Week 4

June 25, Saturday.

Pineto, Italy to Termoli, Italy.
115 kms. 6 hrs. 50 min. Av. 16.7 Total 1968 kms.

Woke up at 05:10, packed my things, made and drank my coffee, went to wash up, when I got back to my tent, I was swarmed by these mini horse flies. And man did they bite.
By the time I left camp at 06:40 I had about 15 bites on my legs, which grew to the size of 2 euro coins with blisters at the spot I was bitten. And they itched like hell.
Later on I pulled into a gas station which had a bar next to it, I asked the locals if I should be worried about the bites and they assured me that it was nothing serious, and not to worry it was normal around these parts.
I was angry that the manager of the campsite did not warn about those nasty little f____ers.
I went straight thru the city of Pescara, I didn't bother to stop, my mind was on the damn itching from the bites. A few Kms on after Ortona there was a good climb up to this Canadian war cemetery which I stopped and visited.
After the hills of Ortona I found myself looking at a downed bridge over the river Sangro.
I started to look for a detour when this really nice man riding his scooter with his daughter on the back offered to help me through the maze of back roads to the next bridge, a very hot midday detour of about 15kms.
The story went like this, one day this bridge inspector came to check the bridge he found a couple of cracks on one of the supports, that evening they closed the bridge, by the time the repair man came the next morning the bridge was gone (good timing?) hehe
Before Vasto there were a couple of medium to heavy climbs and I blew over them with no problem, but there was some confusion on the road after Vasto because I was forced to go on the autostrada for a couple hundred meters before I could join the S16 again, the views were generally getting better.
After that it was pretty easy going to Termoli, flat but with some wood once in a while.
The camping (only one in the area) was a real dump and not all that cheap, it was on a small rise about the sea, and very basic. That evening I met up with this young couple for New Zealand, they were backpacking through Italy, and we had a nice chat together over a couple beers.
They had just bought a package of four toilet paper rolls, and I asked them if they would sell me two of them, the girl said I could have two for no charge, she said that way I would remember them every time I whent to the toilet LOL, now I shall never forget them.
Nice couple, good fun, may they have safe journeys.

  
Left to Right:
1- The collapsed bridge over the river Trigno. The midium sized hills on the top right corner of the picture, made the day a bit more challenging, a nice welcome after days of flat straight road.
2- Having a cold one after a hot day on the bike. There aren't many pictures for this days riding as many pictures were out of focus. To this day I really don't know what had happened.

June 26, Sunday.

Termoli, Itali to Vieste, Italy.
132 kms 8 hrs. 10 min. Av. 16.2 Total 2100 kms.

Woke up at 05:00 and was on the road by 06:30. Today would be very hot, and for the first 70 kms flat and mostly featureless.
Just before Lago di Lesina this group of about 30 team cyclists passed me and each and every one of them said hello it was quite funny I never said (bojorno) so many times in a row. About a km after that I met up with them by this gas station when I stopped to get resupplied, and they all came over and asked where I was from and where I was going, it was real encouraging.
There were a few little hills along the way nothing to right home about though, little bumps in the road really.
After passing Lago di Lesina on the inland side I took the road towards the sea and rode my bike between Lago di Varano and the sea, this was a really nice ride and the closer I got to Parco Nationale del Gargano the nicer the area got, and I could just about make out the hills of the park.
It was 15:30 and just before Rodi when the hills started, and before the day was over I would have done 2 very long medium climbs (+/- 7%), one heavy 3 km long at about 10% in some places with hairpins and some smaller ones in between.
During some of the climbs when I was huffing and puffing, I kept running into other day cyclists that kept saying BRAVO to me all the time and generally kept urging me on, and that made me feel real good.
The ride was good and the views were fantastic, I really enjoy riding in the forested hills, the fresh smell of pine was nice and gave me energy.
But  132 kms and all the hills at the end had taken their toll and I was gone, I needed to charge the batteries.
That's when I decided to take the next day off and rest, I heard later that day that a heat wave had started in Italy, so I had a real good reason to charge the batteries.
I checked out a couple of campsites and settled for the best one, but that too was of poor quality. I went and had a family sized pizza with several beers and went right to bed.
Still not sure what I would do the next day.

        
1- The long road a few kms before Lago di Lesina, soon after this 30+ strong Italian cycling team passed me.
2- The long road on Isola Varano, between Lago di Varano and the sea.
3- One of the tough hills before Peschici, check out the beach below.
4- Peschici for the top of one of the hills, the views were fantastic, but the heat and the climbs murderous.

June 27, Monday.

Vieste, Italy to Mattinata, Italy.
60 kms. 5 hrs. 10 min. Av.11.5 Total 2160 kms.

Woke up at 05:00 and quickly made up my mind to leave and try for something beter further on, got myself out of bed at 06:30 and was on the road at 07:45 (hangover) LOL
I would pay for leaving late and being hangover in the next 5 hours of cycling.
After Vieste there is this flat along a really nice looking beach but after that, the hills started again. The hangover last just for that one first hill and my head cleared up.
First was this medium hill and it went all right until after a few kms I got on this one hill about 3 kms long and over +/- 12% and it began to get hot and I was quickly running out of water. I should also mention that in-between these huge climbs were little ones it never stopped going up one side and down another.
When I was down to my last half litter at the bottom of this second hard climb I came across this exclusive resort with armed guards and very expensive cars parked just inside these huge iron gates.
I went over to the guards and asked if they had any water I could buy from them and they started on me in Italian about cycling over these hills on a loaded bike, and many other things I could not make out, but could guess. hehe
I smiled and nodded, they probably thought I was crazy and they gave me a 2 litter bottle of water for free, I thanked them and was on my way.
The climbing started as soon as I left, and after a couple of kms of steady climbing I figured out some things they were trying to tell me, this was one mother of a hill.
At about 20 kms long and at some places around 10 % gradient this was a real pain to get over. I could not see the top for the first 15 kms and every time I went around a corner I was looking at more climbing, in the midday sun it was torture, the splugen pass seemed easier.
Right about now I started to wonder the wisdom of leaving so late with a hangover to tackle this section of my tour.
Near the top where there was a clearing between two hills which made it very windy, I just stopped and laid down on the side of the road, I needed to catch my breath and rest awhile, and to my surprise nobody stopped to see if I was all right, I would at least slowed down and asked if everything was all right.
At this time I started to look into my map to see if there where any shortcuts, and I found a tunneled road going through the hills, after I got over the top I stopped for a sandwich, went over another medium hill to where the tunnel began and to my surprise it was an autostrada no bicycles allowed. Man that was really bad news, I was looking forward to this tunnel. There were 2 more huge climbs before I reached my goal of Manfredonia.
So I settled for Mattinata only 1 big climb away, but it had no shade which made it even harder it must have been around 50c in the midday sun.
The views where great to fantastic from the tops of these hills.
In Mattinata I checked out no less than 5 campsites before I settled for a half good one that had a swimming pool and I thought would be a good place to rest a couple of days.
After a good meal I did a couple of laps in the pool to cool off than went over to my tent and crashed, it had been a very tough 60 kms.

           
1- The first climb of the day. Vieste is the town in the far distance, and after a nice flat ride along this beautiful beach came this hill which helped cure my hangover.
2- One of many rest stops along this route. The views were very nice with all those little coves and pine forested hills around them. If you look closely on the right side of the picture, at the bend of the pole you could just still make out the town of Vieste.
3- More beautiful scenery along this really nice and picturesque coast. The going was hard but when I stopped for a break and looked around I just forgot what I went through to get there.
4- This is one of the pictures I took of the really hard hill I climbed. After this picture I still had about 4 kms of climbing to reach the top. This climb was from sea level to 794 m, and the climb before Mattinata started at 350 m and went to 796 m.
5- This picture was taken from the top of the hill after I found out the tunnel was out of limits for cyclists.
By now it was getting very hot in the midday sun, and the hills were becoming more difficult to climb.
Mattinata is in the cove before the last.

June 28, Tuesday.

Badly needed rest day. After a good nights sleep I got my stuff together and went to check out the beach. Not good at all it was full of rocks the size of my fist and they looked like they just got them out of the quarry, they all had this sharp edges. The water also looked dirty, probably because the wind was coming from the sea. Anyway I didn't want to chance getting hurt going over those rocks and into that water. So back to the swimming pool.
I called my wife to find out if the ferry's to Igoumenitsa, Greece also left from Bari, and after she checked the schedules on the internet she send me an sms.
I had enough of Italy by now, and dint care to cycle to Brindizi, I was looking forward to cycling in Greece.
The park I was in was really nice but after the park the road looked to be flat and boring again. It would be 140 kms from Mattinata to Bari with just one huge climb early in the morning.
Later on that afternoon I took my bike and checked out the town, more out of necessity. I was informed that they would spray for mosquitoes that evening and everyone had to close their tents and mobile homes and leave for a few hours.

June 29, Wednesday.

Mattinata, Italy to Bari, Italy.
140 kms. 8 hrs. 40 min. Av. 16.1 Total 2300 kms.

Woke up at 04:30 and was on the road by 06:00. Just two kms out of town the hill started, not so difficult as I feared, the grade never toped 10%, I think I was well rested so it didn't feel so difficult.  The last views of the hills were nice but the only thing on my mind was to catch that ferry in Bari and get out of Italy.
Just before Manfredonia there where 2 more small climbs, which were real easy to go over.
When I saw Manfredonia I was glad I did not try to make it here because it is big, dirty and noisy. I went straight through the town/city and in the next village I stopped at a bakery for my breakfast and lunch pizzas.
The road was hot, flat, featureless and real boring, the only excitement was when there was no more shoulder on the road and I had to share the road with the trucks, and many of them. The last couple of Kms into Bari were very difficult as I had to go onto this really busy road following the signs for the port.
The 140 kms were tiring but the thought of leaving Italy made me forget how I felt.
There were two boats leaving that evening, forgot the name of the first but the second to leave was the Blue star ferry lines. I knew them from previous trips and was always pleased with the service and I also found them much cleaner than the rest.
Not the cheapest but I'm willing to pay that little bit extra for the smiling service and the clean facilities.
As I was not allowed to go to my bike after the ship leaves port I took all the things I needed for a shower, and my sleeping bag.
Had souvlaki for dinner (finally) and drank a few beers while chatting with a couple of Mexican girls that were doing Europe in a week, or something dumb like that. Anyway they were fun.

     
1- Mattinata, a great little village to visit. Early in the morning and halfway up the big hill.
2- Leaving the Parco Nationale del Gargano. It was hot and difficult, but a very beautiful part of Italy.
3- The port of Bari, I'm a very happy man to finally leave Italy. But the real reason behind that smile is that I smell home hehe

June 30, Thursday.

Igoumenitsa, Greece to Parga, Greece
47 kms. 3 hrs 20 min. Av. 14.2 Total 2347 kms.

It was a very long night, I moved around the ship a few times trying to find a place comfortable to sleep, but all together I managed to sleep about 2 hours.
And after 140 kms the previous day I was very tired.
When they announced that the ship was about to dock I made my way down to the garage and while waiting to disembark I noticed I dint have the bag containing my cycling shoes, so  I ended up running around the ship to all the places I had been, trying to find my shoes, what a morning. Finally I found the shoes and still managed to be the first off the ship.
After going through the armed millitery police barricade at the port exit, I made my way to the main road heading for Parga.
A couple kms further I tried to find a place so I could change to my cycling shorts and shoes but no luck so I stopped on the side of the road in clear view of the (sparse) traffic and changed, I got a few whistles from passing drivers LOL
The ride to Parga was really nice, many huge and dramatic mountains all around. At first I got really worried as I was very tired from the previous day but the road was real good with some sections brand new, and mostly flat, a couple little hills and one steep hill just before the 10 km descend into town.
That downhill got me worried as I had to climb that again to get out, no other way out of Parga.
As for the town I can't say enough about it, very beautiful, cheap and a greater selection of fast food than Italy, just what I was looking for. It was also very touristy, from all over the world, it was really nice in the evening just sitting around drinking ice cold beer and checking out the crowds passing by.
As for the sea, well it was so clear you could drink it. Compared to Italian beaches it was like night and day, I could finally enjoy a couple of days just floating around in the warm and clear waters.
The camp ground right next to the town center and about 100m from the sea was very basic but real cheap so good value for the location.
There were many places to visit around but I just wanted to rest, besides I want to take my wife there so we could check out the whole area together.
Northern Greece is very beautiful, and the roads are real good, better than Italian roads, I don't understand why many people say otherwise.
One reason I could think of is that some people had visited Greece a long time ago and found the roads bad and it has stuck in their minds that the Greeks never bothered to improve them. How wrong they are.

July 1, Friday.

Badly needed rest day, did nothing but eat, drink and swim. I found an internet cafe and chatted with my wife. Cleaned all my belongings, did some adjustments to my breaks, send postcards and just relaxed.
I was really happy to be in Greece.

           
1- The port of Igumenitsa early in the morning, and the blue star ferry which brought me to Greece. I'm on the side of the road were I had to stop and change, I was happy there wasn't much traffic.
2- The roads of northern Greece were real nice to ride on, very good condition and a very wide shoulder. When the trucks passed by they even went over to the opposite lane just to give me more room, very nice riding indeed.
3- A very large and beautiful valley that I rode around. This valley was protected by the government for the protection of birds migrating from northern Europe to the Middle East and Africa. I came from the far end of the valley between those hills.
4- The basic but very resonably priced campground near the center of Parga. In the evening the owner would let the chickens and goats run around it was like camping in a children's zoo. LOL
5- Finally some clear water to swim in. And this beach is in front of Parga town. If anyone wants more information just go to your favorite search engine and type in Parga, Greece. It's a great place to go, highly recommended.