May 10, 2024
Day 1 - Bari to Altamura
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For a city that stays up late, it’s surprising how early Bari starts working in the morning. By 0700 the street outside our apartment was filled with shouting men. Evidently someone in the next building was moving out and one of those big ladder/elevator things was being deployed to bring the belongings down to the street. Like everything else here, this seemed to require a lot of shouting, honking, and racing engines. We were up early.
The breakfast at the Nest of Envy was not something that would make us envious, so we contented ourselves with some oat bars and coffee. We finished sorting everything, and Rich ran the suitcase back to the car. We were ready to go.
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3 weeks ago
We rolled off just around 0930, weaving our way through the morning chaos of Bari. Dodging cars, pedestrians and scooters, we found our way to a really nice bike path that led us to quieter parts of the city.
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3 weeks ago
We wove our way through Carbonara di Bari, which is not a pasta dish but a suburb of Bari. Eventually, we passed the last of the suburban apartment buildings and were out in the countryside. It was just us and the olive trees. And the occasional road-side trash dump. :(
Amidst the groves of olives we passed through the small towns of Bitritto, Bitetto, and Grumo Appula. We stopped in Gruma for lunch, since breakfast had been rather skimpy. The « It’s OK Cafe » served us 2 lovely ham/emmental/curry paninis. We were fueled for the journey.
Out into the countryside after Grumo, we enjoyed a really nice bike path along a deserted road. The road seemed to serve more tractors than any other vehicle. As much as we like bike paths, this one seemed a little unnecessary.
After the bike path, we made a couple of turns and found ourselves on another deserted road that had brand-new pavement as we continued to gradually climb into the hills above Bari. In our part of France, fresh pavement is a clue that the Tour de France is coming that way later in the year. Not sure whether the Giro is coming this way but I somehow doubt it.
As we got to the Forest di Mercadante, the climbing got stiffer and the road degraded significantly. The pilot hit a few potholes, causing general consternation, but overall we managed to enjoy the forest and the climb wasn’t that bad.
We continued to climb into more open country. It was a beautiful day to be out on a bike. Not too hot, a nice cross-tail wind, and great views. We could see Altamura in the distance as we hit the top of the climb.
As we approached Altamura, we hit a section of descending, empty road that was a cyclist’s dream.
Of course, we had to pay all that bliss back with a climb into Altamura itself. It wasn’t super-steep, but after 70km on our first day out, we were pretty ready to be done.
We were too early to check-in so we found the Piazza del Duomo and a sleepy cafe that served us some drinks to pass the time.
As we were nursing our drinks, the 13th century cathedral opened. We took turns going inside to check it out. It’s beautiful!
Our accommodation, « Casa Porsia » is adorable, with an adorable owner Petra. We cleaned up and spent the afternoon recuperating from our big day on the bike.
Petra recommended a local restaurant « Tre Archi » and it delivered! We had a lovely meal with a great local wine, and waddled back through the old town to our apartment. We’ll sleep well tonight.
Tomorrow, on to Gravina in Puglia and Matera!
Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 70 km (43 miles)
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3 weeks ago