October 11, 2024
Asprimonte here we come
Serra san Bruno to Canolo Nuovo
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My great mate Ray, who got me into cycle touring many years ago gave me some advice early on that has always stuck with me. The gist of it was that when it’s a good day it can be just fantastic but when it gets bad it can be really shitty and you’ll question why the hell you’re doing this stupid caper. Yesterday for me was one of the latter. I was tired, feeling off and it was muggy and hot. It was not a whole lot of fun.
Today, after a good nights sleep and a funghi-free breakfast I was itching to get on the bike and ride up Mt Everest. Rob looked a little more weary so I think Mt Druitt was more his expectation . The church just outside our window had a well trained bell that stopped at 10pm and peeled exactly 1 second after my alarm went off at 7am. After 2 cappuccinos and croissants with strawberry jam we headed out to battle the wind that had sprung up overnight. It was misty and cool and I felt a few drops of rain but that soon dissipated.
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It’s another day of climbing from the get go. We are approaching the last of the 4 national parks which will take us to Reggio Calabrian on Sunday. The Aspromonte park is the biggest and most beautiful park in Calabria (according to my guidebook) and having spent half a day in it I can only agree. It is stunning. There’s a mix of beech trees pines and white firs that completely encase the road with sunlight barely filtering through.
Before we reached the Asprimonte park we first had a 400 metre climb up through a fir forest followed by the inevitable descent through two small but well historied towns. The town of Fabrizia was named after Fabrizio Carafa the prince of Rocella who set up his summer house in this lush countryside and built a village around it.
We pulled up in the second town of Mongiana, famous for its ironworks. In its heyday it boasted a population of over 10,000 but there’s less than 2,000. Just as we spotted a bar an old guy wandered across to have a chat. In reasonable English Emmanuel’s first words were “let’s sit down my legs are fucked”. As we passed the bar I said to the barista in my best Italian “Uno cappuci et uno espresso”. I turned to Emmanuel to see what he wants. He winks at me and turns to the barista and says “I’ll have coffee and milk”. She shakes her head and laughs raucously. By now 3 of his mates turn up and we spent almost half an hour chatting away. Turns out Fabrizio worked for a year in Western Australia in his youth. He proudly proclaimed that he spoke 5 languages but English was his worst.
We officially entered the park just after lunch but the entire ride today has been spectacular. With not many towns on our route today having enough water is always a concern, but not today. The are fountains on the roadside everywhere and in this region water bottling plants are big business and the main industry in this region.
Within the Asprimonte park we continue to climb and then drop down. There’s a few steep gradients but in this pristine environment you hardly notice them. The downhills are even better.
The final few kilometres were downhill into a strengthening headwind. I pulled into a roadside cafe on the outskirts of Canolo Nuovo to check the address of our lodgings and had a hot chocolate whilst Rob ended up backtracking a few kilometres to find his hat that had dislodged from his bike. He eventually found it. Whilst bending over to pick up his hat, his sunglasses duly fell out of his pocket and broke. I just shook my head when he told me. He then said he was surprised that his hat hadn’t been taken by someone driving by. I wasn’t surprised. I’m not sure Italian high couture is ready for any apparel featured in Rob’s extensive wardrobe, although he did pioneer the fashion trend of ripped jeans well before it became popular. He seems to extending that same theme to shirts and undies but I’m not so sure that will catch on.
Our room was basic, consisting of 2 single beds, a shower and toilet and 2 chairs. The bed was comfortable and the shower hot. That’s all we needed. We joined the three Venetian blokes for dinner at a restaurant down the road. We didn’t need to peruse the menu as they just brought out plates of food until we were done. I was much more circumspect this time particularly when a plate of funghi appeared.
The Italian guys were very impressed with the meal and furiously polished off plate after plate.
We all agreed that today’s ride through Asprimonte park was the best days riding so far. With the wind forecast to drop overnight tomorrow’s stage should be a cracker.
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 573 km (356 miles)
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