So Why Go to the Amalfi Coast ?

It was all a bit of an adventure buzzing off to Southern Italy on my own, with my bike and doing a bike event in a small out of the way town.

Some people wonder why I did it at all. Afterall, I could have done like alot of my peers at this time of year - gone on a week long training camp with some sports tour company, or with a cycling club to the usual places - Mallorca, Lanzarote, Southern Spain, or North East Italy. This option may even have been less hassle as they would be used to welcoming foreign cyclists, and there wouldn't have been the language barrier.

But I chose to go to Southern Italy 'cos I wanted to try something different. I have been to Mallorca and Lanzarote a few times, and I agree that they are pleasant places to cycle round in the early season. But in recent times I find that I want more from a cycle trip than just doing the training camp. I like to get a feel for the place I'm in - meet the folks from there, ride the roads that the locals ride, eat the local food, and just learn abit about life in this new place. In short, I want more of a cycling experience than just a training camp with people that I can see quite easily when I'm at home. The Amalfi coast is a beautiful area, with dramtic coastlines, spectacular scenery, and well known sites of interest (Pompeii, Vesuvius, and the Island of Capri). It's not a big destination for British based cyclists, but while out there I noted that cycling is just as big in this region as it is in other parts of Italy.

Also doing a local cyclosportive gives the cycling trip a bit of a goal. These types of cyclosportive events take place all the time in Italy. You could do one every week if you wanted ! So why not get involved. The folks are generally really pleased to see someone from abroad doing their race, and you get a warm welcome. I was even photographed on the podium for the women's prizegiving. (I had no idea this picture was for the local paper, until I stumbled across it on the internet a couple of weeks later. That made my day !)

I was sad to say goodbye to my new found buddies at the end of my Sorrento trip, and thanked them heartily for the great event they had put on. On my return to England I felt really refreshed like I'd done something new - and not just the usual pilgrimage to a training camp.


A few travel facts :

I flew into Naples (with British Airways, who do not charge for bike carriage)

At the airport I took the Curreri bus to Sorrento - 7 euros one way (They carry bikes on the coach). It dropped me at Sorrento train station, 5 minutes from the main square.


I stayed at the Villa Elisa appartment, Piazza Sant'Antonino, in the centre of town (75 euros/night). The appartment was clean and pretty, with all the usual facilities - bathroom, kitchen facilities, dining area, TV, air conditioning. There's a nice courtyard where you can eat, and there are sun loungers on the roof. The landlady is very friendly.

The cyclosportive cost 23 euros to enter. It is possible to enter right up to the day before the event. If you are not sure of the details of the event, ask at one of the local bars and the bike hire shop around the main square (Piazza Tasso), or along Via degli Aranci, where the race goes.

Related posts

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Part 1

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Part 2

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Last part

Cycling around the Amalfi Coast

From Flanders to Amalfi

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Last Part

THE LONELY ROAD AHEAD

I got my bike sorted, and rode on anyway. At least I wouldn't be under pressure to ride at the pace of the peloton !

 
I decided I would nevertheless ride as fast as I could in order to test myself - also I wanted to be finished by lunchtime. I had sight-seeing to do !

It turned out that a number of other riders had had mechanicals (mainly punctures) as a result of the bumpy descent out of Sant'Agata sui due Golfi. At intervals I would see a rider standing at the side of the road with their team mates while he made the necessary repairs.

That made me feel re-assured to know I wouldn't be alone. The descent to Sorrento was just as pleasant as I had imagined. A few late comers overtook me at a phenomenal pace. I would've liked their company, but I wasn't ready to follow them at such a kamikaze pace. This was also the case when we hit Sorrento town and had to negotiate the traffic - mainly tourist coaches. This was worse than the City of London at rush hour ! How could they allow so many tourist monsters on the road ! Some cyclists took great risks squeezing between buses, but I was just not sure I could do so without me or my bike getting squashed ! So I just stayed where I was, preferring to lose even more time on the bunch than damage my bike or get a bruising.

I was definitely disadvantaged riding outside of the race. If I'd been with the main bunch we would have been chaperoned by the whole caravan of vehicles. The traffic would have been stopped for us, and the peloton would have had a free run. On my own, I was just another cyclist - albeit with a race number on, but that still wouldn't give me the right to a clear road through the town. In the crowded street with Sunday morning shoppers and tourists I felt a bit daft and out of place riding around with a race number on, but with no apparent sign of a race being on ! I probably had the air of a sheep that had lost the rest of its flock !

Once out of Sorrento and Vico Equense the road was largely clear. I managed to get a rhythm going on the bike and caught a few riders on the drag up to Castellammare di Stabia. The broom wagon, which was standing in a layby on the main road tooted at me as the folks enquired if everything was ok. Yes, everything was fine, apart from missing the draft of 500 people to pull me along !



ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

Shortly after Castellammare the main climb up to Agerola began. I felt comfortable doing this, as I'd only been on this road the day before yesterday. Soon I caught a guy who I'd thought was going quite slowly. I passed him, but realised he had latched onto my wheel. Great - a drafting partner for the climb ! We then took it in turns to tow each other up the hill. I found it difficult to concentrate on the hill and think in a foreign language at the same time, so kept my conversation to very simple talk. "Que Lungo, quanti chilometri ?" Near the top, just outside the tunnel, we met another cyclist at the side of the road. He latched onto the front and gave us a tow through the tunnel. That was very useful as he was pretty strong and was able to get us out of that cold dark place pretty quickly.

We then sped down the hill to Agerola, where the first feed station was placed. I'd expected a long table flush with lots of food for people to stop at, browse the fare, and choose what to eat and drink. In fact this feed station was more like what you get in a road race - people stood at the side of the road handing out bottles and food that you were meant to grab quickly while you were riding along. You weren't expected to stop. As I didn't trust my food grabbing skills I stopped, picked up 3 fruit bars and a bottle of water and then arranged everything in my saddle bag and pockets. Not very elegant I know. Of course with all this faffing I lost the others that I'd been with and was once again on my tod. They had probably arrived in Amalfi (10kms downhill) by the time I was getting going again !



DOWN TO THE COAST

As I made my descent I found the 180 degree turns a bit difficult to negotiate so took them at slow speed. I was soon caught by 2 guys in yellow. "Vai con noi", one of them shouted. They'd obviously sensed I was having difficulty so they invited me to follow them. Having someone's line to follow made all the difference, and I was able to take the descent confidently at speed. I didn't have time to contemplate the dramatic coastline or the rocky surfaces, or the cool blue sea. I was just following this yellow back-side - keen to not make any errors on the corners ! We passed 6 or 7 people, during this descent. That made me feel good.

After Praiano the road started to undulate and we began climbing up to Positano. The guys in yellow shot up the climb. I couldn't keep up with them, so just settled into my own pace. I just kept a steady rhythm, keen to save a bit of energy for the really steep ramps near the end of the course. As I climbed up to Positano I realised this wasn't such a lonely ride for me, as I was constantly catching people. Some of them I passed, others I managed to work with.



THE LONG SLOG BACK

After Positano we headed inland, and so took in a few more climbs - colli San Pietro, Picco San Angelo. At the top of this climb was Sant'Agata and the event HQ. There were guys hanging around, who had clearly finished some time ago and were warming down. It was so tempting to turn left and just go up to the finish line - but I knew I had to do the remaining 12 miles, along with the group I was with.

We then plunged downhill on the road back towards Sorrento - the road we had done first thing this morning. At the bottom of the descent, instead of going straight on into Sorrento, this time we took a sharp left to Massa Lubrense. A group of riders were arguing with a policeman who had directed them the wrong way. They'd apparently missed the left turn and had ended up going all the way into Sorrento before realising they'd gone off course. The policeman was looking pretty sorry as the riders remonstrated. I couldn't imagine riders arguing like that in England.

With this group of riders joining our group, we became a peloton of around 25 riders. That was good for the morale, as I was beginning to feel a little tired, and the road began to rise up again. The road went uphill relentlessly for around 4 miles, passing through little villages - Termini, Metrano, Madonna de la Neve. The chatting that had previously been going on stopped, as people were feeling the toughness of the race, especially as the sun beat down. The peloton became strung out. I actually found myself near the front of the string, which made me feel confident. I felt spurred to dig in and make my best effort to keep with the leaders. The local village-folks we passed called out Bravo, Brava etc. from over their Sunday lunches. If only I could've stopped to join them. This was probably the longest 4 miles of the race.

Finally I saw the red finish gantry 200m away. I could barely manage a sprint for the line as the 2 guys ahead of me cranked up the pace on the final 10% ramp and left me behind. I crawled over the line, my face full of sweat and salt.
"Good ride", the finish marshals said to me. "It was very difficult", I replied in English. I made my way back to the event HQ, relieved that it was over, and pleased that I'd managed to get back in time for lunch.



PASTA AND PRIZES !!

The prize presentation, as is often the case with these Italian events had quite a lot of fanfare. Chairs and tables laid out in front of as stage, an MC, music, generous prizes. It seems they really appreciate their women riders. I finished 8th woman, and was called up for a prize. Apparently 10 women (out of a field of 700) took part, and we all ended up with prizes ! I got a box of local wines and an alarm clock (which would have come in handy earlier that day !). This was to add to my goody bag of more local wine, some limoncella, pasta, and a cuddly toy ! We were also fed a 3-course meal, and I enjoyed the company of some local Italian cyclists who were keen to chat to me ! Not bad for 23 euros !

For what had seemed like a very unsure start to events, I'd ended up having a good day out. I'll probably do this race again next year. Thanks to Federico Pecchia and Francesco Cioffi for their warm welcome and for putting on a great ride.

Related posts

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Part 1

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Part 2

So why go to the Amalfi Coast?

Cycling around the Amalfi Coast

From Flanders to Amalfi

Cycling around the Amalfi Coast

Thankfully I left Gragnano quite quickly, and then was on a country road that began the steady climb up to Agerola.
As it was a Friday, people were still at work so the roads were relatively quiet once I was away from the coast. There were just a few villagers around here and there. They generally said "Ciao" to me and looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and awe at the fact that I was about embark on the 12km climb.

As I progressed further and further up, signs of human life became more sparse and the vegetation changed from something almost tropical to something akin to the hills, though not alpine. The citrussy smells from the coast gave way to the smell of pine, as I neared the summit.

This was a long climb but it wasn't of alpine proportions. The gradient was farely manageable. I could have done it faster, but I wanted to take the time to look
behind me and admire the view below. The coast was a long way down, and I was able to get a full appreciation of the profile of the countryside and the sea below. It looked really spectacular - the jagged rocks of the coastline against the smooth cool blue of the sea. It looked beautiful.

Suddenly I was sucked into a cold, dark damp tunnel which seemed to be never-ending. It was actually 1km long and was still going uphill. That was probably the most unpleasant section of the whole ride.
Immediately out of the tunnel the road plunged down-hill, and I was flying through quaint hillside villages as I made the rapid descent towards Agerola.
I managed to stop and take a few pictures of the different villages. They were literally jutting out, clinging onto the edge of the mountains and hanging over the sea.

I also took a photo of a plaque that was dedicated to the memory of Fausto Coppi, one of Italy's most famous professional cyclists.
Pushing onwards, the road just continued a steady descent with lots of switchbacks, some of which were quite tight. I could see a number of inlets ahead of me, underlining the irregularity of the Amalfi coastline.

Finally at the bottom of the hill, just outside Amalfi I turned left to head towards Praiano. I may have been at the bottom of the hill, and on the coast road, but this road was by no means flat. There were constant rises and dips - thankfully nothing too steep. The rises provided good points from where I could take photos - which I took advantage of.

I soon arrived in Positano - this was a very pretty village. Even prettier than is shown in the guide books. However there were 2 snags for me about this place. Firstly, the fact that it was so attractive, made it a massive tourist magnet. Therefore there were loads of cars and buses. And given the small size of Positano, it made the roads just heave with traffic - often gridlocked, as tourist buses, local buses, school buses, delivery vans and cars tried to pass each other on the narrow streets. That was a shame. the second snag for me, was that the main area of town meant that I had to plunge down 150m to go there and have a look - meaning that I would have to ride back up the steep narrow streets to re-join the main road to Sorrento. All good training I suppose.

The road back to Sorrento was pretty staightforward, more ups and downs, with a couple of steep sections at Colli San Pietro and Picco San Angelo. Both were around 10% - not really what I wanted at the end of day's cycling. However the run in to Sorrento was a dream. It was a fast 5 mile descent all the way from Sant'Agata sui due Golfi back to the hotel.

I was pleased with the day I had, and rewarded myself with a good glass of the local wine.

Related posts

So why go to the Amalfi coast?

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Part 1

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Part 2

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Last part 

From Flanders to Amalfi

From Flanders to Amalfi

After the plains of Belgium came the peaks and troughs of the Amalfi coast. It would have been nice to go straight from Belgium to Italy, but I broke up these trips by doing a couple of days'work in London.

After a pretty straight forward journey to get there I settled into my apartment which was just off the main square (Piazza Tazzo) in Sorrento.
I was keen to get out and ride around the area. The last time I'd been in Sorrento, some 2 years previously, I ended up leaving early as I'd felt so miserable there during the grey rainy days. It really wasn't cycling weather, and I felt even worse knowing that the weather was sunnier and warmer in London than in Naples !

But the weather had changed in the 2 years since ! So here I was on a sunny terrace on Piazza San Antonino setting my bike up ready to ride around the coast, and recce the cyclosportive that I was there for - Giro della penisola sorrentina e costiera amalfitana.

Riding through Italian built up areas can be challenging, especially in the South, as I found. You need at least 2 pairs of eyes ! Drivers are not aggressive or cyclist unfriendly - they are just careless and absent-minded it seemed. Riding out of Sorrento, and the nearby town of San Agnello was not that easy. But at least I had time to admire the neopolitan architecture. This was to be a recurring theme when passing through other towns - Amalfi, Praiano, Positano.

Two other towns I passed through bucked the trend of being picturesque though. Castellammare di Stabia looked like it had been an in place once upon a time. However, today it seemed to have disused industries and dilapidated houses. The people seemed different as well. The folks in Sorrento, although a little scatty still had a certain style about them. The people in Castellmare seemed even more scatty, bordering on uncouth. People drove beat up cars, and those on motorbikes didn't bother with helmets. There was alot more washing hanging out of windows too, with people shouting, and music blaring out in the streets.

The neighbouring town of Gragnano seemed even less of a picture. That didn't even look like it had had a golden era. It had just been a depressed town from day 1. It was a tip - literally. There was no such thing as a rubbish bin there. People just threw their rubbish in the street. There were piles of household rubbish along the side of the road. And a real stench to it. I rode through pretty quickly for fear of catching the plague ! Maybe there was a dustmen's strike or something, but there was something pretty weird about all that rubbish. Shame, to see the place in such a bad light.

Related posts

Cycling around the Amalfi Coast

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Part 1

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Part 2

7th Giro Ciclistico della Penisola Sorrentina e Costiera Amalfitana - Last part 

So why go to the Amalfi Coast?