Odyssey 2000:
A Bicycle Ride Around the World

On a bike ride around the world, sometimes the hills are a bit high and sometimes the sun hides behind the rain clouds. But often, the ride is just perfect.

In a couple of days we will be in the hustle and bustle of Rome, but today we are riding the back lanes near Paestum up to Salerno.

My riding partner for the day is Warren Doan, a retired radiologist who splits his time between Chicago and Florida. On the flats he rides a bit faster than I, but on the hills I usually catch up.

After the hills of southern Italy, the coast south of Naples is a joy to ride. The terrain is still quite challenging, but the roads have been engineered with bridges and tunnels to eliminate the steep climbs. As we move north the coastline starts to flatten out a bit.

Springtime is finally coming to Italy. The farmers are out on this warm April day preparing their fields for planting. The sun is shining and the early lettuce crop is being harvested. The grapevines in the vineyards are starting to bloom. It was only a few weeks ago in the fall in South Africa that we saw the grapes being harvested and made into wine.

The traffic is light, and we travel through numerous small villages. This being a short riding day, we stop at a pasticceria for a cappuccino and a croissant. These bakeries are on almost every street corner in the towns we ride through.

The Italians rarely eat a large breakfast. It is hard to get a biker's breakfast anywhere in Europe. Fortunately in camp we had rolls, sliced meats, fruit, and cereal before we started out this morning. But for now, we are on a short time-out watching the other riders go by. It would be easy to spend all day here.

As we ride into Paestum the sixth century B.C. Greek ruins come into sight. Wait a second. Greek ruins? I thought this was Italy. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention that day in history class so long ago. Actually the Greeks settled much of Southern Italy before the Roman Empire. We are surrounded by an entire city of ruins. These are the best preserved Greek buildings outside of Athens, and are really quite impressive. Several temples, hundreds of houses, a forum, an amphitheater, and a huge set of public baths. It's easy to imagine life here almost three thousand years ago. I never knew much Roman or Greek history, but it's pretty easy to absorb while actually touching it. We spent the morning wandering among the ruins and the spring wildflowers. The landscape looks like a painting. But there are still miles to ride.

Meals here in Italy are not to be just consumed; they must be experienced. We stopped for a quick lunch and were treated to seafood macaroni with clams, mussels, and scallops all in the shell. Then the seconde was a veal scallopene with porcini (mushrooms). We had never ordered the antipasti course, but they gave us a round of sardines in lemon and olive oil anyway. After all, there is a proper order of eating. This was supposed to be a light lunch before we finish the ride!

Even our short riding days can end up taking all day. Finally we pull into camp in the late afternoon. Some of the riders raced to the end and got in early, but many of us got to know the Italian countryside and its produce -- just a bit better.

Tom Gray, a Milwaukee software consultant, is a participant in Odyssey 2000 a year-long bicycle tour around the world. Contact him at tomgray@aol.com.