21-07-2015     Sulmona → Sulmona,   131 km

Today not necessarily a long/exhausting étape. When I arrived in Sulmona I had in mind to use one of the two days to include (in fact ride back and forth to/from) Blockhaus, THE challenge of this tour, but then later decided that would be too much because of the long distance, the hard climb and another passo in the afternoon (or possibly evening). So, my 55th anniversary will be a day to relax! To begin with, I have set my alarm a bit later. Again, breakfast is a solitary business, but outside on the terrace it feels much better than yesterday in the dark kitchen.

Birthday breakfast

on my private terrace

I'm ready for take-off as late as 9:30 a.m.! I leave my hometown-for-3-nights southbound, cross the S17 (almost a motor way) and start a long, regular climb into the Parco Nazionale della Majella. The first part goes through farmland, higher up nature has (still) withstood human development. I pass through picturesque Cansano and guess/expect I'll climb for another five km over a serpentine road, and then will get onto the S487 over a kind of (Jura-like?) corniche.

	Is that Il Corne Grande still?		Nice gentle road up
	To Cansano		And gently going up further
	Much further		Nice bend!
	Great road		Leading to the 'Italian Jura'

As often during the last week my expectation turns out wrong: the road keeps going up for some 15 km! Follows a short descent and another short climb to Pescocostanzo (indeed about 1 km higher than today's starting point). I have a late cappuccino (or two) and call Cycletours to talk about an alternative return trip. Alas, the bus from Suze-la-Rousse of August 6 is fully booked, and the bus from Lago Caldonazzo/Bolzano goes even later than August 6 (where I would rather return earlier).
What about the remainder of my birthday's stage?
A closer look on the map reveils that the loop I had originally in mind seems partly unpaved, and even the paved small roads often are quite bad. So I decide to descend to Pizzoferrato and climb back to the Valico della Forchetta, then back north through a valley that runs parallel to the valley I passed in the morning, (both) through the Parque della Majella, and then hopefully have time to add the Passo San Leonardo.

	Approaching Pescocostanzo		Having reached Pescocostanzo
	Start of the afternoon program		Avvertimento:   Even the paved roads:
	multo		multo brutto
	Out of the forest (and past the bad road):		Nice descent
	to beautifully located:		Pizzoferrato!

First thing: the ride to Pizzoferrato is not down, but mostly up (only at home do I learn that I pass quite close under a 1610 m peak (and the Forchetta lies at 1276 m), which is good, since beforehand I feared a bit the ride back. Second the road is in a dreadful condition; I ignore the warning signs, well, they even say the road is chiuso, and through a forest quietly enjoy the ride, as far as I can avoid the holes. Three km before Pizzoferrato I pass Valle del Sole, where an altitude of 1498 m is mentioned. Follows a quick hairpinned descent – over a better maintained road – to below 1250 m, with this beautiful (1610 m high?) mountain to my left, and at the end very nice views from above down to Pizzoferrato, nicely laid out against a big rock. After a coca cola and a gelato menta e melone I attack the climb to Valle del Sole with effort and pleasure (and sweat – it's quite warm). And then over the quiet and crumbled road back to the Valico della Forchetta.   Shortly after this 'highlight' I turn right for supposedly a long, slow descent to Campo di Giovo. Slow, since along the road there's also a railroad. I'm wrong in my assessment: after less than 1 km the road goes up for at least 1 km at what feels like at least 10%! (Indeed the highest point is above 1400 m. And the railroad is mostly through tunnels.)  

	And up again		Over the bad road through the woods
	Second time around		Turn right to the north
	One 'killing' km   (well, not really)		Me at the age of 55

The weather changes for the worse: the sky gets overcast and a dark cloud above Sulmona or thereabouts looks like one for a thunderstorm. Also I have the wind against me. The first three km after Campo di Giovo are rather strenuous, mostly because of the wind from the north. After that the slopes remain gentle, and nowhere feel steeper than 4%. The area around the passo is quite open; the road is not so special, but the mountain range in the east, the Montagna della Majella, with some patches of snow high up (some peaks are above 2400 s.l.m.) are nice, especially after I have turned around at the pass (the second time during this stage that I turn around).

	Nice views onto the		Montagna della Majella
	Second 'point of return'		With still a full view of the Montagna della Majella

I'm still a bit worried by upcoming rain, but that appears unnecessary. First it's the Majella Range that makes for a nice environment, later on it's the stretch with several hairpins on top of each other, and with the white spots on the ridge far away that provide about the best views of the whole trip. During this part the road is literally blocked for cars (well, maybe I wasn't supposed to pass the bar either; at the risk of falling stones? moving earth?)   It's wonderful!!

Still the Majella range

First hairpinned section

	Road absolutely blocked for cars		Absolutely GREAT road
	Absolutely GREAT		End of the blocked section
	Second hairpinned section		Majella range seen from much lower

All in all I go down around 850 m till Sulmona, which I reach around 18:45. At last I take the time to make me a sandwich (from the stuff I bought in Pescocostanzo in the morning. And I call my Dad to congratulate him on hist 89th anniversary. A shower. Dinner with French fries (it's my birthday, isn't it?) wifi, noise from the football field, and several telephone calls from Marijke (which I do not succeed in receiving with my new phone). Good day! Abruzzo is beautiful, especially on a bike with light luggage.
And still I haven't decided about the second half of this giro . . . .

Before and

after the main course