Manfredonia - In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies - CycleBlaze

May 29, 2019

Manfredonia

What more needs to be said about a forty-six mile ride along the beautiful Adriatic that gains barely 300 feet of elevation all day; features the usual dazzling wildflower display; includes salt flats and our favorite bird; stays dry in spite of the threat of thunderstorms throughout the afternoon; ends at an excellent B&B with an appealing array of treats waiting for us when we awaken tomorrow; and closes with a pretty walk along Manduria’s waterfront promenade, followed by a fine fish dinner by a window overlooking the sea?

Niente.

I talk Rachael into adding a mile or two by leaving the arterial for this quiet, sometimes rough path instead. Behind me, I hear the instruction: ‘GoPro: Attack Scott!’.
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Not a concern. We’ve seen worse.
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Our daily dose of wow.
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So what kind of craft is this? There were about a dozen of them in the bay at Barletta.
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Shawn AndersonNot quite sure. Some kind of a fishing boat with what looks like to be a bow trawler or a bow rigged scoop net.
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4 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Shawn AndersonIt looks like a trawler of some kind, alright. I found a photo of another boat like this, which called it a peschereccio: a fishing boat. Not that helpful, really.
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4 years ago
Palm trees, or pine trees? I can never keep these straight. Somebody help me out here.
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Shawn AndersonPalm Trees. Doesn't look like a coconut palm as I don't see any fruit clusters at the top.
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4 years ago
Even without the hills, this is a very nice place to ride.
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A government building on the outskirts of Marguerita di Savoia.
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We biked along the Marguerita di Savoia salt pan for the next ten miles. Obviously still a working pan, it produces roughly 6,000 tons of salt annually.
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The Marguerita di Savoia salt pans.
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We felt really lucky to see this dump truck unload its load of salt to the conveyer belt below, but as we biked along we saw a fresh load driving down the road every few minutes.
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Jen RahnCool! I've never seen a salt truck before.

Always interesting to see how things work.
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4 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnIt was great, and new to us also. My only regret was that the GBO couldn’t be here to appreciate it. Maybe he’s following along though and will reconsider and decide to hop aboard again someday.
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4 years ago
Jen RahnTo Scott AndersonWouldn't that be something if GBO hitched a ride in another cycle tourist's pannier .. only to show up at a gathering with his long lost guardians, Scott and Rachael?!
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4 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnStranger things have happened. I’m holding out hope that his hot new partner will dump him when she realizes he is without resources and can’t get her an American passport. He’ll come around whining to be let back into the toolbag one of these days, I’m sure.
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4 years ago
The outflow from the salt pan runs its short course to the sea. We’re standing here on the road along the narrow isthmus between the sand and the sea, which as you can see is very slender.
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The lagoon adjacent to the pan is an important wetland. We passed flamingos for the next five miles.
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Trying to excavate an ear worm. It’s probably Volare.
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Jen RahnNice to see that the flamingo has just the right tool for the job.

Flamingo Ear Worms .. sounds like the title to a Weird Al Yankovic song.
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4 years ago
Stilts too!
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These onion packers far off in the field were a beehive of activity, constantly in motion packing crates or waving at passers by.
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I can hardly believe they harvest these onions by hand.
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Uh, oh - this looks just like the formation that drenched Trani yesterday. We pick up the pace to fit ourselves into a trough between cloud ranges, and make it in dry.
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Manfredonia sits below Gargano, an isolated range that juts into the sea and is almost an island. We’ll see much more of it as we spend the next several days biking around it’s base.
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We’ve been on a too rough, too busy road for the last ten miles, but the final ones into Manfredonia are delightful.
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Manfredonia is a pleasant, untouristy place with a long seaside promenade, an old castle, and a warm atmosphere. A nice, tranquil place to spend the night.
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I’m not sure what this is - an oil or gas terminal? - but it extends far out into the sea.
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I whispered to Rachael that I’d use the sculpture as an excuse for taking a sly shot of these guys. They weren’t fooled though.
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Monte Sant’ Angelo is one of the top attractions on Gargano, literally. We have a full day tomorrow though so we’ll just appreciate it from down here.
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The Manfredonia harbor light, with the ancient volcano Monte Vulture behind it. In our original plan for this week we were going to bike past it and circle it on a day ride from Melfi. Maybe next time - it’s not going anywhere.
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Ride stats today: 46 miles, 300’: for the tour: 1,921 miles, 118,1000’

Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 1,917 miles (3,085 km)

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