September 7, 2023
Day 1: Fiumicino to Campagnano di Roma
Ain't that a kick in the head*
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Oh my dear sweet Roman gods is this jet lag doing a number on us! Neither of us was able to sleep a wink, and by 4:30am, our stomachs were grumbling, so we gave in and slowly started preparing breakfast. We also decided to start riding early. If our destination today had been further along, we'd have chosen to leave under cover of darkness. As it was, we were on the road at 6:45, aka dawn.
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The town was ever-so-slowly coming to life, as was the airport. We followed their lazy lead, taking time to acclimate ourselves to carrying gear on the bikes. We found ourselves on a variety of trails and roads, and were pleasantly surprised by drivers' behavior. The rumors of chaotic traffic have yet to materialize for us.
We rode and rode, with all roadside scenery consisting either of farms, or walls of shrubbery punctuated by the occasional pile of rubbish. Eventually some gently rolling hills appeared to our left, then to our right. This is more like what I had expected.
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Today's 300+ metres of elevation gain are all scrunched up in the last 15km of the ride. I hoped that the early start would give us a big advantage here, and it did. We were certainly out of shape, but we also certainly weren't going to die from heat stroke, either. In fact, the headwinds we faced most of the day were more a blessing than a curse. As long as we managed to find shady spots in which to catch our breaths, we were golden.
Traffic was a little crazy as we flew downhill into Campagnano di Roma, yet we couldn't help but crane our necks to survey what the town has to offer in the way of amenities. First order of business for us is always always always food, but our hearts really weren't in it today. I blame jet lag. We spent a long time debating what to eat and where, before finally deciding to visit the supermarket, leaving any sort of real dining experience for this evening. We ate at a park bench in the shade, then spent a good while people-watching before finally heading to our B&B to check in.
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Our lovely hosts Dioniso and Olga showed us around their unique lodgings, then left us to dust ourselves off and rest a bit. We both conked out for a couple of hours. I probably could have slept straight through until tomorrow morning, but noooo, someone was hungry and wanted to eat dinner. It took ages for me to come out of my stupor, but in the end, I was thankful, because the meal we had was just perfect. The restaurant had a lot of vegetarian dishes to choose from. The staff were charming and very helpful, making us feel at ease even as we stumbled through our first experience dining in this country.
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I think that days in the saddle are a great cure for jet lag. To that end, we're planning to ride a loop around Lago di Bracciano tomorrow, so that should be fun!
* I've chosen to demote the journal's "soundtrack" from title to subtitle. I don’t know about you guys, but when I'm reading a journal, where the author is going geographically gives me the framework to understand where the story is going. I want that to be reflected in the table of contents. Speaking of which, I do plan to backfill the journal with daily maps.
Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 62 km (39 miles)
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On another note, as fellow residents of the Pacific time zone, we’ve been using melatonin to help adjust to the 9-hour time change. It helps.
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