Richard W is trying his hand at the blog-writing thing today…
So it was always going to be a somber dinner. Tony’s last night in Salerno and Italy. Two Dutch girls staying in our AirBnb recommended the best pizza restaurant in Salerno. In fact, the one wearing just a towel said the pizza was better than sex. The pizza was good, although by common consensus we couldn’t agree with her!
No tearful goodbyes but a sad moment as we all said goodnight to Tony and wished him well for the journey and operation. John was up at 4am to take Tony to the airport and then we were 4. With a van loaded by 10am, we set off from Salerno for a long flat ride into the wind. With Richard Saunders on speed we managed to keep up 20 miles an hour on flat coastal roads. Beautiful scenery whizzed by as we sped along the coast passing evermore beautiful beaches. By 1pm we had covered 50 miles and we’re ready for lunch. Pulling into a beautiful seaside town, we found a restaurant on the beach and chose pasta…of course. This time both Richard W and Paul decided to swim in the sea using the Ride Route 20 tops as makeshift swimming costumes. The water was a perfect temperature on a hot day to rejuvenate tired legs. Lunch was perfect and on to the afternoon ride which involved considerable climbing. Climbing on a bike is strangely peaceful. As the temperature climbed into the mid 90s, the rhythmic sound of creaking shoes and dropping sweat kept us going. Dark clouds hovered over the hills and rumbling thunder began to fill the air. When the rain came it fell in huge drops, bringing relief from the heavy heat. At one point the hill became so steep that only Paul with his granny gear managed to make it without stopping.
It was a relief to miss the worst of the rain as we rode into Marina di Caparote into the peaceful Plaza di Santa Dominica which was to be our home for the night. We covered 80 miles (128km) and climbed 3,850 feet of ascent (1,167m) for a cumulative distance of 905 miles (1,448km) and elevation of 52,995 feet (16,415m).
Food and wine update tomorrow…! Photos just came through and looks like it was mixed fish and a red wine, for some reason adorned by a picture of the philosopher Parmenides on it, that apparently was much better than it looks from the bottle. And he was Greek to boot…see what happens when I’m not there to choose the wine!!