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