23-07-2015     Teramo → Norcia,   123 km

In my stuffy room I sleep quite good; I wake up only once. And breakfast is not disappointing either. Outside it's the start of a nice holiday. I thoroughly study the maps and now tend to shorten my giro by eleven days indeed. I might try to reach Sant' Angelo de Vado, where there's a bed and breakfast of "Vrienden op de Fiets", make a tour through the interesting region there (and also the route to Sant' Angelo looks attracting), and then ride south to Tuoro on Tuesday. I consider it premature to make a reservation yet: Sant' Angelo is quite a long way off, and everywhere there can suddenly be these lovely though time-consuming Apennines in between.

View from the hotel

It's a pity the evenings are not as nice; especially as I know I can have a lovely time in Holland/Haarlem. Still I cannot make a definite decision; in 35 years of cycling I've never come home earlier than planned!   I leave from Hotel Michelangelo with an unknown destination. The first 50 km will be over small roads through many small villages, through the northern parts of the Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso, with probably quite some elevation gain. It takes some asking to find the P48, but having found that road, I can just follow the signs for "Ceppo". It goes up slowly all the time.

First sign with Ceppo

Nice mountains!

I started from about 400 m, with indeed many villages and every now and then a view back to the high peaks of the mountain range in the south. And my mind is working/worrying constantly: I have to talk about it with someone. In San Stefano, already at 800 m s.l.m. I have an early coffee (i.e. after little more than 20 km) and call Leontien. She hears me out and wisely let me make my own decision. She is mostly afraid that back in Holland I will regret an early return. A bit lighter in the head I continue the long way up; it lasts and it lasts and it lasts, and it's very much okay! And then finally, around noon, I reach Ceppo, at the highest point of the road, about 1360 m, since I have to go up a bit higher over a side way leading to a funny picnic place.

	Starting from quite low		Nice road!
	Quite a bit higher yet		Bar from where I consulted 'Holland'
	Still the same mountain range		And still a bit higher
	And on and		on and on
	Till finally:		The highest point!

From an even higher point:   First attempt to change the return trip

I have a cornetto (ice cream), a sandwich and one or two coca colas, and I have made my decision: I'll book a return trip from Tuoro. I call 'Holland', but alas!, the travel agency is not open on Saturday. Meanwhile I chat along with two Italian friends, slightly over my age, also having a lunch (and a few beers). All in all this curvy road and the elevation it involves makes me go quite slow. I have another look at the map and decide that Norcia is the place to be for me, and why not take it easy and stay there two nights?! The P48 after Ceppo gets even more pleasant. Of course now I go down most of the time, though after I cross a small brook (named Castellane) I have to (re)gain some altitude as well. At the end it's quite a descent with a few wide hairpin bends and spectacular views down. Close to Acquasanta Terme I hit the S4 connecting Ascoli and Rieti.

	Stuffy start of		beautiful and long descent
	Long   . . . .		. . . .   descent
	Long   . . . .		. . . .   descent

Long   . . . .

. . . .   descent

Beautiful descent!

to Acquasanta Terme (?)

A busy road through a nice valley, and a good road to quickly add 15 km to my day distance. The sky gets overcast and I fear some time from now it will rain. There's still a pass to conquer, the Forca Canapine, with a height difference of 750 m! I prefer to have a break at the start of the climb, but I wait too long. And when I finally realize this, I have to go back some 2 km, to a roadhouse that I had seen but ignored 15 minutes earlier. I'm kindly helped to a warm panini pollo by a waitress with obviously English roots. It starts to drizzle. That's okay.

	And there I hit the S4		Which is busy, but easy to follow
	Cycling Dutchman having a good time		There's the junction, but where's the restaurant?
	Up there (Aquatra del Tronto) a restaurant?		First phase to F.C.: many tunnels

First the road is busy, passes through several short tunnels, and hardly goes up. Well, I'm around 1000 m s.l.m. already when I leave the main road (that 500 m further disappears into a long tunnel (between 5 and 6 km long; forbidden for traffic like me). From this junction it's 9 km still to the Forca and 32 km to Norcia (which would have been 15 km through the tunnel), but the climb goes perfect! The grades are fine, there's hardly any traffic, the lower temperature certainly helps, and the rains doesn't set through, fortunately. The last part I do with bare torso. At the top, which I reach on the stroke of six, it seems I will need my rain coat, but then, I would even put it on against the cold. And, for the last time, I wear my helmet.

	Second junction;   leaving the cars below		Below and through the long tunnel
	The climb is going great		The legs are doing great!

The bare end is near

Bare man on a bare top

The 'proof' I have been there

getting ready for the descent

Nice descent!! Good views, and only a few unclear/blind bends. Back on the main road (the one through the tunnel) it's still eight km to Norcia, eight rotten kms, with fast driving cars and friable parts in the road. I reach Norcia, a town with a walled historic center, well before seven. I decide it's best to ride around this historic part first, on the lookout for accommodation, and three quarters around I spot a Best Western hotel. Bad news at the hotel reception: an ambitious-like manager tells me all hotels are full ("Sir, it's Saturday"), but for some unclear reason a room seems to be available in a hotel in the center, for € 150,- for two nights. Well, now that I save so much money by skipping eleven days, I don't care. And it turns out an expensive decision of which I will not at all have regrets. To begin with, I'm received by a very nice woman.

	Open descent		Along impressive mountain side
	Views from above		Over the valley harboring Norcia
	Porta della cità Norcia		Me and JJ have reached our place to stay

Walking through the nice town (I can see that!) is a bit lonely again, and I have difficulty choosing a place to eat. There is simply too much choice. I end up at a friendly, busy pizzeria with a pizza that's not very special, preceded by carpaccio con tartufo. This tartufo (truffle) seems to be the local specialty. (And also Norcia is full of ristoranti con cucina tipica). On the way back I buy one of my favorite gelati, i.e. melone and an acqua frizzante and listen to three or four songs by a choir singing on the central piazza (which is only 100 m from the hotel), and watch a Mum and daughter (I guess) give a spontaneous salsa demonstration. There's a lot of music going on in Norcia. Of course there's wifi in the hotel room, and we whatsapp a lot (the Saturday crossword from the Volkskrant, among other things). Quite a good day, and now that I've taken my decision about the bus return I feel much more relaxed.