The gravel road of the simply named, “Parco Naturale Regionale Dune Costiere da Torre Canne a Torre San Leonardo.” Home to endless agriculture, especially olives, and an ancient Dolmen.

Bikes built for on and off road excelled throughout the trip.

Cousins Remi and Kamil discuss the pros and cons of vegan versus vegetarian versus carnivores.

Checking the map to find the ancient Dolmen.

The Dolmen di Montalbano, is ancient, and my research would suggest little more than that.

Surrounding the Dolmen were something that looked very close to a Mulberry tree, but were much sweeter and bled like the dickens.

No cause for alarm.

Berry Hangover.

We stopped and had a tour of a one time church and monastery that was purchased and turned into a rentable banquet hall.

Behind the building was a garden complete with Orange and Lemon trees.

And capers too.

And beautiful flowers everywhere.

Inside was a perfectly preserved olive smasher and press for the original owner’s private stock.  This is the smasher, my name for it, not his.

And the press.

Back to the bikes, and off to lunch.

After a final look at the view from inland to coast. That’s the Adriatic out there.

Onward and upward to lunch in the “White City” of Ostuni.

Up and up in the hot sun. Our group started to lose their jerseys and go Euro style.

Deblouse.

Ostuni Center, where we’d look for food and views.

Selfie at the top of Kristin and my nose.

Lunch consisted of individual softball sized mozzarella balls, bread, cucumbers, figs, apricots, peaches, plums, and shade.

Food yielded smiles throughout the trip.

Iced Espresso’s all around, a required pick me up for the ride to Martina Franca.

The scenery, and the lure of gelato were plenty to keep us going.

Every square mile of our ride was blanketed with farms, farmers, and produce.

Most memorable were the Trulli homes that abounded throughout the region. Not just for gnomes as I thought these homes were prominent throughout the 19th century and used as temporary shelters or for farmers. Today they can be found in ruin, partially redeveloped, or totally revamped and modern. They were everywhere but each left me longing for more.

We stopped for a lousy photo (my fault) near the top of the grueling climb up to Martina Franca.

Walled, but open for tourists.

Tiny street, but wide enough for us, bikes, cars, wheelbarrows, you name it.

I tried to capture the majesty.

Rewards.

Trulli souvenir were just the right size for a jersey pocket, but we didn’t get any.

Group Shot

Headed back to camp.

Throughout our trip, bike paths and trails could be found with ease. Traffic was never a problem.

The sunlight dwindled, but we made it just in time for a cool dip and a bottle of red.