The Curse of the Blue Line - Roccacascalegna to Pretoro for Half the Group - Five K up Lanciano Pass for the Other Half

​Throughout the trip we talk about the blue line everyday.  Such as see you on the blue line or stay on the blue line.  The blue line is Jim’s  extremely detailed and sometimes near genius mapped itinerary for our trip that we can all pull up on google maps and use for navigation throughout the day.  Mostly we love the blue line but on some occasions a curse word is associated with Jim’s blue line.  He tried to keep the trip off busy roads which has mostly resulted in delightful rides through bucolic and wild landscapes.  However, sometimes leaving the more travelled routes puts us on many a 20 percent grade putting at least me into the suffer zone and sometimes forcing everyone to push their bikes.  Our definition for busy or non busy roads is by how many sleeping dogs or cats are passed in the middle of the road.  Yes, we pass many sleeping dogs in the center of the road and the rare siting is a cat sleeping in the road.  Well, I digress…


Here is Jim getting ready to leave our bnb with rosemary I found the day before for cooking with the next time we have a cooking facility.


We leave knowing a short climb is coming.  It is only 4k.  How bad could it be?  After a short descent we have to carry our bikes over a bridge under construction.  


Immediately after the road becomes extremely steep.  I immediately feel the horror and suffering of the previous afternoon overtaking me right out of the barn.  So a push to the top of the four k dreading the remaining 50 plus k for the day 


Things mellow out some with only some shorter pushes. We enter the town of Gessopalena where there is the ruins of a medieval city with some unbelievable views of the surrounding mountains.  We see the Adriatic Sea, towns where we have been and towns we are going to.  We can see Lanciano Pass which we will be summiting the next




We enjoyed a relaxing ride through Faro San Martino and had lunch along the base of the valley where it seemed like crystal clear water was just seeping out of the mountain. 

We had a really difficult time finding lodging for tonight.  At one point there was a place that was available that had four beds in one room.  We are all getting along well respecting everyone’s space and occasional mood swings but sleeping all together just didn’t seem like the right thing at this point in the tour.  So we let that one go.  Then we couldn’t find anything the next time we checked. There was one room at a bnb in Pretoro and nothing else.  So looking further along the blue line, there were some hotels up Lanciano Pass but that didn’t seem like a good way to end a tough day.  But we had run out of options.  The closest hotel up the pass was the Il Signore.  So Doug bravely picks up the phone and calls.  Asking if they speak English receiving a no.  He tries to ask for a room. Rapid fire incomprehensible conversation begins on both sides.  Doug doesn’t understand him.  He doesn’t understand Doug.  Finally, Doug looking a little pale hands me the phone where I attempt to communicate.  After several conversation dead ends, I think that I might have booked a room for them for the night but there is anxiety all around as no one is really positive.   The anxiety builds to a crescendo when we are fueling up at Nick’s bar in Pretoro.  Jim and I have a bed here but Shawn and Doug have to muscle another five k up the pass where they may or may not have a bed.  So Doug decides to ask the friendly barkeep for some assistance.  He calls the hotel and asks on Doug’s behalf and confirms they have a reservation for “Doug”.  So everyone ends the day in a bed and still safely on the blue line.  

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