Puglia Backroads Cycling Trip - Day Two

 Il Melagrano to Conversano and Polignano

On Monday morning we woke up at 7:30 am in time to have a quick breakfast, meet the group, and get ready for our first full day of cycling. On this first day or riding, I did not feel like having breakfast as I knew there would be food offered along the route as well as lunch. As usual, our guides had prepared a humorous description of the day's route -- this is referred to as the "Route Rap." On Backroads trips, one leader typically rides with the group while the other leader and support crew drive the vans as 'support' for the ride.

Our Group listening to the "Route Rap" before the first full day of riding


It's not always easy to take a selfie while riding at fast speeds!

Here is a Strava map of my total ride for day two, which was about 44 miles. As can be seen by this map, we headed first up into the hills to Conversano (and these were some of our first significant climbs of the trip) where we stopped in a beautiful local coffee shop for a quick Cappuccino before continuing on to the seaside town of Polignano on the Adriatic Coast. 


The town of Conversano is charming and I highly recommend the coffee shop we went to, which was called Ristorante Verso, located right in the main Piazza. After about 30 minutes in Conversano, we hopped back on our bikes and headed for Polignano on the coast.


Kyle and I decided to go for a swim before lunch, so we trekked down to the crowded beach area and jumped in the 68 degree water to cool down before lunch.

The Beach at Polignano - The Water was a refreshing 68 degrees!

After a quick swim in the Adriatic, Kyle and I headed up the hill to meet our group at a hotel restaurant called 'Covo Dei Saraceni.' There we had a great selection of local seafood, cheeses and pasta.

After lunch we got back on our bikes and headed back up the hill to Il Melagrano.



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