Unique 'Appenings on the Via Appia Antica

Like what I did with the title there? See the chiasm? Aren't I great? Anyway, my literary pretensions aside, I did indeed have a "unique" experience on the Via Appia Antica a couple weeks ago. A significant chunk of the road has been set aside for (mostly) pedestrian use ("pedestrian areas" in Italy are more of a guideline than a rule), including some stretches with ancient paving! The program sponsored a trip one Sunday morning to go explore a few kilometers of the road on a bicycle tour! The tour was pretty good; even with the cobblestones bike is still a good way to travel the road- you can cover more ground than on food and still easily stop and look at the ancient tombs that line the road. Things went great until we got here:

This is the tomb of Caecilia Metella, probably the most famous tomb along the Via Appia, and also where we started having difficulties. One of the bikes decided it wanted to stop working. At this point we're about 3 km out, with probably 3 or 4 to go. Then back. The chain on the bike kept disengaging from the main sprocket, which we found out was bent. (How? No idea.) So, being manly men (myself and the guy whose bike broke), we set about to fix the bike while everyone went on ahead except for one of the professors, who I'm pretty sure just stuck around so she could watch us and laugh, since our idea of fixing the bike consisted of pounding the sprocket back into shape by hitting it with rocks. Needless to say, we were less than successful, so we decided to forge on ahead, using the unpedalable bike like a scooter. Then it started to rain. And the seat broke on that same bike. Finally we reached the farthest point that the tour went to, having passed everyone else going in the opposite direction long prior, where the professor's husband, also a professor, was waiting for us. The four of us had made it less than halfway back when the back tire on my bike suddenly went flat. Rather than walk the rest of the way back, we stopped and got drinks while the bike rental company brought us a new bike and a replacement wheel. After that, things went smoothly.

Moral(s) of the story: the Via Appia Antica is awesome. But try not to go on a rainy day. And check the bikes before you rent them.