In Lecce: loop ride

May 23, 2019

Team Anderson is adding two new maxims to their tool kit to help them in their planning and decision-making:

Act more, talk less

Eat dessert first.

This infrastructure upgrade comes from the difficulty it had this morning in agreeing on the route for today’s loop ride. Several draft versions were proposed: one to the west of the city back toward the Ionian, a few variations east toward the Adriatic, or wider ranging ones that mixed a bit of both. The Team sought that perfect balance between wanting to see new parts of the region, seeing a bitmore of the beautiful Adriatic coastline, and giving a bit of flexibility for one to go ahead on their own if the other wishes to slow down with the camera.

We finally called it good late in the morning, settling on a 52 mile counterclockwise loop that began by bearing southwest toward Copertino before reversing direction and crossing the peninsula back to the Adriatic, hitting the sea at the point where we left it yesterday. From there, follow the sea northward and through a regional park to Castelabate, before finally angling back southwest to Lecce.

It looked like a reasonable plan, but there were two problems.

Problem number one: we took too long in forming the plan. By the time we stopped off at a shop to pick up lunch and then walked over to the partnering hotel to retrieve our bikes, it was after noon already. Theoretically there was still time to fit the ride in, since the terrain for the whole ride is virtually flat and it stays light past 7. We didn’t factor in being slowed down by the usual issues though - occasional bad roads, mapping errors, pit stops, unexpected features worth stopping for.

Reality became unavoidable about thirty miles into the day, when we stopped at the beach at San Cataldo and considered our options. We had to shorten our ride, and (more quickly, this time) ran through the options. We decided to shorten the loop by several miles by continuing along the coast only to Torre Ronalda before cutting back to Lecce. We’d still see a bit of the coastal reserve, our top priority of the day; and if Rachael raced ahead and then turned back to meet me at a designated point, she could see even more.

This plan was soon scrapped too though, when a mapping error led to a dead end, costing us a mile; and then another deviation was needed because of a construction project; and then yet a third deviation was needed because our route went through an unmarked military reserve. So, we actually only made it as far as Frigole before leaving the coast. We did though get to see some nice tank maneuvers, an unexpected treat.

Maxim #1 (Act more, talk less) neatly deals with this problem. If we’d quickly agreed on a route this morning and started biking even as late as 10:30, we would have been fine for the whole ride.

Problem number two: we biked the route in the wrong direction. We should have run it clockwise, among first for the beach. Unfortunately, Rachael’s top priority for the day was to see more of the beach and get some video riding along it. In fact, the only beach we saw was a few hundred yards at San Cataldo; and the beach didn’t make it into her video at all. We’d have been much happier starting with the beach and then cutting out some of the western interior, which we actually didn’t enjoy that much anyway.

Maxim #2 (Eat dessert first) could have helped us out here, if only it had been in our planning kit at the time. We would have known to head for our top priority first. Next time, we’ll be ready!

Oh well. The weather was good anyway, and we did bag a few pics to share:

Once we escaped Lecce, the first several miles were very nice, on lanes like this with high stone walls separating us from old olive groves.

Between the above and this beautiful lane was about ten miles of uninteresting riding on an arterial road. We made good time, but didn’t really enjoy it. If we’d eaten dessert first, we could have shortened this part of the loop instead.

Only fifteen miles in, and Rachael stops by the road for a quick snack because it’s time for lunch already.

The next ten miles, all the way to the sea, were beautiful riding on empty, one lane roads like this. When the rare car came by we needed to squeeze off to the side to let it pass safely. The best miles of the day.

Miles of olive trees, old stone structures (trulli?), and wildflower-filled meadows. Perfect.

We were delighted by Acaya, a tiny fortified village we’d never heard of. It would have made a fine destination for a day ride, stopping here for lunch and taking time to explore it thoroughly. There must be many such day rides in the area to explore if you were here for a longer stay.

In San Cataldo. Finally, we reach the sea!

For a glorious two hundred yards we enjoy a nibble of the larger dessert we’d been hoping for. Once again, we find someone squatting in paradise staring at her device.

On the way back to Lecce, pushed uphill again by a tailwind. Clouds are building up and make us wonder, but nothing comes of them.

We made it back to Lecce around 5, and back to our room fifteen minutes later. You’ll recall our bikes sleep in a different hotel, fifteen minutes away from ours (when we don’t get lost, as tends to happen). It’s a nice walk, but after the third or fourth iteration it gets stale. Not the best model, really.

We have a nice dinner - Rachael is thrilled with her pistachio crusted orata - but the restaurant is playing about the weirdest music track I can recall. I think all of the songs came from the schmaltzy fifties, with crooners overemoting ballads to the accompaniment of silky strings. In English primarily, with Italian and French mixed in. Andy Williams on Moon River; Dean Martin on That’s Amore - that sort of thing.

Afterwards we walk back past the Roman Forum, the air filled with some fiery politico orating over a loud speaker at the top of his voice, to a very small audience. We move on quickly to a quieter plaza and enjoy a gelato, sitting on the steps of a statue and marveling at the swifts and their endlessly mesmerizing aerial show.

Lecce really is a very nice place, though a bit crowded during the day even this early in the season Billed as the Florence of Puglia, it does draw in the crowds. I’m not sure I’d want to be here in the summer. Too hot then for biking anyway. Right now feels perfect.

I’d show you some photos of Lecce here, but we have a long ride ahead of us to Cisternino and we need to get moving. We’ll throw in some tomorrow, but we’re determined to make it out the door by 9 this morning.

Act more, talk less!

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Ride stats today: 41 miles, 700’ elevation gain; for the tour, 1,706 miles, 111,800’

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 1,706 miles (2,746 km)

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