We did it!

We left Matera this morning and for once found our way out of town quite easily. Bruce, Rob, Charlie, Dan and Jack all welcomed us into Taranto at several points on the way in and at one stage followed us  with hazard lights flashing and a big notice to say who we were and what we had done!  Champagne was waiting for us on our doorstep and we felt very special. We've cycled almost 3000 kms, had about 4 punctures between us, one boil, one 'ski knee' lots of laughs and our friendship remains in tact! Charlie has taken some great shots of the last couple of days which i will put on the blog tomorrow. We are both very sad its over and.....yes! we are wondering what to do next!!

Pics from our journey across the Appenines.

We watched Lake Conzo North east of Potenza getting smaller and smaller as we climbed higher and higher 

We reached the peak of Mt Carruozzo after cycling along a ridge which separated two hills/mountains. Amazinly we looked over three valleys and it was absolutely stunning. We will never drive along an Autostrada again without wondering what the alternative route might be like.

Even a workman at the peak was surprised when two Brits appeared over the top. He took a photo of us with his own camera as well as this one! At the end of his day and several hours later, we heard non stop tooting behind us. He gave us great encouragement once again!

Castelgrande

Muro Lucano

We fed our drivers well! Dan and Charlie actually asked for one each of these enormous pizzas but the  chef warned them off!

With no car or caravan sal and i spent our last night in Matera......on carnival night. We only had our cycling gear, toothbrush and nighties . Thank goodness none of our children were there because we had to go out .......

in our nighties !!!!!! We got some very strange looks !!

We can't believe its our last night!

...and we are in a chintzy little B and B in Matera. Our lovely, loyal Mondeo estate finally gave up the ghost yesterday having 'climbed every mountain' and down again. The clutch has completely burned out and the steering is dodgy. So the last two nights have been away from the caravan too. We have just had the most extraordinary few days climbing over the back of the Appenine mountain range. At 3600 ft (1206m) we had our photo taken by a man working on the road up there. Goodness knows what he will do with it but he was clearly impressed! We crossed a long long long flat ridge that crossed over to another set of hills and allowed us to see three valleys at once. We have been through forests, looked up at villages with castles on the top, then a few minutes later found ourselves looking back down at them! As we came down again we found harvest in full swing which is weird to see in June. The weather is very hot and the up hills have been constant but we are pleased to report that we are coping well and haven't had to push our bikes once! Tomorrow is going to be all down hill...yippee and our welcoming committee will be Rob, Bruce, Jack, Dan and Charlie. Hope the champagne is chilling.

The Last ZAG

Now we are on the home straight - having turned inland just north of Naples. Our biggest problem has been finding campsites. Poor old Jack has has taken the caravan up steep  hills and down narrow streets looking for sites. One night was spent in a restaurant carpark as no alternative was available. On the other hand, our bike ride has been fabulous. Many long uphill stretches on the old Via Appia as we crossed the Appenines. We are now much faster and can easily manage a 5 or 6 mile hill and then do not brake so much on the downhill bits. The views have been spectacular. Only 30 years ago this area was devastated by an earthquake but there is no sign of it now other than the rather opulent houses that have been built since.
Today, Bruce brought back Charlie and Dan who will be our drivers for the last 3 or 4 days  to Taranto.

 Our car park caravan site

 Parilese where we joined the old Via Appia

 The campsite at Laghi di Monticchio found on Andrew Sykes' blog. It saved the day - Thanks Andrew!

  The view from the old Via Appia.

The Coast Road towards Naples

The first half was fantastic. Georgeous beaches, pretty campsites and straight roads. When the going became too hot we just pushed our bikes onto the beach and jumped into the sea. A few minutes sunbathing afterwards and we were dry and ready to start again.

 Sal in her red hat

 Lovely sandy beach near Teracina.

 Jack joined us as our driver and came to meet us on the spare bike. His backside is still sore!

The pretty town of Sperlonga

Our Day In Rome

If you are mad enough to cycle through Rome............do it on a Sunday! Most of the roads leading to the major sights were closed to cars and buses. It was amazing, cruising straight up to the Coliseum on our trusty bikes. We finshed the Via Flaminia, cycled through the city and straight out the other side. We would have liked to have stayed on the Via Appia but changed our route to cycle down the coast road instead.

The Trevi Fountain (with all the tourists editted out)

 More ancient ruins!!...... They were everywhere

Guess where we are and where we come from!

All roads lead to Rome !!!

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And finally we have almost made it. We have to do a final 50 miles tomorrow to get to the city and then we'll cycle through the centre on Sunday. Bruce is here for the weekend and will tow the caravan round the ring road !