Rimini to Ravenna

Kinder weather today as we headed north out of the razzmatazz of Rimini with its endless strip of hotels and tacky beach-side entertainments.
A good cycle path took us around the marina and past the lighthouse.

Leaving Rimini

Unusual house built around a tree!

North of Rimini we cycled through a more upmarket area of pretty seaside towns and villas, always on cycle paths or very quiet roads - all very pleasant.
We rounded a corner and suddenly came to the stunning harbour of Cesanatico. It was like a mini Venice and we took a break to sit down and eat our picnic lunch looking at the lovely boats and waterfront buildings.

Cesanatico

Cesanatico

Cesanatico

A little further north at Cervia we were sad to say goodbye to the Adriatic for the last time. It has been more or less our constant companion for many kilometres, but we needed to head inland towards Ravenna. The next time we'll see the sea will be the North Sea at the Hook of Holland!

Leaving the Adriatic for the last time as we turned inland

A route along canals and rivers through a flat, marshy area led inland towards Ravenna.
We stopped about 6km from the city at a pleasant and friendly little agricampeggio.

Fishing contraptions lining the rivers as we approached Ravenna

Under a cherry tree at Bio Farm Camping just outside Ravenna

Rimini to Ravenna - 61km, 90m climb

Marotta to Rimini

You'll be most surprised to hear that it was raining when we woke up this morning....

 After breakfast we packed up and drank more coffee in the hotel bar, looking at this dismal scene and waiting for a lull.

Beach umbrellas waiting for the tourists to arrive - note the sky!

 Eventually we set off in a light drizzle, rather than a heavy downpour and had a pleasant coastal ride to Pesaro, a lovely town which we enjoyed wandering around, looking at the palazzos, churches and Rossini's birthplace. All the museums and the cathedral were closed unfortunately.

Rossini's birthplace and childhood home in Pesaro - it's now a museum, but was closed as was the neighbouring cathedral which apparently houses some wonderful mosaics.

Gradara Castle

We had to turn inland after Pesaro and enjoyed the rolling countryside - so much so that we made a navigational error and ended up climbing a very steep hill completely unnecessarily! We did however climb well up towards the castle at Gradara which is where the unfortunate Francesca da Rimini and her lover, Paolo her brother-in-law were murdered by her husband Gianciotto. She appears in Dante's Inferno and the story has been set to music by many composers including of course Tchaikovsky, but also as a wonderfully passionate opera by Zandonai.

We descended back to the coast in improving weather and approached Rimini on an excellent bike path along the coastal strip of continuous resorts and hotels. We would even have contemplated camping in the improving weather, but a quick look for hotels revealed an offer of bed and breakfast in a 3 star hotel for £29. Why bother putting up the tent? It's not as nice as last night's, but will do fine.

Marotta to Rimini - 67km, 400m climb

Porto Recanati to Marotta - more rain!

We had a very good breakfast at our B&B Zi Pasquale in Porto Recanati, run by a lovely couple who enjoyed chatting (mainly expressing their puzzlement about Brexit and British politics). We had intended to camp all the time, but we find that the price of accommodation on the coast off-season is so reasonable that there's no point even thinking about putting up a tent in the rain. For an extra €20 or €30 we get a warm, dry room and breakfast too! So far everywhere has been excellent. 

The day was cool and very cloudy, but not actually raining. We needed to get north of Ancona which we knew would be a problem. Cities usually are. Our Rough Guide states that "Ancona is an unlovable city", "the busy port attracts an international fleet of fume-belching trucks", "insalubrious alleyways and derelict lots abound" - we weren't tempted to go through the city! Our cycle route planning app suggested a route bypassing to the west, so we set off that way. At first the roads were very quiet and passed through lovely countryside. We had a good view of the Monastery of Loreto, a site visited by four million pilgrims every year on account of the rather surprising "fact" that it has been constructed over Mary's house from Nazareth where Jesus was brought up.  It was apparently flown here by a bevy of angels.....

Loreto

The onward route was very pretty and quiet, but involved quite a lot of climbing.

As we neared Ancona however the roads grew busier and we passed through some grotty suburbs leading to the final climb to Pinocchio - yes that is true! As we descended we had a good view back to the port of Ancona.

Ancona 

I haven't taken many photos of the bad bits of our route as we are usually rushing along to try to get somewhere nicer. But here is a view of an oil refinery from a busy road just north of Ancona.

It started to rain heavily as we eventually returned to the nice quiet coast path. At first the architecture was very drab (especially in the rain), but as we progressed we passed some lovely villas.

With the arrival of the rain we gave up all thoughts of camping and booked a room with a view in the Hotel Florence at Marotta for £44 (breakfast included).

View from our room

Porto Recanati to Moretta - 70km, 500m climb

Giulianova to Porto Recanati

Warmer and drier, we awoke to a sunny day and set off quite early with the idea of getting well up the coast towards Ancona.

The early part of the route was superb, with long stretches of cycle route and even the river crossings had been sorted out with some great new cycle bridges.

The area north of Giulianova was affluent with smart resorts and some lovely fin de siècle villas. We enjoyed batting along in the sunshine with a following wind on these traffic-free routes with the sea our constant companion to the right.

The first problem came as we left Abruzzo and entered Marche. Our wonderful route came to a halt at a river and with no signage, we turned inland to the main road to find a bridge and ended up on a complex and busy sort of giratory system. It wasn't pleasant and we weren't quite sure of the way off it.

It was quite a relief to find ourselves back in a small town and again on the seaside path.
The difficulty with this route is that they are in the process of developing it and our online mapping isn't always up to date with the new bridges and off-road paths. Very little is signed, but having sorted that out we enjoyed another long stretch of cycle path. Unfortunately that too came to an end and after another few kilometres of busy road we turned off into Porto Recanati. We were about five kilometres from our intended campsite. During the day we'd had a few drops of rain, though we had passed through places which had obviously had huge downpours which we were relieved to have missed. Not this one though! In a few minutes we were totally drenched and searching online for the nearest hotel where we are now warm and dry.
In honesty we are rather fed up with this weather!
On the brighter side we have now cycled well over 1000km and are about 30km south of Ancona, so are making reasonable progress up the Italian coast. We're both fit and well, if a little tired. The forecast is mixed for the next few days, so we'll just carry on trying to dodge the showers and progress northwards.

Giulianova to Porto Recanati - 95km, 400m climb.

Serramonacesca to Giulianova - cycling in the rain, but en route again

The forecast wasn't good for today and we were in two minds about cycling on in the rain. However when we woke up it wasn't actually raining - ok, there was a low cloud and a sort of scotch mist, but it wasn't really raining. So we packed up our damp, but not wet tent and set off towards the coast. The first twenty or so kilometers were on beautiful quiet roads and if we could have seen it, I'm sure the view would have been spectacular (no pictures of this section as we were in the clouds and couldn't see anything). We had a few steep climbs before descending to the Alanto Valley at Chieti Scala where we joined a busier, very urban road for the next twenty kilometers to Pescara. At least there was the advantage of being able to stock up on some goodies at one of the many supermarkets - we haven't come across many of those in the mountains! It started raining harder as we joined the Adriatic Cycle Route at Pescara.

Cycle route at Pescara, still raining. 

Lovely route through pines

The Italians are developing a cycle route for the entire length of the Adriatic coast,  some 1600km, from Trieste to Leuca. So far, though we had found good sections further south, we found very little had been really well developed and we hadn't seen a single sign. In this area, north of Pescara, much has been completed and there is a beautifully smooth route, only interrupted by the need to rejoin the main road for river crossings,  though they are building some cycle specific bridges for those too. We also started seeing the first signs for the route. 

Coastal route near Pineta

Whilst we were eating some of our newly bought goodies sheltering from the rain under a pine tree,  we decided that another night in a wet tent wasn't very appealing and booked a room in a seaside B&B near Giulianova. The weather has brightened up, but we are happy to be able to dry out some of our damp stuff.

Outside our room at the Agriturismo Frontemare

Serramonacesca to Giulianova - 79km, 400m climb. 

Walking in the rain

It's been raining all day.

Nevertheless we decided that we really wanted to explore the area and set off in full waterproofs and totally unsuitable footwear (Ben's cleated cycling sandals - he has no other footwear here), for a 13km hike. 

Climbing upwards with a view towards the high surrounding mountains - there they are behind that cloud!

Arriving at the tower just visible on the hill in the first picture 

Views and wild flowers from the tower

More view and flowers

Descending into a gorge with multiple waterfalls 

Another of the many waterfalls 

Arrival at the remote and splendid abbey of  San Liberatore

It was a superb walk in spite of the weather.
We returned to the campsite like drowned rats as it had rained all day. After a shower and a rest, we were just about to cook our relatively meagre supper, when a couple from Edinburgh who are staying here said that they were going to drive to a restaurant in the village two kilometers away and invited us to join them. We jumped at the invitation and have had a lovely evening. What's more it was warm and dry there!

The forecast for tomorrow isn't good either.
We are planning to cycle on, but if it's still pouring we probably won't. I think we still have enough time in hand, but don't want to use all our spare days after only 900km cycled.

Distance walked 13km, climb 400m

Rest day at Kokopelli Campsite near Serramonacesca

After the huge effort required to cycle up into the Majella National Park from the coast, we've decided to enjoy a couple of rest days at what is probably the best campsite we've ever stayed at. The facilities here are superb and nothing is too much trouble for our friendly hosts. Hot water abounds (a true rarity on Italian campsites) and of course there is loo paper and soap - only the third campsite here to supply these essentials. There are cooking facilities, indoor rooms to relax in with sofas, wifi, phone charging points, fridges and boxes of local wine with an honesty box to contribute. We can pick and eat anything growing here - at the moment peas and herbs, but obviously later there will  be tomatoes, courgettes, beans, fruit, etc. 

To cap it all there is a stupendous view over the Gran Sasso (the highest peak in the Appennini) and another snow-clad peak which is the second highest peak. We can also see the distant sea in the other direction. It's not clear enough for good photos of these views though. 

View to the village of Serramonacesca from the campsite. 

E

 View towards the second highest peak in the Appenines. Unfortunately  the mobile phone photo doesn't do it justice.

We had a leisurely breakfast and did some washing. Then realising that we needed to buy food for today and tomorrow, walked three kilometres over a steep hill to the village of Roccamontepiano where we were told there was a good baker and a vegetable market on Saturdays. These both closed at 12.00, so by the time we left we had to sprint over the quite considerable hill (350m) to make it in time. So much for our rest day!
We spent the afternoon reading, researching our onward route, chatting to other campers and trying out the thoughtfully placed hammocks slung between the olive trees.
We're going to stay one more day in this idyllic spot and will do some more walking.
It would be a shame to leave too soon without exploring more of the area.

Fossacesia to Serramonacesca

We set off early-ish for us from the strangely deserted, but good, off-season campsite on the coast and headed uphill into the Abruzzo mountains. We were crossing the lie of the land and as a result had to constantly climb two or three hundred metres,  then descend again to our starting height and climb yet again. Our destination - Kokopelli Camping near Serramonacesca in the Majella National Park. I'd noticed this campsite in Cool Camping when researching our trip 

Heading for the mountains

What a relief!!

Arrival at Kokopelli

The climbing was truly gruelling.  Ben  seems to be able to keep going on any gradient, but I find that when it is 12% or more I prefer to get off and walk, using the bike as a Zimmer frame!
Kokopelli certainly lives up to its reputation and reviews - more tomorrow about that. The great news is that my passport has arrived here, so I can leave that particular worry behind.
We've been on the road for two weeks now and are quite tired. We intend to take a couple of rest days here to recharge our batteries before heading north again.
There's absolute silence from man-made noise here - just the sound of wolves howling and- closer- some very noisy frogs.

Fossacesia to Serramonacesca - 68km, 1300m climb

Before Vasto to Fossacesia - a short day's ride

We'd originally planned a rather ambitious day today, north up the coast, then heading inland into the very hilly Majella National Park. Now that we've been forced by the snow to change our route and have decided to remain on the coast, we are under less time pressure as it is not only a shorter, but a much easier route. As a result of this conclusion we decided just to go up the coast some 30km to the last campsite before turning inland, then leave ourselves with 65 very hilly kilometers to do tomorrow. 

We started off along a wonderful cycle path weaving along the coast through pine forests. After Vasto the path came to an abrupt end and we had to rejoin the busy Ss16 coast road once more. Rather frustratingly we could see just below us towards the sea the work going on to turn a disused railway line into what will become the longest cycle path in Europe. 

My planning had shown a possible route of 7km off-road through the Punta Aderci nature reserve which we tried to follow. Fortunately for us, after 1km and just before trying to push the bikes up an incredibly steep slope, two walkers informed us that at the other end the way out of the reserve over a river was closed.  We gave up that idea and retreated to the nearby beach to eat our picnic.

Picnic time on the beach at Punta Aderci

Trabucchi 

We had a good view of some trabucchi - a sort of wooden fishing contraption for which this coast is renowned.
After lunch it was back uphill to the main road and a few more kilometres to the campsite - another very quiet off-season one. We'd set up the tent by 2pm and took advantage of the hot sunshine to get a bit of long-overdue washing done.
The next stage of this leisurely day was a visit to the campsite restaurant.  We expected the usual pizza, but were presented with a menu with no veggie options at all. They were very understanding though and brought us an interesting meal of feta with caramelised onions and aubergine and courgette fritters. We washed it down with a carafe of wine which apparently had been produced 7km back down the road we'd cycled along, then had coffee. We had no idea of the price as we were off menu and were astonished to receive a bill for €14.40 for the two of us!
Now to sleep ready for the challenging hills tomorrow.

Vasto to Fossacesia - 30km, 300m climb

Rodi to just before Vasto

Last night's sunset

A day without rain - what a surprise!

The first part of our route took us on quiet roads along a couple of lagoons, sometimes reaching the sea, but with little habitation. Some pine forests, then fields of tomatoes,  courgettes and potatoes. There were lots of colourful wild flowers lining the road.

We passed the nondescript town of Lesina after 45km, the first settlement of the journey. After that, constricted by a river, railway and motorway the road became busier and we had to continue on the fairly busy coast road for another 30km to Termoli as there were no quieter alternatives. Fortunately the road had a broad shoulder, so we felt reasonably safe, but found the noise oppressive. Though this road seemed ro go through the middle of nowhere it had developed its own little industry. In nearly every lay by a lady was sitting or standing touting for the custom of the passing truckers! At first we were surprised to see these lone women, until after the first couple it dawned on us why they were there. It was a relief to take a back road into Termoli and to follow the coast on a lovely cycle path for a while.

Cycle path through Termoli

 The main road had enabled us to keep up a good average speed, unlike the rougher lanes we've generally been riding on and we covered 105km reasonably quickly to arrive at this campsite just before Vasto.

We rewarded ourselves for the effort with a large pizza!

Rodi to Vasto - 105km, 300m climb

Vieste to Rodi

Our useful new purchase - a solar panel which charges a battery pack all day long (when it isn't raining!)
This plus the usb sockets on the bikes is coping with keeping the Garmin and our phones going.

Today was a beautiful coastal ride, more or less  completing our circuit of the Gargagno.

In spite of the fact that we've cycled less than 50km, it's been quite arduous as the coast road keeps having to rise around 100m to 200m over each headland. I suppose that's what makes this such a lovely coast though....

Looking back towards Vieste

Wet road after rain storm 

As seems to be the pattern at the moment the day started bright and sunny, but we had a terrific rain storm in the afternoon.  Fortunately we dived into a handy bar for a coffee to shelter from the worst and spent a while discussing the next stage of our journey. We were intending to go into the mountains of the Gran Sasso National Park, but we realise that the heavy rain which has fallen on us most days has been falling as snow there. We're now thinking that we'll leave the coast in a couple of days to venture into the lower mountains of the Majella Park (and to collect my passport), then drop back down to the Adriatic and follow it up to the Po Estuary. We'll ponder the options over the next few days.

Vieste to beyond Rodi - 49km, 700m climb