Review of the route

 By now you will know that I didn't end up riding much of the route because of COVID. So my reporting on the route is mostly second hand. Maybe one of the riders will step up and expand on my comments below.

First of all, the overall route was a success! As far as I know there were only three small defects, one of which seems to be a recent road closure and one of which was a temporary road closure. I'll describe each of them below.

Second, the route was entirely suitable for ebikes. Despite some range anxiety, there were probably only three days where a top-up charge was required. In each case this was readily available at restaurants along the route. Ebikes are common enough now that "plugging in" is normal.

Third, Italian drivers lived up to my expectations in terms of safety and courtesy. Very, very few close passes, no abuse, plenty of patience. Even Rome felt relatively safe and there are far more bikes on the streets now than there were in previous visits.

From Galeata to Sansepolcro.  On this section, use the larger road instead. The minor road becomes a gravel road, then a track, then blackberries and nettles. We had to push our bikes uphill across a field to regain the road.

DO stop for refuelling at San Piero in Bagno, it is a fair climb to the next shop at Verghereto. Then at Montecoronaro we had elected to use a section of road marked as closed. It is perfectly fine and there were other groups of cyclists using it. No cars made it a really fun descent. This might change in future but I doubt it.

After this my reports are second hand... I'll just report the defects as I understand them.

Keith: From L'Aquila to Sulmona: near Fossa, about 13km out, the planned route cut between some buildings but the road had been since blocked off as a construction site. We tried the side road to the right towards Fossa but it was narrow and hard, so we went back and went around to left.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2983135,13.4883119,3a,75y,133.17h,66.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s63nuvKJRZ6S50uG5QfTDpg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Google Street View shows Via Della Stazione going between buildings. That was blocked off, where truck is  

From Colli a Volturno to Benevento. A bridge is closed. Have to stay on the main road instead. I think this is the spot.

Keith: It was a gate closing off the dam wall. Komoot had warned road closed :-)

I rode down a dirt path to the Molise river below dam wall but assessed it as too deep and fast to walk or ride through. We rode back past Molise Rafting again.

From Accadia to Lavello. A temporary road closure, not sure where it is... Keith?

Keith: At about 11km out. 

<Road closed location in Google Maps>

Looked like they were burning off, but it may have been the bridge that was undergoing repairs... we saw a bridge further down same river was closed, being repaired.

A gastronomic review

So here are my nominations for best food and wines... I can't pick one but instead I will nominate some selections. Note that these are just my personal opinions based on where I ate and what I ate!

Best Food

Things that I really enjoyed on this trip would have to include burrata cheese, the lovely little pears that were common at breakfast, and a big variety of bruschetta toppings.

Of all the food categories, I probably ate significantly more seafood than on other trips to Italy. Scampi, prawns, clams, several varieties of fish, octopus... all good.

Ristorante di Alighiero in Anghiari, was probably the pick as a complete meal. Beautifully presented fine dining with a formidable range of wines. I dined alone at the end of of my COVID bout.

Keiv Bistrot in Matera. Elegant food in an elegant setting with good staff.

The salads that Kate and I had in the shade of a lime tree for lunch at Gabo' gia' Coffee & More in Ostuni.

Best Restaurants

At the winery Masseria Li Veli near Cellino San Marco, grand service of a sumptuous lunch with matched wine tasting from the vineyard, all served in the impressive winery building.

The gardens are lovely too, with views out over the vineyards. Knowledgeable and friendly host.

Ristorante La Cantina in Alberobello was enormous fun. Just a great atmosphere and good food and wine. Good work by Kate to select and book! The restaurant was full and there were many prospective customers turned away while we were there.

We had a picture taken with the chef and boss and I suspect it happens a lot.

Best Provided Breakfasts

Sui Tetti in Lecce, with a rooftop restaurant, a barista on hand and a reasonable selection of breakfast items.

Le Dodici Lune in Matera, if only because omelets are available.  

Fresh squeezed orange juice is much more common in Italy than it used to be.

Best Red Wines

Very difficult. We drank a lot of good red wine!

Several stand out including the Montefalco we had in Sansepolcro.

Less well known in Australia was susumaniello that we tasted at Paco's Wines and at Masseria Li Veli. 

Also really liked some of the Negroamaro wines

including this one in Alberobello.

Some old favourites further north including this half bottle in Anghiari. Note the very fancy cork presentation!

Best White Wines

Hands down winner is the Cava Bianca Terrecarsiche1939, a blend of Bianco d'Alessano, Chardonnay and Fiano that we had in Ostuni. A revelation!

Lovely mouthfeel, good balanced acidity, lovely golden colour, what's not to like?

We had it at lunch and the next day went back and had it with dinner!

And here is one included because it is a stranger to me... a variety I had not had before.

Falanghina is one of the ancient grape varieties staging something of a comeback. Interesting, somewhat like a semillon, somewhat like a trebbiano. Citrus nose but all apple and pear on the palette.

End of the stay

Last day in Italy... a busy one for Kathleen but a quieter one for me. In the morning while Kathleen visited the forum, the Palatine and the colloseum 

I went for a walk. In the afternoon we took the train down to Fiumicino for a low key and relaxing end to our visit.

One last Italian seafood dinner with an unusual white wine from Campania. It was a lovely evening to dine outside and savour the slow pace of life which I like so much about Fiumicino.

An afternoon in Rome

The theme of revisiting some of my favourite places countined...

First, Kate and I had a slap up lunch at a Sardinian restaurant.... for me octopus salad, scampi and a decent vermentino from sardegna.

The aftermath:

Then on the Galleria Borghese! I still absolutely love the Berninis, they bring tears to my eyes. 

Oh and the Caravaggios and Tizianos are not bad either.

Not to mention some of the Roman art, especially the mosaic floors...

Oh, and ceilings...

An altogether wonderful gallery.

Then it was back to the apartment for a rest!

A morning walk in Rome

Kathleen set off early, keen to see as much as she could, I was a little slower. Even so, Rome was very quiet when I started.

I revisited some of the places I like the most. First to Piazza Navona

By now there were starting to be some people around, but still quite pleasant.

From there I took the short walk to Campo dei Fiori.

The markets were well and truely up and running there.

Once upon a time this used to be the flower markets and there are still a couple of flower sellers there.

I did have one lucky find... in the window of a closed bike shop...

It has Il Colosseo on the back... hope they have it in my size when I visit on Monday!

Torniamo a Roma

We woke to thunder and lightning, but by the time we headed to the station it was dry. We boarded the Frecciargento (the slowest of Italy's fast trains) . I had booked early and gotten a good price for first class but the difference is not much to write home about. In fact the lack of large suitcase storage makes it worse in some ways that second class.

Nevertheless it was a comfortable trip and fairly quick with the train doing 250kph on the best bits. 

Dropped into Topbike to retrieve our luggage and then to our accommodation which is only 200m from the colosseum and quite comfortable.

Kathleen has a big day of tourism planned so an early night!