Recognise the godfatherly destination?
A suitably remote town up in the hills!
What a wonderful, beautiful ride!!
Not quite as planned of course (is it ever?)….but fantastic all the same!
The first forty km were a bit busy…to be fair…..lovely scenery but not great riding!
Glad this dog was not at home…not sure the fence would have helped!
I had been managing my battery from the start….in tour (low assistance ) mode….so by our normal forty km coffee-stop mark….I was well ready for a break (..and a brief recharge!)
And then the climbing started!
What a road though!
A full 20km…at a steady 4%…and there we were 800m higher…!
Glorious!
Alan had to change battery…(before me!!)….so we were both experiencing battery stress…for a change!
We had planned for a stop at Campofelice di Fitalia….a tiny town…500m of climbing away! …(plenty of down too!)…but the last 4km was all up…at well over 10%!
So we arrived….fully knackered….sweating like piglets…..and ready for…..beers…water…food…anything…and we both desperately needed a re-charge!
Lovely wee town…
…but closed!
Completely closed!
The promised bar…the promised pizza place…the promised mini-supermarket….all closed!
Even the water fountain in the town square…was …closed?
We were really gasping!! Waterless……completely!
Thankfully, I had recalled passing the butcher’s shop…still open!
As we shot down the high street (really only one street!)…the daughter was mopping the pavement…ready for her four hour siestaI
I must have looked a desperate wreck (I felt like it!)…and she made that international drinking sign! So I hopped off the bike…and she presented us with two huge bottles of iced water
No english…( buggar-all Italian from our end!) but within minutes we both had our batteries recharging….in this tiny butcher’s shop..offering us food (declined)…we were just both thirsty…thirsty!….and were sent to the (closed) bar..to enjoy our water in the shade! They would not accept any payment.
They would return to open the butchery in an hour….so we could retrieve our batteries!
What heroes!
Actually…they did not come back..so we had to knock on their door…(next door to the butcher’s shop……)…..and Dad came back.
“Where are you going”…he said…so I showed him our last 21km plan.
“No, no…impossible” he said (..and yes…it was already a worrying off-road route..)…”brute”…”forte”…etc etc..he said…. and he suggested the better route..which cars might take! Except it involved another 42km, and another 800m of climbing…which we (nor our batteries!) could countenance (..our route had only a modest 300m more to do…!).
So with fond farewells and heartfelt thanks….we set off…full of trepidation…about ignoring local advice from such a lovely guy!
But it turned out…he was over-cautious and the track was just fine! Tiring in the blazing heat…..but another lovely ride!!
…..with a few obstacles en route…..
…but lovely ride all the same…
And we pulled into Corleone at around five.
Super-quick showers……and super-quick to the bar!
Where we spent the evening looking for godfathers. Plenty of guys in sunnies! (..it was very sunny though!).
My two godfathers are dead.
Maybe they are not here any more either.
But…somehow…I doubt it!!
