Ah, rest. Few things are more important for touring cyclists than proper sleep; it recharges the proverbial batteries, giving you that vital energy to keep going...and go we must, for our path takes us not to Bari but instead to Ceglie Messapica, some 270 km away from Passo di Mirabella towards the heel of Italy. And we plan to make it by tomorrow evening...to compound matters, our host informs us that the first 80-90 km are mountainous - but this information is superfluous, for the mountainosity becomes readily apparent as we climb up to the sideroads. These wind along the mountain ridges: elevation 800-900 metres, roughly half a vertical kilometre above our starting point.
That said, the climb is eminently Worth It, as it affords us unparalleled views of the surrounding valleys and peaks and the cloudy sky with patches of blue...the wind whips up behind us, pushing us forward towards our destination. The mountain towns are too small to have supermarkets, making it impossible to find food. Fortunate it is, then, that our stays in Benevento and Mirabella have left us with much in the way of donated edibles: figs fresh from the tree, a dense loaf of pane integrale, half a canister of pistachios, and some delicious cookies.
The wind is vicious on the switchbacks, especially where it turns into high-velocity sidewinds that nearly topple us off our bikes - but we remain balanced against the odds, pushing on along the ridge towards Rionero in Vulture. The town itself is unremarkable, and yet this route was recommended to us by both Massimo and Gerardo for the vomitously picturesque volcanic mountain lakes nearby. It is arduous climbing to these lakes, down the valley from Aquilonia and then up some 8-10% grades over a 600 m or so vertical ascent - and then around the lake, through the forest, and up yet more to cross over the ridge of the mountain, around the back, up more until the road mercifully begins descending into Rionero...
...we are tired by this point, but we know that we must continue; if we don't make it out of the mountains today, there is no hope to reach Ceglie by tomorrow. We fight encroaching exhaustion to make it across yet another valley into Ginestra, stopping partway up the hill to replenish our stock of figs - but even that is not enough. Food! Energy! Impossible to satisfy our insatiable need...we give in and stop at a bar-pizzeria-restaurant (nearly every Italian establishment is some combination of these three.) A lady greets us in Italian, and our confused responses lead her quickly to the conclusion that our command of the language is less than stellar - so, upon learning that we speak English, she promptly switches to her other language: Russian. What ensues is an even more confused mash of Russian (on her part) and English sprinkled with random Italian (on our part) that somehow results in our getting pizza and wine as desired. Yet more proof if needed that most communication is non-verbal...
...we continue on through Velosa, deciding that even that is not quite far enough. Fortunately the mountainous region is at last behind us; the remaining distance to Ceglie is long, but it should be mostly flat...and now, having spent most of the day trudging uphill, it is definitely time for some much-needed sleep.