ACT Italy finally finished
... we needed 9 days to finish the 5-days of ACT Italy
20th - 23rd March | 2022
Early in the morning at Lago di Corbara, it was soo cold, that we only crawled out of the tent about 8am. After all was packed in, we carried on the ACT Italy Day 4. Petrus finally listened to Steffi's whinging - Sunshine! Today it was again lovely offroad tracks and backroads. Some of the offroad were full of rocks and small stones, so today Steffi had her Schimmelchen twice resting! At 2nd time it was as a BTT cyclist who couldn’t cope with Steffi being on his side of the dirt track. They both discussed who is going first and as soon as Steffi tried in the deep loose stones, the bike tipped over. As James didn’t hear them over the intercom (probably he didn’t want to lift the bike again), thankfully the young Italian cyclist helped ;-)
We found a bistro/bar along the road for lunch, which was pretty entertaining and busy. Sometimes it is not easy for us along the ACT Italy to find a supermarket that is open on weekend-lunchtime or even afternoon; we are pampered living in the Algarve with our tascas and open supermarkets!
About 16h we came down into a valley, and it looked like we will head up the mountains again, so we decided to find a wild camping spot along the valley. It took us a while, but we found something at the bottom of a field. Tonight was the first time we added the gear shed to our MRS tent. Like that James could cook his dinner sheltered and we are more protected to the cold. However, it got pretty cold as we were next to a river. We even had to wait for the sunshine to dry the tent from the condensation in the morning.
Once all packed away, off we were on the dirt track up into the mountains! We both got blown away from these mountains tracks, with the snowy mountains in distance. We both were not aware that there are so many high mountains here in this part of Italy! Stunning! The only downside is, that in this area, as we do a lot of offroad, are not many places serving cafes, not talking about seeing a place selling any drinks!
The next obstacle is usually for us supermarkets, as we usually roll into a smaller place around lunchtime, and then they are closed. We must admit, we miss our Portuguese tascas all over the remote places and supermarkets open for 7-days throughout lunchtime... So today our breakfast was finally at a petrol station bar at 14h00! We better not discuss the poor quality of our nutrition!
In the afternoon we had again some lovely mountain passes, always seeing these snowy mountains in front of us, coming closer though! When we came into a valley about 16h00 we decided we better look out for a camping spot, which we both spotted at the same time driving over the bridge in Leonessa. It was a fantastic camping spot for us - and we already thought it will be cold as we were this time at 900m altitude! And man, it was cold! All fluids, including the one with Steffi's contact lenses, were frozen in the morning! Steffi said she is sleeping that next night in a B&B as she is not on a survival camp!
However, once the sunshine is out and being on the bikes over these mountain passes all was forgotten! The offroad tracks were stunning again, so were the backroads! Lunchtime the supermarket was closed, surprise, surprise! Good that we still had in our stash a baguette from yesterday, tins of tuna and mayonnaise. So we only bought a package of crisps and beers at the bar next door to the supermarket. Looking at the track ahead, we decided to book a B&B in Santo Stefano di Sessanio, as we will be even higher in the mountains - lesson learned!
The last bit of offroad for the day was a bit challenging towards the end! About 20mins snow-wading on the north side, lifting Schimmelchen after a small rest from all that snow and some stony uphill! Ah yes, that was then today 2 joker cards Steffi had to use: once downhill and once uphill ;-)
Oh, yes, and not forgetting, the SuperTenere was down! Yes, James' bike also falls; even without him sitting on it! He was waiting for Steffi on these snowfields and had a "pee with a view" as he suddenly heard a noise behind him. The idling made the bike standing on the ice tipping over :-D! Even though it was hard work wading through these snowfields, man, this view and landscape! We are totally in love with the area of Abruzzo.
Later in Santo Stefano di Sessanio, we asked for recommendations for dinner and the host marked us two restaurants next to each other. Where it was marked there was nothing. So we consulted google, and each place in the little place was ‘chiuso’ (closed!). We ended up in the only bar (tabacaria) in town, got a package of crisps and beer. An American family had the same problem as us; even worse, they had actually made a reservation in one restaurant! However, we all had a nice conversation about our trips and their travels in Europe; maybe we meet again in NY or Portugal :-)
The next morning we had breakfast in bed. Ah yes, something else very difficult for us (not the having it in bed, hahaha), especially for James as being diabetic, the sweet breakfasts! After all was on the bike, Steffi did a quick photo tour through the village whilst James looked after the bikes. There he got into a conversation with two nice guys that were looking after construction. It turned out that they were also bikers (see www.e99team.it).
It was a short offroad and from there onwards (only) backroads down into the valley. There we stopped for topping up petrol and HURRAY, fuel prices went down by nearly €0.30!
We already said good-bye to these snowy mountains, as from San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore we started to climb up into the snow again. At Macchie di Coco we got another roadblock, well this time it was simply the street not serviced. We checked on OsmAnd alternative route, which we found through Lettomanopello on to the SS614 up to Passo Lanciano. Even that alternative was a great, twisty street! Up at Passo Lanciano people were skiing; was like we were suddenly catapulted into another world! We also bumped into 2 german BMW riders that were planning to do a bit ACT Italy day 5.
Driving down SS614 towards the coast was finally (for the moment) saying goodbye to the snowy mountains. The rest to the coast was, a bit boring ;-) However, it was the first time, Steffi was at the Adriatic coast. After taking the pictures at the finish point of ACT Italy we went to our little apartment "Villa Felicia", which we have booked now for 4 nights to just chill. OK, also for James finally to wash and maintain our trustful bikes; they desperately need it! Steffi to catch up on "office work" and washing. And finally trying to eat a bit healthier and just CHILL!
Summary of the ACT Italy (for us!): the first day was interesting as finally going offroad, the next days was lovely open tracks and nice backroads, Tuscany probably nicer in sunshine and summer, but days 4 and 5 is just mindblowing (in winter and sunshine!). We managed to do wild camping nearly every night, only 2 nights in B&Bs. Poor nutrition due to closed supermarkets and not many alternatives ;-)
AND we are now 1-month on the road! So we really deserve some days of rest!
In the next blog, we will share with you our holidays of our trip ;-) See how we keep ourselves busy during those days!
Places | Cities:
Lago di Corbara, Castel dell Aquila, Acquaforte, Ceselli, Cascia, Leonessa, Paganica, Santo Stefano de Sessanio, San Valentino i Abruzzo Citeriore, Lettomanoppello Passo Lanciano, Pretoro, Lanciano, Fossacesia.
Driven km | Trip:
From home: 4650km
Maintenance | Breakdown:
Speedo cable on Yamaha SuperTenere starts doing funny noises again.
Health issues:
. / .
Special thanks to:
ACT for these stunning routes on day 4 and day 5 (www.adventurecountrytracks.com)
Ms Sunshine to warm us up during the day.
OsmAnd to find alternative routes and take us to our apartment.