Blog – Day 9 – Sala Consilino to Fuscaldo Lido

We have all been really impressed by the scenery and friendliness of the Italian people and although we all have tired legs there is a sadness that we are nearing the end of our adventure.

Today (Thursday) we set off from Teggiano, near Sala Consilina knowing that we had to climb through the mountains to Lagonegro on the way to the west coast. The mountain road also had several warnings to put on snow chains and warned of ice and snow !!!  We clearly understood that the passes were not going to be low and we actually climbed 3,000 feet during the day. Having already spent two days in the mountains, the group was battle hardened and embraced the challenge.

The attached pictures show a number of the team going up the mountains. Above is Tom riding up the mountains with Ben and below Ben and Ted, then guy and Steve and the last picture is myself.

 

 

 

 

 

The day was punctuated by fast climbing and ice cream on the beach in Praia a Mare when we finally came through the mountains. The first group, which changes from day to day, saw Neil dominating the hills but Joel and Tom doing sterling work bridging the gaps and in this case Tom and Joel working for their respective fathers to keep them in touch with the fast group !  Also in the group were Ted who is becoming really strong in the hills and Scott again getting much faster this year. The group also included Tim, who is always strong and a natural athlete and myself trying to keep the pace at over 20mph constantly on the flat sections. The pace to Fuscaldo was ferocious and with Neil driving the front group which continually split and reformed under the continuous pressure. Tom brought the group across to Neil several times and Joel continued to attack and clearly has the potential to be a really good racing cyclist. It was fast and furious and very satisfying for all. We finally arrived in Fuscaldo but could not find the Hotel but again we were supported by a really helpful local cyclist who took us all the way to the Hotel.

During the day we saw more examples of the Engineering excellence as vast tunnels, some 1.5kms long and equally vast viaducts were brilliant in contrast to the beautiful terrain.   Also we had the daily service of the girls and the van. They are angels !!! See below one of the drink stops. Thank you Stannah for the van which has been really important to the adventure.

Paul, Steve, Guy and Phil have all become stronger throughout the ride and regularly attacking over the mountains. Rob has become stronger each day despite his concerns about the ride before we started.  Sophia supported by Joe has shown resilience and overcome each challenge while the fast group has missed Joe’s pace in the mountains.  We will all now really close to Sicily with all the principle challenges overcome.

Ben and Joel seem to be enjoying their new found sport while James and Adrian go along at their own pace enjoying the ride and the occasional coffee stop.

 

 

Joe writes ….Today was a day of landmarks, let me explain.

We started the day surprisingly relaxed with the knowledge that the toughest climbing of the trip was today.  We had a 20 mile warm up and were to be greeted by some mountains that the locals said “no bichelae” I assume this meant they thought we were crazy to ride up them?  We are of course crazy so we ignored them and carried on as normal.

In the first 10 miles I dropped my wallet on the road leaving me with the kind guys who stayed with me.  Tim, Tom, Neil and I decided the only way to catch was to form a peleton and when reaching 25 mph we caught up with Soph who had also been left behind.  It only took another 5 mins or so and we re-joined the whole group.  It was very nice to be reaching the faster speeds again but I was kind of glad when the hill arrived and we split off into different groups.  Soph was struggling with no energy in her legs and claiming that she could not carry on which of course is a feeling I remember but I had to keep her going.  I think she found singing helped but was slightly embarrassed when she realised other people could hear her.

At 36 miles the first landmark was reached.  500 miles for the trip.  For those of you who remember the 1000 mile dance you will be glad to know there was no repeat of this. But even so what an achievement!

The mountainous landscape was out of this world as the road wound up and down like a scene of the Italian Job.  As far a descents on a bike are concerned I think we stumbled across one of the best, 6mph with hairpin turns and no traffic. Amazing!!!

At the drink break Soph looked pretty tired so we rested up and took on a lot of water and energy gels.  We could smell the Mediterranean (not literally but you know what I mean) as we passed Rimoni and this marked the second achievement of the day.  Coast to coast Italy past the most hilly area in the country and this gave us a nice boost, I think in a large part because we knew no more big hill would be in front of us.

 

On the last 30 miles of coastal highway you could tell we had hit the med.  Much more touristy but much more natural beauty where they had left the countryside alone.

At the 10 mile point Rob, Adrian, Phil, Soph, Jamie and myself stopped at a café for a last drink.  We met some Swiss tourists who wondered what we were doing.  They asked “where are you from” to which Rob replied in his best English abroad accent “We are from ENGLANDO” wow is all I can say!  We were in stitches laughing at him and the poor tourists had no idea what was going on.  It takes very simple things out here to keep us amused.

Riding into the hotel we saw the beach and a pool.  The other guys had already made it and from what I can work out borrowed a pedelo?  See below with Tim diving off the boat.  I would have been rude not to join in so we did and the sea was the most turquoise I have ever seen it.  I reckon you could see down 30ft.  Very nice to be sitting in my hotel room now listening to the sea wash in and watch the sunset over the beach.

 

See below Tim diving off the Pedalo to the amusement of  the group.