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