DI 09 Il Poggiolo to Assisi

This is being written at 9:30 am Tuesday morning.  Everyone was ready to leave about 20 minutes ago when it started raining – hard.  So we’re waiting out the rain. I’m told there was a major storm last night with lightening and thunder but I slept through it.  -- Later: The Carlson’s and Brenda and I leave about 10:20 and get rained on, mostly gentle but about 20 minutes of hard rain where I had difficulty seeing the road through my fogged glasses.

We do not stop at the ceramics factory in Duret (Yea!).  We hear that two of our couples spend considerable money at this facility. We have difficulty finding a restaurant open for lunch but do find a pizzeria about to close at 1:45 and he makes us a great “to go” bag which we eat as soon as we get to the villa.  Tonight’s villa seems to be a modern facility but they don’t have internet. Grrrr!

On the way into town, looking for lunch, we pass Santa Maria Maggiore (shown on left), the city cathedral until 1020. I think I read or was told this is where St Francis of Assisi died but cannot confirm this.

 

 

In Assisi we visit Basilica di San Francesco which was started just 18 months after St Francis died on October 4, 1226. The basilica has two churches, one on top of the other. St Francis tomb is below the lower church but I believe the crypt wasn’t dug until the last 1800’s. The basilica was severely damaged in the 1997 earthquakes but restoration has been completed.

MEET THE RIDERS

Jim and Melody Yuhn ride both tandems and road bikes. Jim has a new Trek Madone waiting for him when he returns to Dallas. In addition they ride motorcycles.  Jim has a Yamaha FJR (I think that’s it) 1300. Melody has moved up from a Vespa scooter to a small (250 cc) motorcycle to a respectable Honda 650. They take weekend tours on the motorcycles. The Yuhn’s (in addition to the Hoyt’s and the Bryant’s were with us in 2005 for the BAC Costa a Costa ride across Italy. A few of the places we’re staying, including last night and tonight, are repeats from 5 years ago.) Several of our riders have developed colds or some sort of upper respiratory infection. Today was Melody’s turn. Damn.

After last night’s storms and today’s off/on rain, we have a nice sunset at the villa

DI 08 Cotrona to Agriturismo Il Poggiolo

Today’s destination is an agriturismo in the Umbrian countryside. It is also the home of Viadelsole, the company with which we contracted this tour.

The main thing to note is that Brenda and are back on the bike as if nothing has happened, a few aches and pains being ignored. In fact, we did an extension to the original route, adding 15 km and two climbs of 1,200 and 1,000 feet. The first climb takes us to the very isolated village of Mercatale, where we find a nice bar for coffee. Photo right, Harry and Janette top the first, most difficult, climb.

After the climbs, the route was mostly around Trasimeno Lake.  There are several islands on the lake (see photo on left) which can be visited but we reject this option. In fact the weather looks threatening after lunch so we don’t dally. We arrive at the villa about a half hour before the rain.

See today's ride

Some of us visit a bike store in Perugia which has been family owned since 1933. Jim and the shop owner get along well.  Tonight we have a cooking class and it’s quite a production.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left, Jim Hoyt hanging laundry.  On right, a wine break from the cooking class.

Alfonsa leads the cooking class. Since she speaks no English, Luca translates.

MEET THE RIDERS

Harry and Janette Thompson are long time active DATES members.  Janette retired a couple of years ago from the legal profession and Harry retired this year from Honda-Acura finance. Janette is in love with tennis and plays on several teams. They have been on both of the former DATES tours, England and Nova Scotia. Also note their photo at the beginning of this blog.

DI 06-07 Montalcino to Cortona

Hotel Capitani in Montalcino (see Thompsons and Barton’s at breakfast) is an excellent hotel in this very hilly town.  The view (right) from our hotel room looks like it’s the top of the world.  We looked over a fog gradually lifting from the valley this morning.  But we’re at the  we’re at the bottom of the town and every place we walk is up.

Saturday is a loop ride from Montalcino. Those who did it said it was the prettiest ride so far.

Montalcino and Montepulciano, which we pass through on Sunday are famous for Brunello (Sangiovese) wines.  But why wait for Sunday when we can taste on Saturday? So we have a wine-tasting (photo above on right) at the Encota Wine Bar in the fort (Fortezza). Photo below is a typical street seen in Montalcino, or any Tuscan town.

Sunday’s ride, at 90 km the longest of the trip, first takes us through Pienza. The town was designed by Rossellino for Pope Pius the something or other. Brenda still does not feeling like riding, particularly this long distance, so we go in the van with Luca. In over 75 bike tours, this is the first time I’ve ridden in the van. I mentioned that our fall was the first in 12 years. During that time, we’ve ridden over 27,000 miles on the tandem.

Cortona, which dates somewhere from the 9th to 4th centuries B.C., in recent years was made famous by Frances Mayes’ book and movie “Under a Tuscan Sun.”  Brenda and I stop at one of the many street-side osterias; we had the best pizza yet. We’re staying at a spa Villa a couple of kilometers below the town. Happy hour and dinner is here tonight. See below alleys and doorways of Cortona.

MEET THE RIDERS (TWO TEAMS)

Jim and Rhonda Hoyt, owners of the Richardson Bike Mart, have probably been riding tandems longer than most of us. Jim is most famous for kicking Lance Armstrong off the shop team and taking away both his bike and car. Lance talks about this in “It’s Not About The Bike”. Rhonda suffered a major bike accident in 2006 when a car ran over her. She has recovered with a vengeance and most of us can’t keep up with her on the bike. Although both are suffering from bad colds this week, they haven’t missed a mile.

 

 

Alan and Renee Kailer probably trained more for this ride than the rest of us – studying the Italian language, watching Italian movies, eating Italian food and also training on the bike. Renee lost weight and rode her first hundred mile ride.  The Kailer’s are editors of the club newsletter, DATES Line, and published the latest copy while on this tour!

DI 05 Siena to Montalcino

Friday’s blog was delayed – you’ll soon learn why.

Remembrances of Siena – first a composite of 17 photos from Siena’s Il Campo.

Once again I give directions; this time I think it’s to an Italian.  As we approach Siena, still outside the wall, a lady has stopped her car, gotten out and, as we pass, pointing the direction we’re going, and hollers “Centro?”. I nod and holler back “Si”. At least we think we’re going in that direction.

In Siena, I choose for lunch, probably the only restaurant in Italy that doesn’t serve wine. The waiter offered beer. I accept and then learn it’s non – alcoholic. I didn’t know there were Baptists in Italy!

But our dinner made up for it; we chose the restaurant based on Rick Steve’s recommendations.  It was excellent. -- There is a Rick Steve’s tour group in our hotel. I imagine chaos when 30 of them and 20 of us arrive simultaneously at 7:30 for breakfast tomorrow.

Friday we leave Siena and soon the landscape changes with us. We now have rolling wheat fields, already harvested and plowed under. The smell changes with the sights. I don’t think this will last long; we’re headed to Italy’s most famous wine region, Brunello.

We have very light rain for part of the morning’s ride. After a visit to the Eustachian museum in Murlo we stop for a long lunch in Buonconvento. 

It starts raining for real as we leave the restaurant.  About 1 kilometer down the road I see a railroad track crossing the road at  a 45 degree angle. For almost 40 years, I’ve been maneuvering to cross track like this at a right angle. Well I didn’t get a good enough angle or was going too fast, probably both, but all of a sudden we’re lying in the road.

There are two types of falls from a bicycle. In one, you feel the wheel start to slide and try to correct it. Sometimes you can. In the other, you don’t feel the fall. One second you’re riding and the next second you’re down. We experienced this type of fall, our first in 12 years of tandeming.

Brenda was in shock (probably lasted 10 or 15 minutes); I had difficulty getting her to her feet and off the road. Help was immediate since we left the restaurant a minute ahead of our lunch group. And others, including our guide Luca were still at the restaurant. Passing motorists also offered help and one lady took Jim Yuhn back to get Luca, who administered first aid in the van (photo at left). We determined it was worth a visit to the hospital to get her checked over. Brenda got three stitches in her forehead and had brain x-rays. We waited and waited for the x-ray results but finally just left. Luca, Bruce and Carol had waited patiently for at least four hours at the hospital. We got to the hotel about 10:15. Bummer of a day but could have been tragic if she wasn’t wearing a helmet.

See pre-crash ride date here

MEET THE RIDERS

Bruce Hudson and Carol Croy got their first tandem in 1998, then an S&S coupled tandem in 2006 for the DATE’S England tour.  They immediately became active DATES members and have been newsletter editor and rides coordinators. Like Brenda and I, they both retired from Mobil Oil. Bruce and Carol have been on our other two tandem tours, England and Nova Scotia. They have REALLY been looking forward to the Italy tour and Carol said it has been  everything she hoped for. We thank them for their patience in the Siena Hospital yesterday.

DI 04 San Lucchese to Siena

Twice yesterday at the hotel (san Lucchese), the staff complimented me on my Italian. Of course I only know a few words, but I do know the numbers - and that is all you need at the hotel – tell them your room number, “due cento sedici” (216).  If this were France, they would turn up their nose at me. The French want, no they demand, you speak their language. But when you try, it’s never good enough, and they make you feel like a fool. The Italians on the other hand, joke with you, help you, compliment you.  So I love Italy and hate France.

Photo at left is of chapel at San Lucchese

We’ve had an incredible, multi-course group meal each of the last three nights. I think everyone is now ready for a simpler, quicker meal  with less courses.  And maybe less socialization.  So it is fine if there are no group meals the next three days. Tomorrow we go the Siena, the town that was the equal of Florence 600 years ago. It might have been still, were it not for the plague in the early 1300’s. 

We ride for a while on SP2, the old Roman road to Siena (“All roads lead to Rome.”). The highlight of the day is visiting Monteriggioni, a town which has changed very little since they raised the town walls in 1260.  This is our cappuccino stop but we also walk the walls – great vistas. Photo at right is the church as seen from the top of the wall. Also see composite photo at end of blog.

Today’s route is beautiful; aren’t they all? This is the shortest and probably easiest day but the hills we experienced today were steep – 10 to 12 % uphill and at one time, 25% downhill. Note, the steepest paved road in the world is 39%; it is in Dunedin on the south island of New Zealand.

Click here for today's route  Note that the gap in the recording was not caused by Nixon’s secretary. My GPS batteries died and I didn’t notice for a while.

MEET THE RIDERS

Ronnie and Nanette Bryant are long-time DATES members who ride long miles. Ronnie once rode the 750 mile Boston-Montreal-Boston event and they both trained for a while for Paris-Brest-Paris, also 750 miles. They finally came to their senses and decided to focus on touring. They were on our BAC Costs a Costa tour in 2005 and also the DATES tour in England in 2007. Ronnie and Nanette don’t drink coffee; their favorite caffeine beverage, even for breakfast, is Dr. Pepper.

Photo below is a composite of 10 photos taken from the Monteriggioni town wall

DI 03 San Gimignano to San Lucchese

The weather forecast was for a cloudy day but we awoke to clear blue skies and it remained that way all day. 

We leave San Gimignano.  After the long, steep climb to the town yesterday we expected to start with a downhill today. Wrong. We climbed for about 8 miles. As we climb we can see off to our right a long valley with very low hanging clouds.

This group is really getting into “cycle touring” – which is not the way most of them cycle.  The usual is some version of “hell bent for leather” with possibly nutrition bars and/or drinks while pedaling down the road. You rarely stop.  Well at Km 11 (6 miles) today we find several already stopped for cappuccino.  This is the way is should be. Naturally, the rest of us join them.

Click here for today's route, elevation profile and some pictures.

Early in the morning we couldn’t help but notice how smooth the roads were, smoother than anywhere in the US.  But this didn’t last – we ran into more “normal” roads later in the day.

At about mile 8 we begin a long, eight mile descent. From there on it’s “rolling” but this “rolling” includes at 12% climb and a 20% downhill.  For those not familiar with tandem bicycling, the downhill momentum is incredible.  Although some of us had a drum brake in addition to our normal rim brakes, it was difficult to control the speed of the bike going down such a steep hill.

In addition to vineyards and olive orchards we see fields of sunflowers and ripe tomatoes – which we sample at lunch – read on.

Although two couples are ahead of the rest of us, 8 teams manage to eat lunch at the same “bar – Pizza house” which today doesn’t have pizza.  But everyone at our table ended up with a three course meal and wine. The salad didn’t have enough tomatoes so Jim Hoyt asked for more. This dish was rapidly consumed with all of us asking “Why can’t we get tomatoes this good in the US?”  Note again that this group would never have a three course meal during a bike ride. Particularly with vino. “La dolce vita.”  Hotel San Lucchese, a former convent, is high atop a hill, a very difficult hill to climb.  Was this the most difficult climb of the day? Or was it the wine? Photo on the right above was taken from our window.

MEET THE RIDERS

DATES Ride Directors Chuck and Kris Carlson retired about a year ago. Since then they have been on Bicycle Adventure Club rides in Northern Ireland and Yellowstone National Park.  On this last ride (last month), they climbed the 11,000 foot Bear Tooth Pass in the snow.  While Kris is a very sociable person, Chuck is a detailed man who explores any and every technology. For this tour he took ViaDelSole’s GPS track log and created GPS Route files. Some of us are benefitting from this; every road and every turn are shown on our handlebar mounted GPS units.  With a “stoker” in the back reading the instructions from the route sheets and our GPS in front of us it’s difficult to get lost.  But some do.

DI 02 Greve to San Gimignano

 

Finally we’re on the road – but it’s raining as we leave Piazzetta Santa Croce.  The rain is supposed to blow over and the weather sunny later in the day but it’s a bit chilly now.  What do we wear?  I select my rain pants but a light jacket instead of my Gortex rain jacket with hood.

 

 

Brenda and I are first out around 9:30. As we climb to the first town, Panzano in Chianti, the church bell rings a single chime; it’s 10:30. There is a beautiful view from the piazza in the town square.  (photo at right). This is the town of  the “Macelleria Cecchihi”, the most famous butcher shop for the renowned rare steak named “fiorentina”. Only the Carson’s find it; and they missed it the first time and went back to find it.

And sure enough the light rain is gone and the sun is out by 11:30 when we stop for cappuccino at Rada (photo on left).

The Barton’s and Brenda and I are in Castellina around 12:30 and discover a small Osteria, mostly inhabited by locals. We got the one unoccupied – unreserved table and have a great lunch. I think my tortellini was the best of the choices. But everyone liked what they ordered.

When we come out of the restaurant it is very cloudy and cold. We have a big descent ahead of us. I put back on some of the clothes I’ve removed in the morning but as we start downhill I’m cold. In fact I’m so cold I’m shivering. It’s now raining. So we stop and I put on more clothes as well as a plastic bag between my jersey and jacket. This only helps a little and I continue cold until we come to flatter terrain and I can pedal. The rain pretty much continues until we’re outside of San Gimignano.  Here we began a most serious climb. By the way, most of today’s climbing was in the morning but it was all gentle grades and easy. The short climbs in the afternoon however were pretty steep and difficult.

 

San Gimignano is probably the most picturesque Tuscan town with it’s 14 remaining towers (out of an original 60 or 82 or 100, depending who you listen to). Rick Steve’s describes this as a town “packed with crass commercialism”. It’s also packed with tourists, wall to wall.  But most of these tourists get back on their busses and leave in the afternoon. I hear it’s pretty nice at night. – But we don’t see the town at night. After a 2.5 hour dinner with considerable Vernaccia (a white wine, possibly the oldest in civilization, dating back to the beginning of the Renaissance) we go directly to bed.

MEET THE RIDERS

Ron and Michelle Barton are from Ottawa, Ontario – but are no strangers to DATES members.  They rode with us on two Southwest Tandem Rallies and Rally pre-tours (2000 and 2005) and were in England with us in 2007.  They ride a space-age “Air Tuesday”, a unique tandem with very small wheels and titanium beam seat posts.  Their other main interest is viniculture, both are certified and experienced sommeliers. Ron works for a GM dealer as a “drivability technician“ and Michelle is a Med Tech.  Ron also commutes to work on a bike throughout the year, which means frequently in the snow.  Although they are stronger riders than us, they rode with us most of today.

DI 01 Firenze to Greve

Today we traveled by bus to Greve and assembled the bikes.  In theory you could do all of this in three hours but it took us all day. By 4:30 all bikes were assembled and the cases were on their way to storage 40 km away.

 

Jim Yuhn’s luggage continues to be a saga but plans are under way to retrieve it tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

We assembled the tandems under the restaurant patio on the town square - were quite a site and attracted quite a bit of attention from both the locals and other tourists.  We really need to get on the bike tomorrow; people are getting cranky.

DI-01 Firenze

Sunday morning. All 10 teams are here, although the Jim Yuhn is waiting on luggage. The forecast rain is not here;  it’s 70 and sunny.

We spend Saturday and Sunday in Firenze, the City of the Renaissance.  More people (8 million annually) visit this city than visit Roma, Venice or Milan.  It’s easy to see why, especially if you have any interest in art or architecture. Our itinerary includes reservations at the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia. We have downloaded to our Android phones Rick Steve’ audio tours of both as well as a Renaissance Walk tour.

Ponte Vecchio from a window in the Uffizi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above, two copies of the David. The original is protected in the Accademia.  Photos are not allowed there but I couldn’t resist (see below) – until the guard told me “No fotographia.”

 

I don’t recognize these guys!

The Duomo (below) was started in the 3th century but left with a hole in the center because they did not have the technology to build a dome. In the 1400’s architect Fillipo Brunelleschi built the dome based on the design of Rome’s Pantheon. The Duomo’s dome then became the model for the St Peter’s in Rome and the US Capital. Inside, the Duomo is very plain and unimpressive.

Visiting Florence is like looking at a friend’s 1,000 vacation photos on a DVD.  It’s overload. You can only absorb so much. We’re saturated with culture. ‘Time to get on the bike.  We take our first step in that direction tomorrow.

DI-02 DATES Italy Tour

This blog will document  “Tandem Biciclette in Italia con DATES”. 

Our 12 day tour takes us from Firenze (Florence) to Greve, San Gimignano, San Lucchese, Siena, Montalcino, Cortona, Poggiolo, Assisi, Spoleto, Todi, Orvieto and back to Firenza.

We have 10 tandem teams, 8 from DATES  plus other friends from San Francisco and Ottawa, Ontario.  You’ll meet them on the tour. This is the third international DATES tour.  Previously, we’ve toured in the Cotswold area of Great Brittan (2007) and Nova Scotia (2008). 

All of us have tandems which disassemble and can be taken with us on the airlines without paying oversize baggage extra fees.

The tour starts on Monday, September 27 but most of us plan on arriving early, either in Firenze or Roma.  With uncertainty in the airlines – and particularly with the strikes in Paris this week – and some of us traveling thru Charles DeGaul – arriving early is almost a requirement. In 2000, Brenda and I arrived in Florence with one half of a bicycle and no clothes. The other three pieces of luggage arrived 3 days later!

Brenda and I and our luggage arrive Friday without a problem. We run into Bruce and Carol at the Firenze airport and then Ronnie and Nanette on the street lugging their luggage and tandem from the train station.

Photo to right is one panel from the Duomo Baptistery doors (North side) by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Michelangelo said these were fit to be the gates to paradise. Ghiberti used mathematical principles to create the illusion of receding distance on a basically flat surface.  Actually these doors are a replica; the originals are protected from the elements in the Duomo Museum.

 

 

An hour after arriving in Firenze, Brenda and I are standing in front of the Duomo. A couple ask us for directions AND I CAN HELP THEM!  I’ve now given directions to strangers in London, Dublin and Florence. Not bad for a kid raised in Old Ocean, Texas.