May 18, 2023
Palinuro to Maratea
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
Each day of this tour starts with a full analysis of the weather predictions from a selection of apps, mainly Accuweather, Windy and BBCWeather. From there, we look out to see what’s actually happening. This morning, we were greeted with blue skies and sunshine so we started the day with a full breakfast on the outdoor patio. After cappuccino #2, we were all set to roll.
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Today’s route looked to be a doozy, with plenty of climbing. The estimated elevation gains in this area vary wildly so it is hard to know what to believe. Ride with GPS said it was over 1200m while Google maps thinks it is just shy of 900m. My take on it is that the coast is so rocky and peppered with tunnels that the satellites can’t make a clear reading. Whatever, it’s going to be a day of climbing. It appeared that the first ascent would be 10km long.
The tourist season is off to a slow start so we had the road to ourselves. After about 30 minutes of riding, the highway entered a canyon and we soon came to a road blockage. And again, we rode on through.
We passed through several short tunnels along the way and as we approached the last tunnel, we saw the bright hi-viz jackets of the workers at the far end. There’s always a bit of trepidation about being turned away in these situations but as we got closer, the workers saw us and let out an ‘aye-aye-ay’ and waved us through. In front of us was an enormous bolder that had crashed down and landed right at the exit of the tunnel. It brought trees and rocks with it. We humped the bikes on our shoulders to made our way through the mess and scooted out of there.
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11 months ago
The highway merged with a larger one soon after that and the posted speed limit was 80kmh. A worn-out road sign indicated that it was restricted to vehicles that could maintain 50 km/h. Oh well. We felt at ease because the road surface was excellent, there was a wide shoulder and the highway was almost deserted. As we rode along, several drivers gave us happy honks which we took as a sign of approval. I crossed my fingers that the carabinieri would not pull up beside us.
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Eventually, we crested the top of the hill and started the descent to Policastro on the coast. The shoulder disappeared and our speed maxed out. It took complete focus to hold our lines on the narrow shoulder. Several sections of the highway were elevated on enormous concrete struts and it was a long way down!
It felt good to loosen up and cruise into Policastro for a coffee break after finishing the biggest climb of the day. Only three to go!
We carried on along the coast road, passing through Sapri. From there, another rugged climb ensued.
The highway was a convoluted, twisted coastal road that took us higher and higher. The seagulls cruised overhead in the breeze.
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11 months ago
11 months ago
We’ve biked this part of the coast twice now. In ‘Southern Italy, 2006’ we biked from Policastro (south of Palinuro) to Pompeii; and in 2019 (In the Kingdom of the 2 Sicilies), from Amalfi to Scilla.
11 months ago
Soon, we encountered the first of two major construction sites. Crews of workers were drilling into the mountain to punch a tunnel for the highway. After another km or so, we met the second site. Different tunnel this time.
The whole mountainside looked dodgy but the construction site was large and the drilling equipment was enormous, so I took comfort that the bank was stable enough to ride through safely.
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We emerged from the series of tunnels to this view over Aquafredda. You can see the coastal road in the distance. It is a very rugged coastline.
We descended from the coast road at Maratea. There is a small beach here, as there are all along the coast but you have to look up, way up, to see the town of Maratea. It is situated at about 400 metres.
We had one final climb, about 5k, to the old town which sits about 220m below the mountaintop statue of Christ the Redeemer. The statue is made of Carrera marble and was was completed in 1965.
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We rode steadily uphill to the old town and when we arrived, we pulled in to a cafe for a panini lunch and a beer in the main piazza.
We checked in to our accommodation and were faced with the very last ascent, this time it was a set of steep marble stairs. Our host’s 84 year old mother checked us in. We learned later that she routinely goes up and down these stairs to go to work. She owns and operates a shop in the village!
Dinner tonight was tomato salad, ravioli and spaghetti at a small enotica next to our B&B. Afterwards, we went for a stroll to take in the view of the small hamlets dotting the hills below Maratea.
Tomorrow we have a short day to Scalea and it will be even shorter than we planned because the coast highway we were to ride has had a slide. Last November the hillside let go and plunged to the sea. It is a huge job to repair so the road remains closed. This is bad news for tourism, needless to say. Lucky for us, Maratea is served by Trenitalia so we will use the train to hopscotch past the obstruction.
Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 190 km (118 miles)
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