I start the day early and ride further up into the Appenin mountains. The road is almost empty and is easily comparable in length and intensity to any alpine pass road. From Campo Calabro to Lago Rumina, I already have 23 km and 1200 m elevation done, all before 10 a.m. I’m following the Calabria Parks Cycleway now, that will lead me through the hopefully quiet roads of the southern national parks.
After a quick detour to Gambarie to fill up on water, I start a 10 km descent. A brief visit to the ‘mausoleum’ of Guiseppe Garibaldi marks the cultural interlude of the day. It’s really just a room with a few props and the tree where he reportedly made his speech starting on the way to Rome. Right before the next uphill section I stop for my lunch break at a nice mountain river.
The day continues hilly as I ride through the Parco Natzionale d’Aspromonte, a seemingly endless forest region with very few people and beautiful small roads. As I ride an official cycle route now – the Ciclovia Parchi Calabria is also the Eurovelo 7 here, I meet the first fellow bicycle travellers – actually the first cyclists outside of Catania and Messina. The route leads mostly through the dense forest at roughly 1000 m elevation and sometimes I can catch a glimpse of both the Mediterranean both in the East and the West.
