Today was an awesome (but very tiring) day. I have no idea how much elevation we got under our belts, but we had a couple of very long hill climbs that left me practically falling asleep at the dinner table tonight.
Our ride started off mildly enough with some nice downhills and an easy ridge ride. We had a few uphills before lunch, but nothing major. We stopped for a picnic lunch at an agriturismo where they make olive oil and sampled some of their product. True to form, our Backroads picnic lunch was one of our meal highlights.
The afternoon ride started off with a 6+ mile uphill climb over the mountains, which Rich and I (along with the majority of the group) decided to forego. (The temperatures here have been in the mid to upper 90's all week.) Six out of the 20 of us set off to climb the mountain, while our guides "vanned" us to the top of the hill to continue our ride from that point. That being said, we still had a 3.5 mile uphill climb (in the baking sun) and, at the very end of the ride, another 2.1 mile climb to our hotel for the night. All in all, we rode @ 47 miles today, which made it the longest ride Rich has ever done (and it wasn't his rear end that he was complaining about tonight!).
Our accommodations tonight and tomorrow night are in a restored convent, so most of the rooms are very tiny. Rich and I, however, seem to have gotten the cream of the crop. We have a large downstairs living area with a comfortable sofa and chairs, dining room table and a couple of large armoires. Upstairs is the bedroom and bath. I'm not sure how we lucked out with the accommodations, but we're not complaining (although each time we climb the stairs our legs let us know they're not happy).
Nice work Dad! What a wonderful way to spend your birthday. I hope you at least found some chocolate to celebrate. It is starting to cool down here and has a bit of that fall feeling, so enjoy the sun and warmth while you have it.
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