All in Cycle
It was just before 5:00 am on a chilly July, Saturday morning in Markleeville, CA. I clicked into my bicycle pedals and asked a volunteer to point me to the starting area. “There’s no startling line,” he said, his headlamp shining in my eyes. “Just start riding.”
In January, I was in Altea, Spain spending a few fun days at Team Novo Nordisk's cycling training camp and exploring local winery & culinary specialties.
My jacket fluttered in the cool March breeze as I swooshed down and around the tight hairpin turn. Then feathered my bicycle brakes to slow speed, leaning into the next twisty curve. I snuck a glimpse at the rippling turquoise sea below, wedged between jagged limestone mountains sprouting from sparkly water. It was eye candy for the soul and one of the many gems hidden in Mallorca, Spain.
As the train doors opened in Trani, a bustling Italian seaport on the Adriatic Sea known as “the pearl of Puglia,” fresh salty sea air filled my lungs. Michele Cappiello, owner of Bike Basilicata, greeted me with a warm smile. I followed him to a small shop nearby, where I changed into Pearl Izumi cycling togs, picked up a provided Scott road bike and maps and began a three-day cycling trip across Puglia and Basilicata in south Italy, a.k.a the heel of “the boot.”
As details jelled about my spring trip to Bordeaux, France, it became apparent that my travel-mates were set on a full wine and food exploration. Who was I to argue? But, some of my favorite trips have been cycling and sipping through wine regions around the globe and I did not want to miss out. So, I extended my visit by three-days and created Part 2: A price-friendly, DIY cycling exploration.
THE early-morning sun warms the back of my neck as a friend and I pedal along the open road, rolling past dangling peaches as well as grapes hanging in little clumps on parallel rows of trellised vines. Up ahead, a wood-frame chunk of white rock bearing the vineyard’s name signals the entrance to the Plum Creek Winery, and we turn down a short pebbly road and spot a seven-and-a-half-foot metal fowl that’s been made from old farm equipment guarding the rustic tasting room.
