April 18, 2023
Day 62: Spezzano Albanese to Rocca Imperiale Marina
Trapped by the Interstate
“Ahh, look at this,” Patrick grins and says as he is climbing over the railing to see if there is a way around the locked gate. “The key!” We have reached the section along the coast where the Interstate interrupts the road and it is illegal for bikes to ride on the Interstate. This is the second adventure of the day.
We start the day with breakfast in our room as according to our booking, breakfast is not included with the room. After getting gear on the elevator and shuttled out to the bikes, we are offered coffee. We order two cappuccinos. Then we are given two croissants and small boxes of juice. We take the croissants with us for a break later. The people running the hotel have been very welcoming and friendly. Maybe our impressions are skewed because we only saw the touristy part of Sicily, but we have already met more helpful friendly people here than during the week on the island.
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The sky is clear for now again. We count ourselves lucky cycling down the valley in the sunshine after all the rain from last night. We make our way following the RWGPS where sometimes we are on the main road and sometimes on a side road. Patrick navigates us through the zigs and zags of today’s route. At one point, we are on an unsealed road, where because of the rain overnight makes it a bit of an adventure. We can see the incredible blue Ionic sea occasionally. At one point our road merges with the Interstate that stops being an interstate for a while. The traffic gets funneled to a two way road. We were a bit concerned, but traffic is respectful and nobody gets annoyed being delayed by two cyclists taking their space in the lane. This would have been very different in the USA.
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Then things turn south on us. The road goes back to being an interstate. There are warning signs stating all the fines for breaking Italian law; getting caught cycling will cost us 149 euros, each probably. But the secondary road to avoid the interstate is closed due to construction; we can see the bright orange construction fence across the road. We first think there could be another exit and ride about a kilometer on toward the interstate before we realize we really need to be on the closed road up above us.
We turn back, and find the road barricaded. As we try to figure out how to circumvent the fence, or climb it, Rachel discovers that the chain and lock are only draped through the gate. So we make our way through and start riding. There is equipment and sections of the road have been formed-up to be poured, but no construction workers. At the other end, again the barricade. This one is firmly locked and extends from the Interstate barrier up the hill on the others side. As Patrick climbs over the crash barrier to see if the fence can be moved or circumvented his eye caches the key dangling from a piece of wire behind the barrier. High five!
From here on, we make it to our destination for the day as we watch the storm clouds build. When we are only a few km away, Patrick sends a message to the apartment owner of CIVICO33 that we will arrive shortly. Many places in Italy have a 3:00pm check-in time, but we found that if you ask nicely you can often get in earlier. We arrive at 1:45 and the owner lady shows up a t 2:00 to let us in. She even helps carry some of the gear up. The bikes are secure in the garage. We arrive just before the rain.
Tonight we have a full apartment with kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. We decide to cook again so Patrick walks to the nearby supermarket as soon as it opens at 4:30 and Rachel cooks up the pork chops, vegetables and mashed potatoes. A nice meal at a decent time (not 7:30) and a liter of Italian wind will put us to sleep early tonight. Outside, it is again raining, but the according to the forecast we only have one more potentially wet day ahead of us in Italy.
Last night, we were communicating with the Anderson's and it seems a Cycleblaze rendezvous will happen in a few days in Santeramo In Colle!!!
Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 2,153 km (1,337 miles)
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