June 9, 2019
In Castellabate: a ride to the beach
Today’s ride
Four legs good, two legs better. (George Orwell, Animal Farm)
We wake up this morning a bit unsure of how to manage the day. We want to be good guests, but don’t want to impose on our gracious hosts’ time either. We discuss this over a delicious breakfast featuring crepe-like banana-egg pancakes (that’s the complete ingredient list: 3 bananas, six eggs), and suggest that we can just entertain ourselves for the day so that they can get on with their lives. They’re not having it though. Jack is eager for a vigorous bike ride, and suggests a challenging hill climb up to Perdifumo - certainly an attractive idea on a 90F day. Maria talks him down off that wall though, and proposes that we instead bike down to the coast to a secluded cove she knows of and take a nice swim. Jack grumbles a bit, but is outvoted. The coast it is!
Maria is very inclusive. While this conversation is going on, her cousin calls to say she’s bored and wants to get out of the house to take advantage of the fact that her mother is over and will babysit their child for the day. So, her cousin and husband are in the day’s plans too, and will meet us at the port at San Marco.
It’s a steep, easy descent down to the coast. We meet up with Maria’s cousin and husband as per plan, and cycling ambassador Jack spends some time with them showing off his tandem and giving them each a chance to ride with him to get a feeling for it. Soon after though, they receive a disappointing call from home - their child has a fever. Their holiday at the beach is cut short, and they quickly say their goodbyes.
The four of us continue on with our bikes, following a very rough trail to the secluded cove Maria knows of. They’re off like a rocket, with Rachael and I struggling to try to keep them in sight. George Orwell was right about so many things, but he’s gotten it wrong just this once. It’s the other way around - two legs good, four legs better.
The cove is lovely, and quite secluded. We all make it out into the bay for a refreshing swim (for the first time on this tour, amazingly enough - I was thinking I’d carried my swimming trunks all this way for nothing) and then lie around in the shade napping until restless Maria stirs us into action again.
We take a different route back, staying on the pavement this time and stopping off at a gelateria on the way to escape the heat. It’s uphill most of the way back to their place, and we arrive quite warm. Time for another nap to wait for the day to cool down a bit.
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At the agriturismo
After we rested for a bit the house began stirring again in late afternoon - beginning with the arrival of Maria’s niece. Maria quickly put both her niece and Rachael to work shucking a mountain of fava beans, while I worked on the journal. Eventually the niece departs for home, in tears because she has been having so much fun performing QA on the shucked beans and bonding with Rachael. While this was going on, Jack prepares a fine dinner for the crew - mackerel, rice, fava beans, beignets, and steamed artichokes.
After dinner Jack retreats to the back yard to work in the garden, planting vegetable starts. After we hear strong hints that a little help would be nice, we all one by one pitch in at digging holes, planting starts, and watering. Many hands make light work, as they say. Our reward: we free up enough of Jack’s time so that we end the day sitting around the living room attending a small house concert.
Today and last night have been an exceptional interlude as we near the close of the trip. It has been a unique experience for us, for which we feel a deep gratitude to Maria and Jack for so selflessly welcoming us into their home and lives. In a just world, we’ll have a chance to renew our new friendship down the road somewhere. In the meantime we’ll be anxiously waiting for photos of those tiny zucchini and cucumber starts after they’ve matured and are sprawling across their neighbors.
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Ride stats today: 17 miles, 1,000’; for the tour: 2,288 miles, 141,600’
Today's ride: 17 miles (27 km)
Total: 2,288 miles (3,682 km)
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5 years ago
All in the company of new friends.
Yeah .. that's a pretty awesome day!
5 years ago