The rain started 40 minutes too soon this morning. If it had of held off just a little longer I could have got my tent rolled up dry. It only lasted a little while and by the time I was on the road it had stopped.
To ride today was 121 kms and was really two parts. The first part was along the coast which was very pretty and although there were a few rollers it was generally level. Yap tour guide stopped us at one point to tell us the road was out and we needed to take a detour down a dead end road and then go from there. What?? The second part of the ride turned inland into the hills At the 60 kms mark we hit the big hill which was a 7 kms climb up 650 meters. It was a real grind, However we were more than rewarded for our efforts. At the top was a little village called Tiriolo and lunch was in the main village square around the town fountain in front of the village church. There we watched the villagers coming in for Sunday mass. We were treated to a little slice of insight into how this mountain village works. It was magnificent. From there the ride when up hill for another 53 kms. It wasn’t really steep but it was insidious. It looked like about 4% for the majority of the climb. There were a couple of short little down hill sections of a few hundred meters or so but in general it was all up hill. When I got to the 90 kms point it started to rain pretty seriously. Now you are thinking heck I had only 30 kms to go, but with the up hill grade I am luck to be doing 13-14 kms/hr. So I still had 2+ hr to go.
The big treat was that we are in a beautiful hotel to night. This was such a welcome sight as I was soaked and freezing. Another night with cold showers would have been too much. The other thing which deserves mention here is that Bike Dreams always has soup after the ride. Today’s French onion soup was so great after a cold wet climb.
I think that not withstanding having no riding under my belt this year, my training is paying off as I feel pretty good on the bike and even managed a fourth to day.
Well it is bed time for Bonzo.
Terry
4 comments:
All great Terry...I recommend drinking more wine as it will help to keep you warm!!!!Hope that rain stays away for you....pouring in Calgary!
Hey Terry,
The views are spectacular! Glad to see you are enjoying the gelato. I ran the ravine yesterday and did a pretty good time. I told Bill that I ran the hill with you, locking in on your calves as you pulled me up the hill. Thanks buddy! Bill was confused??? Sounds like you have some challenging hills of your own. But you are a machine, you can take them!
Cheers,
chris
Hi Terry,
I'm enjoying your posts and pics. The scenery especially the ocean views are gorgeous! Take care, Ted
Hey Terry,
You made it across Sicily and survived the crazy drivers and Mafia…a milestone. The biking scenery looks fabulous. Good improvise with the broken spoke. I would have thought you could have found any bike parts in that bike friendly country.
Glad to see you haven’t slowed down and are the first group into camp. Way to go for an “old guy”. Who knows, maybe I could have competed with the under 67 riders too. But riding in a cold rain followed by a cold shower and wet camping would have been over the top for me. You are really tough! Keep up the great work!
Jim
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