists. So, I left town and resigned myself to eating lunch alone.
In the distance I saw Scilla, and thought it looked like a likely (late) lunch stop - it was already after 2:00pm.
Although alone, the riding was still spectacular, and the coast as beautiful as any we had seen on this ride.
While Scilla looked perfect, it was difficult to access with a bicycle so I went into the small town just on the other side of the headland. By complete chance, there was my "team" for the day, just ordering paninis and iced tea.
Great minds think alike, and Carol took my photo, complete with pirate jersey, bike and fort in the background.
After lunch she also gave Carl a bit of a workout - he reckons he's got a sore back, or something. We think it's a ruse.
I wonder what the locals thought!
As usual, getting out of these places involves a bit of a climb over the next headland, but this also provides some of the best photo opportunities.
From here it was just 10 km to the ferry terminal, so the ride was fast and fun. The queue of cars and trucks was frenetic, but with bicycles were were able to jump to the front. We had also developed a bit of cheek by now - Trevor even thought he's argue with the port authorities, but without success (remember who controls the ferries in this part of the world)!
On board, we went to the front of the boat and the views were great. The weather was also a contrast to the wind and (almost) rain of the previose day.
After a bit of a struggle to find our hotel, Ed settled in for a concert on the foyer's grand piano.
After which the "beer club" set off in search of a meal, initially unsuccessfully, but eventually something quite nice involving lots of antipasti, wine red and white) and a few main courses (primi and secondi).
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