Let’s face it, even the sun went on vacation this summer, and now autumn arrives suddenly, without giving us time to wait for it or even feel the need.
However, for biking enthusiasts, this season is always a great time. You can still pedal for a long time, with relatively good light, the asphalt isn’t a burning ember, the sweat of sultry days is unknown, and the sun gently accompanies us.
In short, the beginning of autumn is just the right time for cycle tourists.
Bike-friendly Abruzzo
And Abruzzo is a truly bike-friendly region. The coast, the hills, and the rugged mountain climbs and descents: Abruzzo has it all, and above all, the philosophy of discovering the beauty of the region and its nature on a bike along local roads, at a leisurely pace.
That’s why the website cicloturismo.abruzzoturismo.it provides accurate and detailed maps, indicating route lengths and technical data such as gradients and elevation changes. And there’s even GPS data to help you navigate your route.
So all that’s left to do is get going. We, who are Sunday cyclists (literally), took advantage of our free day and tried a comfortable, albeit long, route: a full 60 km round trip from Martinsicuro to Pineto, via the Ciclovia Adriatica, which is route no. 6 of the great national cycling network BicItalia.
Our tour
Starting in the morning, we slowly transformed from athletes—those who set off to get back in shape—to tourists, those who were enchanted by the discovery of breathtaking landscapes we never knew existed in Italy.
What about the little bridges over the Vibrata stream between Villa Rosa and Alba Adriatica, or the one over the Salinello in Tortoreto Lido? We almost felt like we were on the set of the Italian remake of “The Bridges of Madison County.”
And then we were left speechless, as if we were in another era or on the planet of Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, when we admired the wild beach of the Borsacchio Nature Reserve, on the Cologna seafront.
Country roads and barren vegetation, and the feeling of being truly in touch with nature. The same feeling we had while driving along the marine protected area and the Torre del Cerrano, where we could also admire the tower and the view of the sea from above, in a moment when time and space seemed to no longer exist.
Bottom line: we Sunday cyclists are ready for another stretch of flat terrain and to soon tackle even the more challenging trails. Perhaps we’ll wait until early next summer to head up into the mountains!
