Thursday, 9th May
Another glorious day, and despite most people spending a lot of time cleaning and preparing their bikes for the ride, everyone seemed quite keen to get the briefing done and get on the road.
Just after leaving the hotel, we returned over the same bridge over which we had entered Saubadia the previous evening, but somehow the view of the peninsula ahead seemed even more impressive.
The road followed the coast, and there wasn't much traffic, so the riding was very enjoyable.
As we approached the very spectacular cliffs that descended steeply into the sea at the end of the promontory, we came across the ruins of a castle or defensive fortress that sat near the entrance to the river.
On the other side of the peninsular was a small fishing town, and further ahead even more impressive coastline.
We had coffee on the coast in Terracina and then turned inland for a long ride into Fondi to avoid the busy coast highway. From Fondi to Iitri was a 5km steady climb and decent, at the bottom of which we found a fortress and a lovely square in which to eat lunch.
Coming back towards the coast there was an aquaduct
Just after leaving the hotel, we returned over the same bridge over which we had entered Saubadia the previous evening, but somehow the view of the peninsula ahead seemed even more impressive.
The road followed the coast, and there wasn't much traffic, so the riding was very enjoyable.
As we approached the very spectacular cliffs that descended steeply into the sea at the end of the promontory, we came across the ruins of a castle or defensive fortress that sat near the entrance to the river.
On the other side of the peninsular was a small fishing town, and further ahead even more impressive coastline.
We had coffee on the coast in Terracina and then turned inland for a long ride into Fondi to avoid the busy coast highway. From Fondi to Iitri was a 5km steady climb and decent, at the bottom of which we found a fortress and a lovely square in which to eat lunch.
Coming back towards the coast there was an aquaduct
And on the coast a number of very interesting and historic towns which
we would have loved to explore, had we had the time and inclination.
These included Gaeta which we could only see from a distance.
We road along the coast for 20 or 30m kilometres, and towards the end of the ride came across a her of sheep.
Carl (on the left), Trevor (on the right), Roger (from Bike Adventures) and Team Tony must have still had too much testosterone, because they decided a sprint finish was required, but Carl had so much energy left that he broke a spoke, so the sprint turned into a wimp finish.
Some of the boys thought a swim and some suntanning was an ideal way to finish the day, and this was completed with a few beers and chips (crisps) purchased from the local supermarket.
Dinner was at the hotel, and included a (rather average) "musician" with keyboard, but after he went off for dinner, Ed (one of our fellow riders) was encouraged to give a performance of his own.
Ed is a composer in his own right, but he is also able to play just about anything that the gallery (audience) requested.
Because tomorrow is another (cycling) day, the night ended much earlier than it otherwise might have.
No comments:
Post a Comment