Day 1 – Tuesday 15 July

Rome to Capannacce

Bed & Breakfast

Bed and breakfast spotted on side of road as I was cycling through Capennacce.

Notes

I was late setting out, getting away in sundshine about ten o’clock. I followed my satnav due east along the Via Aurelia eventually coming the River Tiber at the Ponte Giuseppe Mazzini where there was a steep flight of stone steps down to the cycle path alongside the river. There was no way I could have carried the bike fully loaded down so I unloaded and carried things down bit by bit, leaving things in the care of an elderly chap leaning in the wall at the top of the steps.

I followed the cycle path for nearly 20 kilometers to Labaro where I crossed the A90,the Rome ring road, on a pedestrian overpass and turned north away from the river that winds off to the east. I hunted round the back streets of Labaro and found lunch at a workers’ restaurant where they sat me outside under a small canopy that the sun slowly penetrated as it moved round; it was uncomfortably hot. All the main roads and the railway follow the Tiber valley, but there are no smaller roads suitable for bicycles, so I took smaller hilly roads heading due north.

It was slower going than I had anticipated and about 25 kilometers from my next campsite I came across a sign in English for bed and breakfast. I capitulated and found them very welcoming. I had a meal while they cleaned a rather nice cabin with a marble floor where I spent the night. It took quite a time for the floor to dry, so I left the door open in the hope that a through-draft would help. The following morning I had coffee and a criossant before setting out.