To Lecce

April 15, 2023

Our B&B is one of those places that outsources the 2nd B; or maybe it means Bed&Bar. In any case, the breakfast offered with the rate comes from Marinucci, a pastry shop down on the waterfront. We aren’t sure what we’ll find when we get down there, so we preload with coffee and some of the assorted consumables Rachael’s been hoarding and then head down to the waterfront not long past seven.

It turns out Martinucci is a fine spot for our second coffee and pastry. It’s a calm and lightly overcast but bright morning, not too chilly, and we enjoy our treats sitting at an outside table admiring Otranto’s bay, looking sleek and steely in the morning light.

The bay has a different feeling this morning. Both ways are appealing.

How often do you get to have breakfast in a laboratory? It’s a first for us, we think.

We’d have been quite happy to stay in Otranto for a second night if it weren’t for the worsening weather forecast. There’s been a lot of flux in the forecasts over the last few days, but they’ve held constant on the report that today will be dry and tomorrow not. With this in mind we’re off to Lecce where we’re booked for a two night stay with the plan of sitting out the rain tomorrow. Beyond that the near-term details are totally up in the air, with all of our bookings for the coming week canceled. We’ll just make up the plan one day at a time as we see what each day brings.

At 10:30 we wheel our bikes out the door, bike past Martinucci’s and alongside the bay, and are soon out of town heading north.

Just north of Otranto we pass by the small channel that empties Lago Alimini Grande.

Yesterday’s thirty mile ride was easy, and today’s is even easier without a climb of any consequence the whole way. In fact, other than dealing with weather concerns our entire next week looks easy with a series of shortish, flattish rides until we finally face a bit of work climbing up to Matera. This is by design, partly so we’ll have a better chance of fitting our distances into breaks in the weather, but also with my health in mind. We’re experimenting a bit with the theory that regardless of exactly when they initiate, my arrythmias are being triggered by exertion. Coincidentally or not, this is holding up so far - I haven’t had a significant episode since that climb back to Caltagirone twelve days go now. If nothing else, I’m compiling more data to discuss with my electrocardiologist when we return to Portland.

The first ten miles today are pleasant enough but maybe not the most exciting as our two lane, shoulderless road is far enough back from the sea that it’s masked by pine forests most of the way. That changes at Torre dell’Orso though as our road meets the coast and we pick up a bike lane that lets us ignore the cars. After another mile we pull off at Grotto della Poesia and its surrounding architectural ruins to admire the views. While we’re there we enjoy a brief, interesting chat with Brent, another bike traveler. He and his wife Mabel who’s further down the road are following a lifestyle similar to our own, or maybe more like the Maher-Wearys. They retired right before Covid, sold their home in California, jammed the essentials into storage, and for the last two years have been riding their e-bikes across Europe in three month spurts - 3 here, three back home, repeat. They leave their bikes in Europe when they head back home, and then just pick up where they left off when they return.

Rachael and Brent compare notes on the vagabond life.

For the next five miles we continue alongside the water on a wafer-thin headland that looks like its years are numbered. It wouldn’t be a surprise to look back twenty years from now and find it submerged beneath rising sea levels. Beautiful for now though.

We finally leave the coast just south of San Cataldo, seeing it for the last time until we drop back down to the Gargano Peninsula just before leaving Puglia. The next miles are an excellent ride as we bike west toward Lecce on completely empty roads save for one small sheep&goat flock.

Turning inland toward Lecce. The next ten miles are like this, a perfect cycling road.

I was surprised to see we’ve stumbled onto a recognized cycling route.

Perfect. I don’t recall for sure, but we may not have seen single car for these next ten miles.

Rachael got to the herd first and captured some footage before the sheep and goats left the road.

A few miles beyond the goats we come to a site that surprised me but shouldn’t have because Bob Koreis beat us to it just last year: Acaya, or Acaia, or Acaja (I saw all three spellings here), a small village with a well-preserved 16th century castle built for defense giants Turkish invasion.

An ornamental archway greets our entrance to Acaya.

In Acaya. The village doesn’t quite look real to me.

Video sound track: Teimoaa, by Anat Cohen & Trio Brasiliera

Eventually this wonderful road ends and we’re dropped onto a minor provincial road for the final five miles to Lecce. We pull up at our B&B, Lecce Mon Amore, about 2:30. Rachael calls our host, who speaks almost no English but let’s us know we should contact him through WhatsApp; and not long after he pulls up on his motorcycle, hops off, and sees us in. As he’s unlocking the door he looks back at Rachael, looks at me, and gives a big smile of approval.

Our first impressions (well, our third impressions if we include our fading memories, since this is another place we’ve been to twice before) are pretty dim. Mostly, it just feels too big and busy, the most congested place we’ve seen since Taranto if not somewhere back in Sicily. We’re very glad to be here though, and look forward to a leisurely interlude while we hide out from the elements.

We’re only here for about fifteen minutes before Rachael’s gone again, bound for a nearby laundromat. She’s really excited about this because she’s really down to her last clean items - past, actually. She’s back surprisingly soon, almost bubbly over how smoothly it all went and over the prospects of a clean outfit again.

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Ride stats today: 30 miles, 600’; for the tour: 536 miles, 31,000’

Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 536 miles (863 km)

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Suzanne GibsonWe rode from Otranto to Lecce 17 years ago. I'm so glad you stopped in Acaia so I could see what it looks like now. It was more a construction site then. https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/2006apulia/otranto-to-lecce/
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonWell, that’s pretty remarkable. We just missed each other. We biked from Otranto to Lecce less than three weeks earlier: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/puglia2006/salento/.
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1 year ago

Suzanne GibsonTo Scott AndersonThat is so amazing!
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonYou think that’s amazing? Look at these two photos of the fishing boats in Porto Cesareo:
Ours: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/puglia2006/salento/#16184_yc3ezoybqnibrjik3awzyzu6jcf
Yours: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/2006apulia/san-pietro-in-bevagno-to-gallipoli/#7915_161223_8157

It’s fascinating reading your journal again, being reminded of how changed Puglia is from 17 years ago.
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1 year ago

Amber StarfireI'm just catching up with your recent adventures. What a perfectly gorgeous day and ride! As always, love the pictures — I've got bike travel envy.
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Amber StarfireHey, Amber! Nice to hear from you, and thanks for checking in. I hope you all made it through the winter OK. It was pretty hard to believe your weather over the last several months, watching one deluge after another wash over you. It makes us feel a little silly, looking out the window this morning and wishing it weren’t quite so showery.
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1 year ago

Bob KoreisI remember riding through the outskirts of Lecce wasn't a lot of fun, but once in the centro storico the vibe was much more relaxed. Enjoy a caffe Leccese with a pasticciotto, relax, and watch the Puglian world go by.
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1 year ago

Jacquie GaudetAbout gathering data: have you consider getting and wearing a heart rate monitor? You could get one that works with your Garmin and maybe get a better idea of what happens before an arrhythmia episode. Or maybe your current method will work to avoid them.
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1 year ago

Amber StarfireTo Scott AndersonThanks. Yeah, not much riding outside during the last 3 (4?) rainy months. We have finally had a few days of much welcome sunshine and relative warmth. The forecast is back to rain for a day, then maybe spring is here to stay. I'm looking forward to better riding days ahead.
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1 year ago