2022
And humanity invented the bicycle and immediately the god Aeolus created the contrary wind. Wind from the south so today I will struggle a lot more. The night was uniquely satisfying. Sleeping lulled by the lapping of the sea is a fantastic experience. Every time I woke up I could fall asleep almost immediately listening to the sound of the waves.
The weather is sunny, but the morning mist announces the change in weather. Rain is expected in the afternoon and therefore legs on shoulders or better yet feet on the pedals. I walk along the long strip of asphalt that divides the sea from Lake Fogliano. Gentlemen in camouflage suits hide along the road and fiddle with cameras or powerful binoculars looking for a moment of bird life on the lake. There are certainly many of them with the countless songs and chirps that can be heard while pedaling between two high hedges at the edge of the road which prevent both the sea and the lake from being seen. But what is this intoxicating scent that I have been smelling since I started cycling? I was thinking of some lady, all dressed up, coming out of the hotel and pumping out the latest fashionable perfume. But none of this, it's really in the air, it must be the hedge. I stop, smell,…. It's really her: local sarsaparilla.
The trail takes me on a dirt road strewn with stones, with my bicycle intractable. I turn around and pass through Borgo Grappa, founded by Venetian families who settled in the nascent city of Latina in the 1930s, which needed manpower for the reclamation of the large swamps that existed here and for the subsequent processing of the fields obtained following the reclamation. pontina in the sad twenty years of fascism. Many peasant families were, more or less voluntarily, brought to live in these areas. One might say that one can see that the place is populated by Venetians, everything is clean here, no rubbish on the streets, but it must also be said that the entire province of Latina, where I have passed so far, does not present any rubbish problem. Following this detour, I lose the route along the sea and proceed on the coast road, all nice and straight, with some protruding roots that make the bike bounce quite a bit. I aim for San Felice al Circeo, but following an indication from the navigator, I take a pretty tough climb that would take me to the historic center. I realize that there is no need to go through there and therefore I turn the bike around and go downhill, and after going around San Felice al Circeo I continue towards Terracina.
Until now I have taken secondary roads even if they were busy, now to reach Terracina I have to take the state road. Here too, every now and then, the navigator sends me to camp, in the true sense of the word, but as soon as I see what type of road I have to take, I immediately go back and get back on the state road. Here, having a nice piece of usable shoulder, I run less danger than going through fields on stones and holes. When I arrive in Terracina I discover that there is a beautiful, very long cycle path by the sea where I find a restaurant to quench my midday hunger. Linguine with seafood and back in the saddle.
Looking on the Internet at nearby places to visit, I discover that in the center of Terracina there is a beautiful Cathedral. I just have to make a small detour of about a kilometer, so off we go. I arrive in the center of Terracina and the road that leads up to the Duomo is an impossible ramp. I get off, but even on foot the climb is hard as hell. At the end of the street, two statues announce the entrance to the square. They are two funerary lions, no place is so suitable for two statues of this kind! I am enchanted by the square of Terracina and its surroundings, practically a constantly evolving archaeological excavation. Roman columns emerge in various points of the excavations, houses that incorporate ancient buildings and in the background a castle, high up, which I will not reach today. I take the descent on the saddle with extreme caution, I pass close to the lions where a red tabby cat tries to imitate the pose of the two stone cousins.
The first climbs of the day are also expected along the state road and the route takes place entirely along the seashore. Continuous ups and downs with tunnels that go beyond the various capes, entering the coves that follow one another. Places, bays and restaurants that remind passersby of legends, Aeneas landed here and Ulysses stayed there loved by the sorceress Circe. The clouds become more threatening, the horizon is no longer visible and on the tops of the mountains to the left some black clouds have settled on the sides of the crags.
I arrive in Gaeta and stay in a two-star hotel, without any problem. I have to hurry if I want to see something of Gaeta, sunset will be in an hour. Quick shower and then off on foot towards the center which is two km away, just to stretch my legs after today's 81 km. Gaeta offers its scenery with the backdrop of the Gulf of Formia which is turning on the first lights of the night. I go up a long staircase looking for a church that I see on the hill. I am dazzled by its beauty, it is the temple of San Francesco built or rather finished in the 14th century, in Gothic style, typical for that period. A monumental staircase, with a statue in the centre which seems to direct its blessing towards the town and the bay, leads to the churchyard, which cannot be reached at the moment as it is completely cordoned off and barred. Even though it's relatively early, the sun has set and I'm looking for a place to eat.
Upon leaving, the rain has already begun to wet the pavements of the streets of old Gaeta. It's hot, but I have to take cover with my rain jacket and umbrella on the way back to the hotel. Tomorrow I will see what happens from a meteorological point of view and based on the conditions I will decide what to do.
the video
1 Smilax aspera
2 Lake of Fogliano
3 Terracina: the beach
4 Terracina : funerary lion
5 Excavations in Terracina
6: Near Gaeta
7 Gaeta: San Francesco's church
8 View of Gaeta from the churchyard of San Francesco
9 Gaeta: San Francesco's church
10 Gaeta by night
