It’s beautiful out this morning, and everything is good. I feel back to normal, weather is wonderful, it looks like a perfect morning for a ride. Our bikes need attention still of course, but our run up to Lecce couldn’t be easier - 30 miles, virtually flat the whole way, and with a tailwind. We could complete today’s ride on a one speed, or the Huffy that Frank is always encouraging us to get as a sturdier replacement for our flimsy folders.
We walk down to the waterfront to the bar associated to our B&B for our morning coffee and pastry, and then return to our room to complete our breakfast on the roof, overlooking the fortified town. We check out about 9:30, and then stop by the not to be missed cathedral because Rachael missed it yesterday. Afterwards, biking out of town we encounter our vivacious and energetic host biking the other way. She arrived by bicycle when she first greeted us, I’m reminded. It looks like she may make most of her errand runs by bike, taking puffs on a cigarette as she goes.
The ride to Lecce is everything we could hope for, and more. It really is an easy cruise, virtually flat for the first twenty miles until we leave the coastland and head inland on an eight mile climb to Lecce, at elevation 140’. These 1/2 percenters can wear you out eventually, but today it’s not too bad because we’re pushed uphill by a tailwind the whole way. A perfect prescription for a recovering sickie.
The first miles of the ride are slightly inland from the coast, through a flat cultivated landscape of olive trees, stone walls, and grain fields.
There are so many of these rotting sixteenth century towers along the southern Salento coast. We’re still encountering them every few miles. This one is Torre di Rocca Vecchia (Tower of old Rocca).
Grotta della Poesia, a famous beauty spot and swimming hole on this stretch of the coast. You can’t see it from this end, but the land on the left (beneath the woman in red) is completely undercut. You can swim out from the grotto to the sea.
From my vantage point, it looks quite precarious to get down to that little island in the grotto. I was a bit anxious watching them pack up to leave and climb up the opposite wall.
Here, we’re biking inland again, through the Cesine Wildlife Preserve, managed by the World Wildlife Fund. I’m sure it’s a great walking spot, but it’s also fine for biking because the paved road through the park has been barricaded from cars.
One of the predominant ecosystems we’ve seen many instances of here - fields dominated by purple thistle and Queen Anne’s Lace, bu speckled with dozens of other flower varieties.
When we arrive in Lecce, we check in at our hotel about 3, and discover that they can’t accommodate bikes. They knew we were coming though, and have arranged for us to park thin m at a different hotel about a half kilometer away. When we’re ready, she walks over there with us, which impressed me until I checked in later and saw her at that front desk also. They’re sister hotels, and she was apparently just relocating to her other post.
At 4:30, we head over to the just opening bike store, which conveniently is quite nearby. We interrupt two men hauling dozens of bikes out onto the sidewalk for the afternoon shift, communicate with difficulty what our issues are, and then watch appreciatively as they make quick work of our little problems. Ten minutes, ten euros. They’re a low tech shop - the work stand is the mechanic’s knee: he balances the rear wheel on it while his partner steadies the frame. I’m mad at myself for not thinking to take a video.
So far, we really like Puglia. I remember really enjoying it when we were here 13 years ago, but it’s even better now. Partly because our itinerary is improved - on our first tour we had less time and didn’t make it down to Leuca - and partly because we’re going more slowly, with more layover days; and maybe just because we’re older and more appreciative of what we’re so fortunate to experience. In any case, a return to this region some autumn sounds better by the day.
And we really like Lecce too. These last four places - Porto Cesareo, Santa Maria di Leuca, Otranto, and now Lecce - have all been terrific. We’re staying in Lecce for two nights, so we’ll get a look at it tomorrow. For now, we’ll just leave you with this image of the amazing swift population that swarms down the streets, seemingly just feet above your head; and a video I shot tonight of a group of dancers in the magnificent Piazza Duomo. The dancers were heart-warming to watch, as they performed in the the glow and shadows of the piazza a series of dances to different musical and ethnic styles, applauding themselves at the end of each one. It really made me want to join in.
So what do we have here - maybe fifty swifts dashing through this tiny piazza, maybe 20 feet off the ground?
Ride stats today: 33 miles, 700’ elevation gain; for the tour, 1,665 miles, 111,100’
Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km) Total: 1,665 miles (2,680 km)
Rate this entry's writing
Heart
6
Comment on this entry
Comment
1
Jen RahnGreat videos today! The first one had me singing along .. and love the silhouetted dancers in the second one! Reply to this comment 5 years ago
