PatriciaK's Italian ebike tour adventure 🇮🇹🚴🇮🇹

Ok, turning the page!

Arrived in Lecce yesterday afternoon, and met the rest of the group and our guides at dinner. 18 folks total on the tour... At least 2/3 (not all traveling together) from the Vancouver, BC area - our neighbors to the north! A couple of Brits, a French and a German guy, and we 3 American ladies 😁. 4 of the Canadians had just finished a different ride, and are continuing with us this week for another - they must have liked it.

Heading out shortly to the warehouse to pick up bikes. My complimentary pannier is packed, and I'm ready to go!

More later...

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PatriciaK said:
Ok, turning the page!

Arrived in Lecce yesterday afternoon, and met the rest of the group and our guides at dinner. 18 folks total on the tour... At least 2/3 (not all traveling together) from the Vancouver, BC area - our neighbors to the north! A couple of Brits, a French and a German guy, and we 3 American ladies 😁. 4 of the Canadians had just finished a different ride, and are continuing with us this week for another - they must have liked it.

Heading out shortly to the warehouse to pick up bikes. My complimentary pannier is packed, and I'm ready to go!

More later...

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Hosers from Vancouver?!!???
Oh Noes, eh?
 
We had just a glorious day to begin our tour this morning! Beautiful, cloudless sky, calm conditions, high forecast to be in the low 70s (F).

Following a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we walked a couple of blocks to the bike warehouse to get our bikes and helmets, and have final adjustments done. Here's my ride:

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As we set out from Lecce, we had about 2 miles on roads with not too bad traffic before we turned off onto secondary/farm roads for most of the rest of the day. We rode through miles and miles of dead and dying olive trees - apparently there's a bacteria that originally arrived in Italy on coffee plants from Brazil that has caused a devastating loss in Puglia. One of the hazards of monoculture, according to our guide. So sad to see. But then, we entered the Le Cesine National Park, a WWF protected area, and over of the last remaining marshlands that used to be characteristic is this area. The road has been closed to cars for decades, so the ride was relaxing and leisurely - a beautiful area, redolent with the scent of eucalyptus, and the calls of migrating birds.

From there, we rode along the coast to Otranto, where we're staying for the next 2 nights:

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It was a long ride, the first day out, almost 40 miles! Fortunately, it was mostly flat 😁. I had volunteered to be the sweeper (La Scopa, in Italiano), riding at the rear and making sure everyone was moving along with the group. Turned out It really enjoyed it - I only have to ride as fast as the slowest rider, and it's comfortable and relaxing, for the most part. Offered to do it again tomorrow!

Need to get some rest... Tomorrow is a shorter day, bit today took a bit more out of me then l had anticipated - especially since Ride With GPS claims my top speed for the day was 267 mph 🤣🤣🤣! Not believing that ...😉!

Here's the map:

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I'm loving this experience so far 🤩🤩🤩!
 
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PatriciaK said:
We had just a glorious day to begin our tour this morning! Beautiful, cloudless sky, calm conditions, high forecast to be in the low 70s (F).
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Sounds wonderful! You picked a good time to be away: 82 degrees and smoky here. Smells like a state park campground outside.
 
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Today was our "short" day, though not quite as short as advertised (29k, according to the itinerary - you can see by Ride With GPS it doesn't convert...)🤪. I'm beginning to think that the mileages and times are just "suggestions", rather than being based on reality... That's ok, except at the end of a ride I expected to end several miles ago 😉!

We again rode mostly back/farm roads, that were mostly, but not all, in good condition. I am not a mountain biker or a gravel rider, and there were several points today where I just hoped to stay in an upright position while navigating ruts, rocks, puddles and loose gravel! Fortunately, I was successful - but I didn't love it the way Stefan would have 🤣.

Our first stop was the cathedral in Otranto, with its amazing "tree of life" mosaic floor. Here's Eve, with the snake:

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There were all sorts of flora, fauna, kings, and religious symbols depicted - the meaning is open to interpretation, depending on one's historical leaning. This was an area where Greek Orthodox monks fled to escape the Turks, but it was already Catholic here... It's complicated, but the mosaics were impressive!

After the Cathedral, we headed out into the countryside and saw some prehistoric menhirs (stone pillars) and dolman (stone altars), and visited a weaving coop that still uses looms hundreds of years old:

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Finished off with a HUGE lunch at a local place that produces all their own food, then headed back to the hotel.

My job as Scopa today was a bit more work - someone stopped for something and I had to wait for her, then the German guy who had had 6 glasses of wine at lunch had a problem, then the previous lady rode back to us and we lost the group when she took a wrong turn trying to catch up! Thank goodness I had gotten the guide's phone number yesterday! He came back and got us on the right track again. THEN, one of the more senior (than me) ladies' battery ran out of juice, and I had to call the guide again.

Skipped dinner tonight because I was full from lunch, and I have a spot right above my right clavicle that is just killing me, so I arranged to have a massage. The lady gave me some tips on preventing the problem in the future, so we shall see

Tomorrow is our second longest day, with a ride down the Adriatic (I think) coast.

I'm keeping an eye out for a barn for @dodgeman, but haven't seen any so far ..

We've had FABulous weather, a convivial group, a great guide, delicious food and wine, and excellent bikes on this tour - I'm so happy to be here!

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PatriciaK said:
View attachment 138102

Today was our "short" day, though not quite as short as advertised 🤪. I'm beginning to think that the mileages and times are just "suggestions", rather than being based on reality... That's ok, except at the end of a ride I expected to end several miles ago 😉!

We again rode mostly back/farm roads, that were mostly, but not all, in good condition. I am not a mountain biker or a gravel rider, and there were several points today where I just hoped to stay in an upright position while navigating ruts, rocks, puddles and loose gravel! Fortunately, I was successful - but I didn't love it the way Stefan would have 🤣.

Our first stop was the cathedral in Otranto, with its amazing "tree of life" mosaic floor. Here's Eve, with the snake:

View attachment 138103

There were all sorts of flora, fauna, kings, and religious symbols depicted - the meaning is open to interpretation, depending on one's historical leaning. This was an area where Greek Orthodox monks fled to escape the Turks, but it was already Catholic here... It's complicated, but the mosaics were impressive!

After the Cathedral, we headed out into the countryside and saw some prehistoric menhirs (stone pillars) and dolman (stone altars), and visited a weaving coop that still uses looms hundreds of years old:

View attachment 138104

Finished off with a HUGE lunch at a local place that produces all their own food, then headed back to the hotel.

My job as Scopa today was a bit more work - someone stopped for something and I had to wait for her, then the German guy who had had 6 glasses of wine at lunch had as problem, then the previous lady ride back to us and we lost the group when she took a wrong turn trying to catch up! Thank goodness I had gotten the guide's phone number yesterday! He came back and got us on the right track again. THEN, one of the more senior (than me) ladies' battery ran out of juice, and I had to call the guide again.

Skipped dinner tonight because I was full from lunch, and I have a spot right above my right clavicle that is just killing me, so I arranged to have a massage. The lady gave me some tips on preventing the problem in the future, so we shall see

Tomorrow is our second longest day, with a ride down the Adriatic (I think) coast.

I'm keeping an eye out for a barn for @dodgeman, but haven't seen any so far ..

We've had FABulous weather, a convivial group, a great guide, delicious food and wine, and excellent bikes on this tour - I'm so happy to be here!

View attachment 138111
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I'm enjoying this travelogue thread. I literally get a smile everyday 😁
 
Mulezen said:
I’ve been in Rome myself lately while reading Mary Beard’s SPQR but as fascinating as Ancient Rome was they didn’t have ebikes.
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Guess what! I have read the whole book series from her!
Well, they didn't have e-bikes, used to get up before the dawn and were partying during the available daylight! :D
 
J.R. said:
Not so much easy prey as big payday. Thieves look for a worthy pick. Tourists are worthy.

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So true... Who would risk prosecution for 3 zloty, a safety pin and a condom from 1998 🙃
 
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Mulezen said:
And lots of wine…then and now
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Let us not forget the life of a Roman citizen who could at best afford a-sub $2000 throttle fat-tire Chinese folder e-bike was not particularly inspiring or easy! :) Even worse for the slaves! Well, as a Slav, I could have been easily enslaved! ("sclavus" = a slave).
 
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Long day of riding, with lots of hills today! The second one, out of Otranto, made the whole 110 euro ebike supplement totally worth it!

As you can see from the map, we rode along the coast the whole way, and the scenery was stunning. Adriatic and then Ionian sea on the left, cliffs, and villages on the right - just beautiful ❤️! Just across the water, mostly in the mist but occasionally visible, were Albania and Greece. At one point, T-Mobile thought I WAS in Greece 🤪.

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This lighthouse marks the furthest eastern
point of the Italian peninsula:

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And the town of Santa Maria di Leuca, where we're staying tonight, is the furthest south on the Italian mainland:

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It was such a gorgeous ride! I was so impressed, as the Scopa, with the 2 elderly couples that did this ride today on traditional bikes! I was riding along behind them in sport or turbo mode - working, but comfortably - while they granny geared it up under their own power. My knees couldn't have done it but kudos to them 🤩🤩!

We were rewarded with another wonderful hotel and a fabulous dinner in Santa Maria di Leuca, where I can hear the waves making after the show right now...

An even longer day, but mostly flat, coming up tomorrow as we ride to Gallipoli - stay tuned!

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