Sepino to Lucera (122 kms)
We left Sepino early (for us) and went back down the
main road to have a good look around Saepinum. It was about 9am
when we arrived there and we were the only ones in the place so we
spent a good hour looking around the ruins which are very impressive.
We left the ruins and headed back on the main road toward Sepino.
The road was very quiet at this time in the morning, nothing like it
had been the previous evening when we arrived. We climbed for a
while up to Cercemaggiore where we bought some very refreshing oranges
from a van by the roadside. We swooped down to Riccia where we
sorted out our lunch and then headed off for Castelvetere via Sella
Canala (a long climb of around 12km) and Decorata before a final
descent into Castelvetere.
From Castelvetere there was a huge drop into the
valley where we started an equally huge hot climb up to San Bartolomeo.
As we approached the town, we could see a very steep hill going on up
the hillside at the back of the town and joked that that couldn't
possibly be our road. After ice creams and a drink in San
Bartolomeo, and a chat with the local cafe owner, we found to our
dismay that that was indeed our road.
We rode back down the street, chased by the cafe owner
with my wallet clutched in his hand. Thank you, oh thank you for
that! Even before we
turned the corner, we put the tandem in the lowest gear we had and braced
ourselves. This road had to be 30%. We know steep climbs
well, with Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass on our doorstep, and this
certainly ranked with the steepest parts of those. The steep bit
wasn't very long (300 metres?) but with a fully loaded tandem and a
long climb in your legs already, it hurt like hell. We reached
the 'top' and saw that the road went on climbing (not as steeply) for a
long way into the distance. Eventually we reached the top (Mt Pagliarone - 1029m), and here I think we got a bit lost. We
swooped down (and probably missed a turning) and then climbed hard
again. The road deteriorated, still easily rideable, but very
potholed and stony in places. We did see the odd car, and
were just beginning to worry that we were lost, when we reached the
main road again, where we turned left, climbed a bit more and then
descended for miles to Alberona which seems to be famous for wind
turbines and environmentally friendly energy (solar powered
streetlights for example). There were loads of wind turbines up
on the hilltop where we'd come from. The huge descent continued
through Alberona, C.Civetta, then a short rise to Tertiveri where we
joined a long straight road heading into Lucera. We had a good
tailwind on this section and were flying along at 40kph with very
little effort. We arrived in Lucera at 6:30pm and booked
in to the 3 star Hotel Balconetta (60 euros). It had been a very
tiring day. Very hilly, very hot. We had pizza for tea, then
it was an early night where we slept the sleep of the dead in a very hot
room. |
