March 2 :: Florence-Rome, Italy

March 2 :: Florence-Rome, Italy :: 32km / 406km total

The final 32km down into Florence was a piece of cake, and we arrived at our hotel too early in the day to check in. After an hour of bike disassembly the bikes were in the boxes, ready for the flights home. Our bike journey in Tuscany was over. After final pics, we went up to the hotel and began various preparationson usage of the 2 bonus days that good weather and strong legs have earned us! Graham and Liz went to Rome for 2 days... a blitz of all the famous sites, and a great time. Dad went home a day early. Nancy, Tim, and Kenton further explored Florence. All, now ready to come home.

March 1 :: Greve in Chianti, Italy

March 1 :: Greve in Chianti, Italy :: 28km / 374km total

A short, easy Saturday ride today into Greve... we were unable to book into our Florence hotel (where our bike boxes are), so cut our final 60km day into two short days. Even with a big 3.5km climb our average rolling speed was over 18km/h, and our group knocked away the distance like it was nothing. Quite a different group of pedallers than 9 days ago! Arriving in Greve we found ourselves amidst a busy market, making for some afternoon entertainment.

We had our final group dinner and recounted the various adventures of the previous 9 days. I pulled out some cycling awards for the group, given as follows:

Yellow jersey (yellow comb): for the strongest rider, in Tour de France tradition: Kenton
Pink jersey (pink comb): Giro d'Italia champion, being that we are in Italy: Tim
Most aggressive rider/best descender (notebook for taking names of people passed): Dad
Lantern Rouge (red comb): rider most often at the back of the pack: Graham
White jersey (sparkle pen): best rookie: Nancy
Bonhomie de Tour (sheep pen): best attitude and optimism: Liz
King of the Mountain (chocolate goodies): best climber: everyone, for conquering the tough hills of Tuscany!

A great dinner, and preparations for the final, easy 32km downhill tomorrow morning into Florence. Liz and I will probably be in Rome tomorrow night, and the blog will continue from there.

February 29 :: Radda in Chianti, Italy

February 29 :: Radda in Chianti, Italy :: 52km / 346km total

A hilly start, but nothing new, and we sped along. The group is really coming into form now, everyone getting their cycling legs beneath them. The mileage flew by, even the final switchbacks up into Radda were knocked away in record time. The only troubles we've encountered, really, are the lack of business hours carried out by most establishments here in Italy. Most restaurants and other businesses are closed from noon til 4pm, and hotels are not matching the rates that we reserved online (i.e. we show up and they demand 5-15 euros more than our quoted reservation). When in Rome... I suppose....

We are now 1 day's ride from Florence, but due to difficulty in hotel reservations we will split the final ride into town over 2 days. Nancy, Tim Kenton, and Dad are considering flying home a day or two early, with possible layovers in London. Liz and I are looking at 2 days in Rome... Rome is only 2 hours away by bullet train from Florence.

Pics from Kenton

Church dome roof in Florence








Dad's gone missing (I found him!)








Setting out from Florence - before we knew what we were getting into








Classic Tuscany - Winter crop








Please, not more Renaissance art









Siena gate







Piazza Il Campo from above









Dinner in the former sewers of Siena (the food tasted better than you would expect)









Early start

Montalcino from the fortress walls

But who REALLY are the sheep? Traffic-jam Tuscany-style

Approaching our castle stay

Inside the castle; rooms up the ramp

Two lonely figures

February 28 :: Asciano, Italy

February 28 :: Asciano, Italy :: 44km / 294km total

A great breakfast at the hotel set us up well for a good ride to Asciano. As the group left one by one, and I assumed my usual back-of-the-pack start, the unthinkable happened: my bike fell over and (surprisingly) snapped the hitch connection to the trailer! "This isn't happening" I murmured, and set about to juryrig a connection. Using a backup safety-rope from the trailer hitch I was able to wrap a fairly solid connection, but still was hesitant as I rolled away from the castle, both watching the trailer and trying to ride down the group. The road turned upwards (its not a real cycling day in Tuscany without lots of tough climbs), and it was just at hilltop Pienza that I caught them... trailer faithfully in tow.

Away from Pienza the road descended, and Liz made sure I was wearing my helmet, now with the trailer having a bit more life of it's own. Tim's knee was suffering a bit, so I had the added fun of carrying along 30 more pounds of gear. More descents, more climbs, a toilet without a seat, but solidly we made it early into Asciano, everyone seeming to find their rhythm. Two more cycling days left!!

February 27 :: Spedaletto, Italy

February 27 :: Spedaletto, Italy :: 32km / 250km total

A late start to coincide with the late 10:30am opening of Abbazia di Sant Antimo, 10km down the road from Montalcino. The abbey was an 11th century building with plenty of history, and an interesting stop. Back on the bikes some rolling riding brought us to the base of a climb that took us over an hour to do... on the many switchbacks you could see members of our group both directly above you, and/or directly below you, pedalling the serpentine road. Nancy and Liz strategically took a shortcut up across a farmer's field, skimming about half a kilometre off one particular turn. Finally, finally we summitted and rolled along the high ridge, just touching the clouds, to lunch at Castiglione d'Orcia. A rocketing 4km descent and a bit of flats riding brought us to Spedaletto, a 12th century castle in which we stayed in 21st-century renovated accomodations.

The only drawback (initially) of the place was that, although we had a full kitchen and cooking facilities, we had no food... so Kenton and I rode off (unladen for once!!) up to San Quirico d'Orcia, a large town 8km away. After some trouble we had our saddlebags loaded, and rocketed back to the castle. Liz and Nancy (and Graham!) whipped up a great dinner, and we were asleep early, ready for tomorrow's ride.

February 26 :: Montalcino, Italy

February 26 :: Montalcino, Italy :: 64km / 218km total

We set off at 7am, the earliest yet, for what should be the longest ride of the trip. Brrrr it was cold as we descended the hectic switchbacks out of Siena, heading South. Soon we left the city environs and were pedalling along a beautiful, quiet, rolling country road. The scenery in Tuscany continued to be fantastic, a constant 9 out of 10 in all directions. A big climb into the semi-mountainous hill country had everyone straining, but eventually we rolled into the large non-tourist town (yay!) of Buonconvento for lunch.

After some less-than-spectacular food we rolled off prepared (?) for the final assault on Montalcino. A dramatic, brutal winding climb brought us up to the hilltop town, cycling up switchbacks that wound beneath Montalcino's fortress walls. Montalcino was surprisingly empty of tourists, compared to the previous tourist hilltowns that we'd been in. We checked into our hotel, walked the fortress walls, and settled in for the night.