September 21, 2015
Sorrento to Pompei
Today is another short day, only about 16 miles, but we do need to cross at least two mountains, so there will be some climbing.
Our destination is Pompei, with one i, denoting the modern city. Our plan is to arrive early so we can spend the afternoon touring the ruins of Pompeii, spelled with two ii's. We plan to be on our way by 9:30 or so and will have plenty of time!
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The ride out of Sorrento was busy. Lots of traffic, and mostly on a narrow road. Right before the big climb, we hit a one-way street, and Garmin was offering an alternative route . . . which, after some discussion, we took. I'm always leery, but it seemed to work until we hit another one-way street, again going in the wrong direction.
After much searching for alternate routes (remember, being at the base of a climb, our choices were limited), a gentleman, who had been observing us with curiosity, told us in broken English, "One-way for cars only. Bikes OK." With that blessing, we were off. And amazingly, the drivers headed the other way treated us like we belonged there. That slowed us down a bit, but it was all in a day's ride.
The climb up to the top of Montechiaro was a lot easier than I expected, especially after taking a day off. It's not a particularly steep grade, but it is long. We actually had been climbing pretty much non-stop since we left the hotel, but the real grade started at about MP 3 and lasted till MP 4 or so, about a 5.6% grade the whole way. It produced some great views of Sorrento and the Isle of Capri behind it. Unfortunately, traffic was such that trying to cross our lane (we were climbing to the right) and the lane of oncoming traffic was a bit much. And I was feeling good and just wanted to climb anyway, so no photos! Sorry.
The descent was equally stunning, however, and I did stop for a few photo ops on the way down.
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The town you see in that last picture, Vico Equense, is at the top of the second mountain we had to climb over. On our descent from Montechiaro, the road drops very rapidly and then enters a tunnel. A really long tunnel, and bikes and pedestrians are prohibited. It is even signed as such, along with a lot of other restrictions. But that was fine with us, as I had routed us around it anyway. So instead, we enjoyed the relatively minor effort to climb up to Vico Equense and around the tip of the mountain the tunnel passed through.
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From there it was literally all downhill to Pompei. We were already at the halfway point by 10:45 or 11:00, so we would make the hotel by noon — easy. Mark had called ahead, and they said our room was ready, so our afternoon in Pompeii was secure!
The remainder of the ride followed the coastal road very closely, passing through small towns and some industrial areas (to be expected next to such a large body of water). It was also lightly travelled, as most of the through traffic had taken the tunnel!
Traffic picked up again as we got closer to Pompei, with one road closure that we had to detour around that I could not talk my way through (but I tried). Turned out it only cost us a couple of blocks, so it wasn't a big deal. Our arrival in Pompei took us through the main square and piazza with its beautiful bell tower.
We quickly checked in to our room, showered, and changed into street clothes so we could tour Pompeii. What a fascinating place. Seeing this in situ as opposed to in a museum is stunning. I'm amazed at the level of access permitted — although large parts are blocked off for restoration work. Still, we spent nearly four hours there and saw quite a bit. You could certainly spend more time. So here are a few pics as teasers . . .
Today's ride: 16 miles (26 km)
Total: 344 miles (554 km)
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