Sulmona to Castel di Sangro

September 13, 2015

The day started out headed uphill and stayed that way for a while! Nearly 15 miles, in fact. The hotel provided a good breakfast, and the grade out of town and into the mountains was very slight.

The slight grade out of Sulmona and into the mountains.

Today's ride to Castel di Sangro

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The route to Castel di Sangro was chosen to take us off the busy main highway, SS17, a road I had wanted to bike after my last tour to these parts. Mostly because the last time I was here, we took a rest day in Sulmona and drove up to the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, in part along SS17. I was impressed with some of the climbs and wanted to use it as a gateway south (hence this ride). But with Google Street View, the traffic looked a bit rougher than I remembered, so we diverted to this more hilly climb, off the beaten path, but ultimately taking us to the same destination. We were not disappointed.

The first six miles or so were pretty slight, with a 2% to 3% grade, following the course of a river and into a gorge. At MP 6 we started more serious climbing with roughly a 5% to 6% grade. The initial climbing was a good warm-up for this part of the climb, and we settled into it nicely. Soon, we were looking back on our accomplishments.

Looking back on the climb out of Sulmona and into the river gorge that we followed to MP 6.

Looking ahead, we could see our first goal: Cansano perched on a mountaintop.

Cansano was about halfway into our climb and two miles into the steeper part, so when we arrived and saw this nice square, we decided to stop for a cappuccino. We probably lingered too long since we still had some climbing to do, but then, it was also enticing . . .

Cansano's main square . . . we took coffee at the cafe at the far end.

The "levelness" of the town square gave us a short respite, and the cappuccino gave us a bit of a mid-morning boost before tackling the second half of our climb. Eventually, it gave way to the mountain crest and a nice mountain valley that ran about five or six miles before our descent.

And then, finally, at the top and the start of the long rolling terrain through the mountain valley.

A view of the mountains further into the valley.

By the time we reached Pescocostanzo, we were ready to eat lunch. An Italian breakfast will only get you so far, and today we had not packed snacks (hence the cappuccino break back in Cansano). We lucked out and found a fine restaurant, which was busy but happy to accommodate us after a short wait.

La Corniola Ristorante made us feel very welcome. Although a bit upscale and not dressed for Sunday brunch, we were warmly welcomed.

I don't remember what this was, but it was delicious . . .

We actually had a bit of a climb into Pescocostanzo, which made lunch all that more worthwhile. Leaving town, it leveled off again, and we stumbled onto a nice bike trail that we pretty much followed to the next town, Rivisondoli.

And some of the scenery along the way . . .

Rivisondoli was a nice little town, and we actually caught sight of and were entertained by a marching civic band of some sort. On tour, I often forget what day it is as they all roll into one after the other, but being Sunday, I have to assume this was a local celebration of sorts. The town also presented some challenges, but nothing we couldn't overcome.

This is a look back after passing through Rivisondoli. We came across another "closed" road that appeared to be converted (or reserved) for cyclists. We were still "on course" with our Garmin route and pressed on.

And the view looking forward. We were starting to get a little worried by the storm clouds but made it to Castel di Sangro without a drop of rain.

After the closed roads, we were pretty much on a downhill beeline for Castel di Sangro. We were able to stay off the main roads and bypass a tunnel. Our hotel, Hotel Natura, was a little ways out of town (near a major sports complex) but not too far from the center that we couldn't walk to a decent meal.

Our accommodations at Hotel Natura. Like most places we stayed, they were very accommodating of our bicycles, storing them in a secured (locked) room.

Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 149 miles (240 km)

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