October 4, 2024
A big climbing day
Bisignano to Campo San Lorenzo
The alarm was set for 6.15 as we wanted an early start for today’s ride which wasn’t particularly long but it was seriously uphill for the majority of it. It rained overnight and was much cooler than yesterday which was perfect. With too much faffing around in the room and too much lingering over coffee and croissants it was straight uphill from kilometre 1. In the first 12 kilometres we climbed 900 metres but after that the gradient dropped significantly.
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The only town of note was Acri, a mountain top village halfway up the climb that we reached by late morning for a well earned espresso and croissant.
That left one more big climb up to the Sila national Park before a downhill run to the hotel we opted for instead of camping by the lake shore. It was just starting to drizzle when we stopped for our traditional lunch on the mountainside and was getting quite cold. We’re over 1250 metres high now and yesterday’s heat seemed a long time ago.
It was my turn for the surprise panini ingredient. I scoured the supermarket shelves and found a small packet of porcini mushrooms. Perfect on tomato and I know Rob loves mushrooms and porcini. Turns out they were porcini mushroom stock cubes and Rob declined me sprinkling it onto his sandwich.
There was just 3 more kilometres left before a downhill run to Lake Cecita. Just as we glimpsed the lake we had another fork in the road moment. My device said left, my guide book said left but the Ciclovia Parcia road sign said right. We went left and sure enough the route signs appeared again a few clicks down the road. Those wacky Italians sure have a sense of humour.
The visitor centre at Lake Cecita proudly claims that it has the cleanest air in all of Europe, comfortably beating the Svalbard islands near the North Pole. That was up until Rob and I walked in.
By now the sun had come out. After the helpful guy at the bar rang a hotel down the road and booked us in, we adhered to the ‘no beer unless your within 10 kilometres’ rule and duly downed a welcome bevvy. The last run to the hotel was flattish but straight into a headwind. We weren’t setting any land speed records.
Lake Cecita is a destination for hikers and tourists seeking the cleanest air in the universe. Our hotel is definitely a step up on last nights room. Although the restaurant had some interesting design features. There was no need for reading glasses as the excessive lighting levels had me reaching for my sunglasses. My pupils constricted to pinholes thus enabling the pin hole optical phenomena (whatever you look at through a pin hole is the clearest you will see with the best pair of glasses.) I’ve never seen a menu more clearly!
The walls were hung with Picasso/Matisse inspired artwork and the highly reflective tablecloths made them visible in any direction of gaze. I had what I thought was a wild boar pie but what it was actually a slab of wild boar with a potato patty sitting next to it. Desert was titamisu. I’m not sure if titamisu was a typo or a local variation of tiramisu but either way it was delicious.
We’re 5 days in now and looking for a rest day. That looks to be 2 days riding before we get to Catanzaro, so onwards and hopefully not too much upwards.
Today's ride: 52 km (32 miles)
Total: 277 km (172 miles)
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