Distance 17.5 miles

Another easy day planned. We felt confident in our routing and arriving on time.

We cycled across miles of farmland with no villages. We heard a helicopter approach. It circled, went away and then returned to do another low circle over us. We are very sorry that we forgot to leave the €2 tourist tax in our room as requested – it was unintentional. But we think that sending a helicopter to track us down was rather excessive. A Bobby on a bike would have sufficed.

As we slipped quietly into Gravina we observed large groups of men sitting and chatting. We asked ChatGPT a question and enjoyed the response so much we thought we would share it with you:

There is a long-standing culture of male public sociability : a conspicuous group of retired men can apparently devote Olympic-level effort to sitting outside a café for several hours. It is good to talk.

We are well aware that our mileage is low but we have been having fun. It will all change very soon.

Late to bed after all that partying can take its toll on elite cyclists.

Good night.