May 13, 2024
Day 4 - Matera to Taranto
A long, hot, dusty day through backwoods Puglia
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.Today’s ride was long and frankly not all that interesting. We traversed a lot of farm and orchard country on asphalt and dirt roads of wildly varying quality. Mostly low quality.
We had some interesting interactions with some locals, and arrived at our destination safely. I’m not sure I’d do this ride again, though, if I had the choice.
The day started well when Rich woke up with the migraine gone. A massive hydration effort yesterday bore fruit this morning. After another decent breakfast, we rolled off from the Caveoso Hotel at about 0930. The day was beautiful - perfect cycling weather. Sunny with a cooling breeze.
We walked the first bit, up out of the old city to the new Matera at the top of the ravine. We had the usual (so far) city traffic as we worked our way back to the EV5. We got to swoop down the big hill that punished us on Saturday, and were soon out on dirt roads into the countryside.
We popped out onto some blissfully smooth asphalt, which rapidly degraded into the kind of road where the pilot can’t really take his eyes off the road surface. Not great for sightseeing, but the sights weren’t spectacular. Nice, but not spectacular.
We amused ourselves by searching for a great example of these giant dandelion things we’ve been seeing along the edge of the road. Robin’s finger for scale. They’re pretty cool!
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https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54142-Tragopogon/browse_photos?term_id=12&term_value_id=14
2 weeks ago
We rode along a plateau for most of the morning, dropping down into the rather stark town of Castelaneta, where we had some adventures. First, Rich got sent into a bakery to try and get some sandwiches. Thanks to a lovely lady in the bakery, he succeeded despite his poor Italian. She even made the sandwiches for us!
Rich was also able to ask here whether there was a park we could eat them in, and actually understood the answer! Thank you, Duolingo! We ate our sandwiches on a bench under a tree in front of the city hall, where we were accosted by a somewhat crazy old lady, who delivered a long speech about how horrible the town was and how her children didn’t treat her well. She punctuated her speech by giving us 2 bananas. I guess we looked hungry?
Finally, Rich got deputized to look for a toilet. He asked a lady coming out of the city hall, who gave directions, then consulted with a policeman just coming out of the building, and then finally insisted that Robin use the toilet in her office! What lovely people!
With Rich feeling very chuffed about his improving Italian skills, we continued onto a section of rail trail that led to a bridge over a very imposing ravine.
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Shortly after the town of Palagianello, Rich made a navigation decision that came back to haunt us. He looked at the road he had chosen while planning and decided that it looked too sketchy. We stayed on the road we were on, which led us on a long detour across a poor-quality dirt road that served the orchards in the area.
The road surface alternated between difficult and almost impossible. It threw everything at us. Rocks, sand, potholes, puddles, dumped concrete, and loose gravel. It was tough going, especially for Robin since she couldn’t see what was coming. We spent a lot of time standing up. It was exhausting!
Several attempts to get back on route didn’t work because of gates across access roads. We stopped a few times to consult Google Maps and eventually figured out a solution. We managed to pop out on an asphalt road on which we made a triumphant and dusty entry into the town of Palagiano.
From this point, the ride was pretty straightforward but not very scenic at all. We did enjoy the old, old olive trees along the sides of the deserted roads we were riding.
After too much time spent riding along an autostrada, we circled the bleak industrial area north of Taranto and started into town. We passed by something we thought looked like a Roman aqueduct. It’s probably not that old, though.
And then, with some creative Italian-style navigating and defiance of traffic laws, we found ourselves in the old town of Taranto. Our hotel, the « Palazzo Mata », is lovely and stored Schnooks in a back stairwell behind a locked door. Our room is amazing! It’s so nice to finish a day like this with a comfortable place to stay.
We were exhausted, sweaty, and very dusty. Clean-up took longer than usual. But eventually we got out to explore the area a bit. This part of Taranto is very « interesting »! There are a ton of what look like abandoned, boarded-up buildings, interspersed with a bunch of grimy, seemingly inhabited buildings, with a few gems sprinkled in. What a crazy place!
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Dinner was at « Gente di Mare », close-by. On a Monday night, they were pretty empty but served us beautiful fish dishes. Seared tuna for Robin, seafood pasta for Rich, with tempura vegetables to share.
We strolled back to the hotel along the dilapidated waterfront buildings and called it a night.
Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 193 km (120 miles)
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2 weeks ago
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