Brakes, don't fail me now!

Friday, April 29, 2016

Montefalco to Assisi

30 miles, 2,200 feet of climbing

 

Today we left Montefalco and headed to Assisi, where we'll be spending two nights.  The weather was ideal - cool, sunny and no wind.  The temperature was about 50 degrees when we left Montefalco, and warmed to near 70 by the afternoon.  It was a generally easy ride to Assisi, save for a 12-mile climb to the town of Armenzano.  At about the mid point of our ride, right before the climb started, a bunch of us stopped in Spello for a cappuccino break - thinking the shot of caffeine would help to propel us up the hill. I don't know if it helped, but it sure didn't hurt.  It was a moderately strenuous climb with a few steep sections with 10 to 13% grades.  The climb started gently as the road winded through a grand olive tree orchard.  The road became steeper as the climb progressed, and terriain changed to more of a forest-type environment, but still very pretty.  The hardest part of the climb, at least for me, was a two kilometer stretch of road that was in terrible shape - filled with ruts, potholes and broken pavement.  Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic on the climb, so you could pick and choose the "best" part of the road to ride on. The seven-mile descent was equally as beautiful and took us right into Assisi.  I encountered a potentially dangerous situation on the descent in that my front brake completely failed.  I came around one of the switchbacks going pretty fast and my ability to slow down was severely diminished.  I eventually was able to come to a skidding halt using my rear brake (which is also getting weak) and my feet.  Fortunately, my bike mechanic (Art ) was with me, and was able to tighten the cable so that the brake would grip and I could make the rest of the descent.  Otherwise, I would have likely had to walk it.  Just another reason I'm very lucky that my bike mechanic is also my husband.  Both sets of brake pads seem to be worn, so we will have to look into replacing them the next time we encounter a bike shop.  Assisi is a huge city, so it took a bit of navigating to find our hotel.  After we put our bikes away, we changed out of our bike clothes and took a walk around the streets of Assisi.  Our hotel is very near to the Basillica of St. Francis of Assisi, so that was the first place we went.  There were military men stationed at the entrance to the plaza outside the Basillica who questioned every person before allowing them to enter, which wasn't the case when we were here nine years ago.  The Basilica is the property of th Vatican, and the military presence is a consequence of the recent threats against the Vatican.   Much of Assisi is geared toward tourism, with many shops and opportunities for guided tours.  Fortunately, it was a beautiful, sunny and warm day, so we spent much of our down time either walking around or sitting on the hotel balcony in the sun.  We had a nice dinner with a few folks from our group at a Italian restaurant near our hotel - excellent cuisine and great company.  It was perfect way to end another bellisima day in Italy.

 

Heading out of town - the turn onto this quiet road got us away from the traffic

The entry gate to the city of Spello

Art amongst the tourists in Spello

Scenic spot for a cappuccino break (Steve, at right, does a sketch each time he stops at a town)

Art & me at the start of the climb

A small town on the descent . . .

. . . Where I almost missed the sharp left turn to Assisi!  

Another scenic view on the way to Assisi

I like this view the most

The gate to Assisi

View from the balcony of our hotel room

The plaza area outside the Basilica of St Francis (bikes are prohibited beyond the gate)

Another vista from Assisi

A Day Without Sunshine . . . Can Still be Fun

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Montefalco Loop

30 miles, 2,200 feet of climbing

The first thing we did when we got up this morning was check the weather forecast.  It looked like we had until 11:00 before the rain was to start.  So, right after breakfast, we got suited up and headed out for our ride.  He temp was about 53 degrees and partly cloudy when we left.  We planned on returning before 11:00, so we didn't bother to carry rain gear.  We did a fun and scenic loop ride to Uncinano and back.  We had a slight, hardly noticeable headwind as we started our route heading south.  Our route included two rather gentle climbs, each one about five miles long, and one steep little stinker, just short of a mile long.  Hardly a sufferfest, but enough to work up a good sweat.  We rode by some beautiful vistas, olive groves and vineyards.  The clouds darkened as we were at the mid point of our ride, and we got lightly rained on, but for only 10 minutes or so,  On the return trip north back to Montefalco, the slight headwind we had on the first half of the ride became a much-appreciated tailwind that allowed us to travel at a good clip on the flat sections.  The final climb back to Montefalco was the prettiest of the day; even with the clouds, the landscape was gorgeous.  We made it back to our hotel just after 11:00 as rain started to sprinkle again, lightly, and continued to rain on and off throughout the afternoon and evening.  At 5:30, we went as a group to the Montioni Oil Mill and Winery, a local winery, for a wine tasting.  It was so interesting and so much fun.  This was no ordinary wine tasting.  Not only did we taste three types of their wine, they also served us hors d'ourves, as well, so that we could experience how well the wine paired with different types of foods - meats, cheeses, breads, focaccia and pizza.  This winery also makes olive oil, which we also had an opportunity to taste.  It was delicious, and not to mention reasonably priced - almost everyone in our group purchased a bottle or two.  After the wine tasting, we went to dinner at a cute little restaurant two doors down from our hotel, which turned out to be an excellent choice.  What a fantastic day!  Looking forward to tomorrow's ride to Assisi.

Art "whistling" along on his Whistle

View heading toward Uncinano

Me amongst the olive trees

Colorful poppies often found lining the roadside

Riding past one of the many vineyards in the region

Umbrian countryside - beautiful, even on an overcast day

Me, pedaling along

Vista point in Montefalco

Art at the front of our hotel, the Oro Rosso

The narrow one-way street our hotel is on, used by pedestrians, bicycles, and cars!  It gets pretty tight at times.

Our group at the wine tasting

Wine tasting "deluxe"

Una Giomata Perfetta Sulla Bicicletta ("A Perfect Day on the Bike")

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Todi to Montefalco
30 miles, 2,241 feet of climbing

Today was one of those near-perfect cycling days: cool (but not cold), sunny and complete with a tailwind.  Our planned  route today was only 30 miles, so we were able to have a leisurely ride and take many photo stops.  Our route started with a series of short climbs as we departed Todi.  Then we had a gentle and scenic eight-mile climb as we headed toward Bastardo (yes, the name of the town is Bastardo), where we made a cappuccino stop at a little cafe in the center of town.  From there, we meandered our way to our second climb of the day - a two-mile climb up to the town of Gualdo Cattaneo.  The final climb of the day was a four-mile climb to our destination city, Montefalco.  Montefalco is a wine region that is gaining in popularity, largely due to the steady rise of the city's signature wine, Sagranito, which is made with grapes indigenous to the area.  We arrived in Montefalco just before noon, but not without first making a wrong turn trying to find our hotel.  After we showered and changed, we had plenty of time to explore the  town (i.e, find a place to get gelato).  We also checked out the several enoteche (wine shops) in town.  Some folks in our group went to a wine tasting.  In the evening, we had an amazing, multi-course group dinner at our hotel - the Oro Rosso.  The food was delectable, but we didn't finish until 9:30.  Thus, I am falling asleep as I type this.  Tomorrow we have the choice of three different loop rides of various distances, or we can opt to take a rest day.  The ever-changing weather forecast is currently calling for mid-day rain tomorrow, so that will dictate if and when we ride.  Hopefully, we can get a rain-free window of a few hours to get a ride in.  In the meantime, I will get some rest.  Buona notta!  

View from today's route

Entering the Town of Bastardo (unfortunate helmet placement)

View from Gualdo Cattaneo     

Me & Art at the top of the climb to Gualdo Cattaneo

 

Olive trees

View from the descent

View from the climb to Montefalco

Art in deep thought at the center square in Montefalco

The nicest dog in Italy - he gladly posed for this picture

Me and one of the sculptures in the square

The main course of my dinner tonight, an omelet with truffles - delizioso!

Not bad for a Rest Day

Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Todi Loop Ride
50 miles, 4,300 feet of climbing  

Since we would be spending another night in Todi, we had the option of taking a rest day or riding one of the offered loop rides.  Art & I opted to ride, but deferred the start time of our ride until sometime after noon in order to give the temperature a chance to warm up.  This proved to be a good plan, as the temperature was in the low 40s when we got up this morning, but warmed up to about 56 by the time we left for our ride at 12:30.  It was a nice, sunny day, a few clouds here and there, but very windy - a crosswind that nearly blew me off the road a number of times.  The loop ride we decided to do was supposed to be 39 miles with about 3,600 feet of climbing.  But we magically increased the mileage and climbing with a couple of really hilly wrong turns.  The first wrong turn took us down a step grade of about 12%.  We realized it was a wrong turn when the road suddenly metamorphosed into a narrow gravel path.  It was only a two mile mistake, but I could have done without the bonus steep climb. The second wrong turn was more costly in terms of distance (6 miles), but the climb back up was not nearly as steep.  The ride became even more interesting when Art got a flat tire at mile 25, which he fixed in a jiffy, because he is unquestionably "the master of all things bicycle."  In any event, it was a wonderful ride - lots of sunshine, great climbs and gorgeous scenery - not to mention the value we added to the per-mile cost of the trip with all our wrong turns!  We arrived back at our hotel in Todi just after 5 p.m.  We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant not far from our hotel with fellow riders Beau, Peter and Susan.  Overall, a banner day.  Looking forward to tomorrow's ride to Montefalco.

Art at the center square of Morre - we stopped here for a snack break

View from the road in Montecastrille

 

BIkes, Climbs and Tiramisu

Monday, April 25, 2016

Orvieto to Todi

50 miles, 4783 feet of climbing

A fun and challeging day on the bike.  We headed north to Todi - a small, old town with amazing views.   The temperature was quite brisk - about 47 degrees when we left the hotel.  Because there was a chance of rain in the forecast (again), and the temp wasn't supposed to get much higher than 53, Art & I started out wearing all our rain gear - jacket, rain pants, shoe covers, even our helmet covers - hoping to stay warm.  After we descended out of Orvieto, we began a 12-mile climb, which was a great way to stay warm.  So warm, in fact, that I ended up sweating and had to take my jacket off.  And so that's how it went all day - jacket off during the climbs, jacket back on during the descents.  My rental bike is working great for the most part, although I seem to be having a contentious relationship with the saddle.  I'm hopeful the two of us will work it out.  At mile 30, we arrived in Marciano, where we stopped at a little bar/cafe for a bite to eat.  There was a small group of older men gathered there, sitting around, shooting the breeze (in Italian) - very animatedly, as Italians do.  It reminded me so much of my father and uncles and how they would interact at family gatherings.  After that brief stop, we only had about 20 miles to Todi, but we still had a bit of climbing to do, some of which had some steep grades.  It was essentially a rain-free day, save for some light, hardly noticeable sprinkles as we made the climb up into Todi.  By then, we were almost done, so we didn't even mind.  After a wrong turn or two, we found our hotel - Hotel Tudor - which is just outside of town.  Our room has a balcony, which provides fantastic views of the countryside.  We had fantastic dinner as a group in the hotel dining room - an amazing menu of three variations of pasta, a pork dish, an asparagus omelette with grilled veggies, and for dessert . . . Tiramisu!  Everything was delicious, and we had a great time chatting with our fellow riders.  A perfect ending to an exceptional day.

Me at a fork in the road in Colonetto di Prodo        

My great rental bike (but the saddle is mean)

Views from the road - near Ospedaletto

The bridge toward Todi

View from a lookout on the climb to Todi

The Whistler arrives

Views from the balcony of our hotel room

Merida, che sta per piovere oggi ("Crap, it's going to rain today")

Sunday, April 24, 2016
Orvieto "out-and-back" Ride
25 miles, 2,146 feet of climbing

Today would be our first day of riding.  Because of a hotel mix-up, we and our bikes had to be transported by van to the day's originally scheduled destination - Orvieto - where we could do an out-and-back ride to anywhere and for any distance we wished.  The forecast for rain proved true, as it started sprinkling shortly before we arrived at our hotel in Orvieto around 11:00 a.m.  It wasn't raining all that hard, so Art and I decided to brave the rain and go for a ride.  Our plan was to backtrack part of the route we would have done had we stayed at the originally scheduled hotel in Montefiescone.  We donned all our rain gear and headed out of town toward Civitella, a town about 14 miles south.  The route had us climbing pretty much all the way to Bagnoregio.  It rained on and off while we rode - pretty hard at times - but the temperature was mild enough that it wasn't all that chilly, despite the wind.  Once we reached Bagnoregio, we decided we had enough rainy riding and headed back to Orvieto.  It was a much quicker return trip back because it was mostly downhill (the benefit of doing a lot of climbing on the first half of the route).  But - as is the case with many Italian towns - Orvieto is at the top of a big, steepish hill, so we had about a two mile climb at the end.  It was a nice ride, despite the rain, and we got to take our rental bikes for a test run.  After we put our bikes away and showered, we went for a walk around town.  The rain continued through the the afternoon, but it didn't stop us from treating ourselves to a gelato.  We walked to the Duomo in the center of town, which was magnificent.  After getting drenched with rain one last time, we had a lovely dinner with a few folks from our group at a restaurant right across the street from our hotel.  I loved this restaurant; while we were there, a couple came in with a small dog, and the dog sat right at table with them - in a chair!  It was adorable.  Tomorrow we head to Todi.  Hopefully, we'll get our 50 miles in before the rain resumes tomorrow afternoon.  I better ride fast!

Art "the Whistler" in Parano, a small town on our route

View of Orvieto from the ride

Art looking tres chic in his rain gear

The Duomo in Orvieto