The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Puglia 2024 - Land of History, Scenery, Beaches

April 19th to May 4th

Ride Coordinator: Maria Nelson
Report by: Peggy Homeier

The adventure began in the world heritage UNESCO site Matera known for its sassis and Park of Rupestrian Churches. Although inhabited since the Paleolithic period, Matera did face challenging times. Upon the recommendation of Giovanni (Hike and Bike Italy), we went to the “Casa Noha” museum in Matera that discussed how the book by Carlo Levi published in 1945 brought to light the devastation and poverty of Matera. This book was the catalyst for what Matera is today, even winning the European Capital of Culture in 2019, with AirBnBs, restaurants, and top notch hotels.

Our stay in Locorotondo allowed for an optional ride to Alberobello, another UNESCO site, which has matured into a small retail village area with over 1000 ancient Trulli houses. Many of us bought unique Puglia bicycling jerseys here.

Traveling on to Polignano a Mare we saw the famous rock known for the Red Bull cliff diving competitions and the romantic words to the song "Volare" aligning the street in honor of the artist Dominico Modugno.

Cycling continued down the Adriatic coast through Monopoli and the ancient Roman archeological site of Egnatia. As well, April 25 is Italy’s National Liberation Day- so lots of parades, and parties!

Next was Masseria Franco where they had over 2700 olive trees with 12 different varieties, and one tree that was over 1,000 years old. We were also given a food demonstration of how to make mozzarella, panzerotti and focaccia, followed by a fabulous meal. From the Masseria, we traveled to a resort venue in Tenuto Moreno for one night. The next day we traveled to Gallipoli where we enjoyed amazing sunsets and some of our group swam in the Ionian Sea.

The next day we could choose to ride across the peninsula or down and back up along the coast. We opted to do the longer route from Gallipoli to Otranto following the coast down to Santa Maria de Leuca and then back up the coast to Otranto. It was absolutely magnificent. It was worth every ounce of effort for the added elevation and kilometers!

In Otranto, May 1 was Italy’s version of Labor Day so we incorporated a bicycle ride with a beautiful day at the beach with the locals enjoying an Aperol Spritz.

After Otranto, we made our way to Lecce. On the way, we stopped at the Grotta della Poesia, which translates to cave of poetry. 

In addition to the breathtaking landscape, there were several administrative and practical things that led to an exceptional experience.

1) The itinerary included two nights at nearly all destinations. This allowed for additional exploration time and well planned optional rides.

2) Hike and Bike designed rides with best sites and experiences of the area, while primarily off busy roads. Routes  were easy to navigate via “RidewithGPS”.

3) Smaller groups could be organized to ride according to your own pace and style, rather than one large group.

4) While there were 15 nights total, eight nights were group dinners and the remaining were “on your own” leaving a great balance of group and independent time.

5) Maria, our ride coordinator,  placed great emphasis on comradery with nightly upscale happy hours. The gathering included participant input of daily experiences and an overview of the following day by Giovanni. As a group, we also shared things about ourselves and favorite travel suggestions. Kudos to Maria!

The first half of our tour was a bit cool and we had a couple rainy days. The adage “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing” rang true.

In memory of Georgia Holtz

Report by: Peggy and Dave  Homeier