Our first two days of
riding in Italy are in the bag.
Our experiences were mixed.
Deborah had a very enjoyable first two days with rides of 63 and 64
kilometres. My first day was a 95
followed by a ride with Deborah of 64.
The routine here at
the Belvedere Bike Hotel in Riccione is centred on choosing the ride best
suited to your ability and mood.
Deborah made good choices while I challenged myself with a ride a little
outside my comfort (and ability) zone.
The usual ride takes you to a hill town for a cappuccino and a great
view of the fertile farms and mountains.
If you are high enough you can see the city of Riccione nestled by the
Adriatic Sea.
To say that my ride
was challenging would be an understatement. The 95-kilometre distance was not the issue. I sometimes do multiple 100km rides at
home in a week. The challenge of
this ride was the elevation. We
rode to four hill towns with road gradients between 8 and 13 degrees. The climbs were between 9 and 15 kilometres
of switchbacks but always up.
There was over 1800 meters of elevation gain over the total distance of
the ride. That is a greater
elevation rise than the highway from Vancouver to Whistler. The first two climbs were “okay”. I was last but at least in sight of the
pack for the most part. At the
halfway point one of our group of 10 surrendered and a taxi was called. I was offered an escape seat but in
hindsight, stupidly declined. Town
three was even harder and the group was forced to wait at the top while I
inched my way to the peak. Town
four proved to be my undoing. With
4km to go on a straight uphill climb of 15km, my body broke. I had cramps in both quads and
calves. Even my triceps went into spasms. Just when I thought I would have to
stop, I felt the hand of our Italian guide in the middle of my back. He encouraged me in his broken English
and I kept pedalling with everything I had as he gently pushed me up the remaining
kilometres. Our friend Keith was
struggling as well but with the help of our guide we reached the top to the
cheers of our group. Day two
was much better. Keith was unable
to ride but I gave it a go and after the first 15km my body seemed to forget the
previous day.
