Nobody in Pompeii knew that Vesuvius was a volcano. The town had been shaken by a violent earthquake in 62 AD and was still rebuilding in August 79, when the mountain exploded, burying the streets under a rain of pumice and then a hot flow of ash. About two thousand people died in the town, and the ash preserved bread in ovens, graffiti on walls, ruts in the stone roads and the hollows left by bodies. Excavation began in 1748, and in the 1860s the archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli poured plaster into the hollows to produce the figures you see in the museum. UNESCO listed the archaeological areas of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 1997.
The site is huge and takes at least three hours on foot. The long straight Via dell'Abbondanza runs through the middle, lined with shops, bakeries, bars with built-in counters and houses with painted walls. The theatre, the forum and the amphitheatre lie across the town, and the Lupanar, the brothel, is one of the busiest rooms. It is hot and shadeless in summer, so bring a hat, water and good shoes, and go in the first hour after opening or late in the afternoon. Many streets are cobbled with large stepping stones for crossing the road, with wheel ruts in between.
The modern town of Pompei, nearby, is known for its great sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary, a pilgrimage church that draws visitors in huge numbers. The roads between the site and the coast are busy, narrow and chaotic, with scooters and buses, and parking is awkward. Use a secure garage and avoid leaving luggage on the bike. Fuel is easy, in Pompei, Boscoreale and Torre Annunziata, all within a few kilometres.
The best riding in the area begins when you leave the plain. The road over the Lattari mountains to the Amalfi Coast climbs through lemon terraces and drops to a narrow cliff road with hairpins, tunnels and tour buses, among the great coastal rides of Europe, though in summer it moves at the speed of the slowest coach. Early spring and autumn are better, and so is a weekday morning. Allow time for a coffee at a cliff-top bar, with the sea far below.