Wednesday, May 15th
Ride Profile (My Garmin)
The morning briefing took place in the street outside the Hotel Vittoria in Sapri, and started on time at 9:00am because Team Trevor is punctual.
The ride out of Sapri along the coast was spectacular, and most riders seemed to stop for photo opportunities at every bend. In the distance to the left, if you look closely, you can see San Giovanni A Piro, location for yesterday's best lunch stop.
The road wound upwards hugging the cliff tops and the riders were strung out for kilometers:
At the top of one climb was a short(ish) tunnel, and this is Brian, David and Monique entering one of them:
From the top of another climb you could see beaches, towns and more road continuing as far as the horizon:
There appear to be a number of caves and sanctuaries along this part of the coast, and even a statue of Jesus Christ - what better cyclist to pose with this one than Tony D, a catholic, albeit lapsed:
It was still before the start of the summer season, and there were a lot of bars and restaurants being set-up along the beaches. Most were still closed, but we found one open and had the cold drink that we didn't get for breakfast in our hotel. Trevor was amused that the bar owner repeated everything he said (Coffee - coffee, coke - coke, beer - beer, how much? - how much?, tosser - tosser ... you get the picture).
By Australian standards, these are not high quality beaches, but they do put a lot of effort into cleaning them, providing facilities, and of course charging for them - 12 euros per umbrella and deck chair per day! Pay for a beach? What kind of country is this anyway?
Looking back from the next summit you can see how extensive these beach establishments are. You can also see that the Romans liked beaches. Well, enough to put watch-towers from one end of the coast to the other to defend against "marauders".
Finally, at the hotel the beer club convened, even though the bottles were small, the temperature equivocal, and the seating a little basic:
Then Trevor turned up! I now know why I never bought a pair of cycling sandals! The British seem to love them, but so far haven't convinced me of their advantage. We know all about "helmet hair", now we also know about "sandal feet".
The hotel is OK, but between the balcony and the Med, there's a train line, and as I write (10:00pm), the evening services haven't yet stopped for the night...
The morning briefing took place in the street outside the Hotel Vittoria in Sapri, and started on time at 9:00am because Team Trevor is punctual.
The ride out of Sapri along the coast was spectacular, and most riders seemed to stop for photo opportunities at every bend. In the distance to the left, if you look closely, you can see San Giovanni A Piro, location for yesterday's best lunch stop.
The road wound upwards hugging the cliff tops and the riders were strung out for kilometers:
At the top of one climb was a short(ish) tunnel, and this is Brian, David and Monique entering one of them:
From the top of another climb you could see beaches, towns and more road continuing as far as the horizon:
There appear to be a number of caves and sanctuaries along this part of the coast, and even a statue of Jesus Christ - what better cyclist to pose with this one than Tony D, a catholic, albeit lapsed:
It was still before the start of the summer season, and there were a lot of bars and restaurants being set-up along the beaches. Most were still closed, but we found one open and had the cold drink that we didn't get for breakfast in our hotel. Trevor was amused that the bar owner repeated everything he said (Coffee - coffee, coke - coke, beer - beer, how much? - how much?, tosser - tosser ... you get the picture).
By Australian standards, these are not high quality beaches, but they do put a lot of effort into cleaning them, providing facilities, and of course charging for them - 12 euros per umbrella and deck chair per day! Pay for a beach? What kind of country is this anyway?
Looking back from the next summit you can see how extensive these beach establishments are. You can also see that the Romans liked beaches. Well, enough to put watch-towers from one end of the coast to the other to defend against "marauders".
Finally, at the hotel the beer club convened, even though the bottles were small, the temperature equivocal, and the seating a little basic:
Then Trevor turned up! I now know why I never bought a pair of cycling sandals! The British seem to love them, but so far haven't convinced me of their advantage. We know all about "helmet hair", now we also know about "sandal feet".
The hotel is OK, but between the balcony and the Med, there's a train line, and as I write (10:00pm), the evening services haven't yet stopped for the night...
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