We are winging our way
somewhere over the Adriatic Sea on our way to Athens, Greece at the time of
this writing. I know it has been
awhile since we last made an entry.
I can’t say that we were “too busy” to write because there has been some
down time since our last epistle, a more descriptive comment would be that we
were simply “too tired”. The week
consisted of sleeping, overindulging on the breakfast buffet, riding, drinking cappuccino,
returning for post ride beers, more buffet lunch, a nap, pre-dinner drinks
followed by a sumptuous dinner that included multiple courses, more wine, then bed,
sleep, repeat! The only addition
to this routine was Deborah’s occasional forays into the local shops in search
of some Italian fashion. She did manage to snag a few.
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The Belvedere In the Morning
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I had trained somewhat
for this trip and managed six rides for a total of 450 kilometres. I lost track of the elevations climbed
but suffice to say every ride left our seaside resort and climbed into the mountains. Deborah translated her tennis training
into bike riding and managed five rides for a total of over 250
kilometres. I alternated between
riding with the “Explorer” group led by Nola, Glen, and Phil, and the “Panorama”
group where Deborah, Warren, and Marci joined me. Linda and Diane stayed with the “Leisure” group. Keith never
recovered from the first day and was his own guide for the week toodling around
Riccione.
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The Panoramas Pondering the Next Hill Climb
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Unlike the Explorers - Panoramas Stop to View
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Morning Gathering Spot to Start
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Langois-Brown Senior's Racing Team- Thanks James!
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One final comment
about the bicycle riding. A person
cannot withdraw money from a bank without putting some in. Try as I might to keep up to Phil, Glen
and Nola, I simply could not. I
tried to ride my bike at least three times each week during the winter but most
Saturdays when I was home sipping coffee and reading the newspaper, those three
were taking a ride to Ryder Lake outside of Chilliwack. It is a one-hour ride, straight up. I tried
to climb with them in Riccione, but I was two to three hundred meters behind on
any of the three to five kilometre hills.
On the fifteen-kilometre climbs … well you know the story from the last entry. Next time I’ll try to tackle a few more
long hills pre-trip so when it comes time to withdraw, there will be something
there.
I can’t speak for
Deborah but I was surprised when I put my jeans on last night before we
packed. Surprise, surprise, I had
to struggle to close the clasp at my waist. In a perfect world all that exercise should have balanced
the over-intake but alas, the world is not fair.
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Party Night at the Belvedere
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Deborah & Nola
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Body Painting
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Warren (Ragnar) Got Into the Spirit
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Keith & Marci
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Dinner on the Pool Deck
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There were too many
highlights to list in their entirety.
Certainly the food, drink, and hosting by our hotel was first
class. The guides were both
encouraging and helpful. The inspiring
scenery in the Italian hills was well worth the work it took to get to them. There were certainly a lot of
interesting people here to meet.
Most were Canadians but there were others from the U.S. (they call
themselves Canadians over here), Malta, South Africa, Holland, Germany, Britain
and elsewhere. Every level of
riding was represented from a woman that was a four time Iron Man Triathlon
champion, in four different age brackets, to partners there simply to support
their spouse and had never ridden.
Even Nola, Phil and Glen were warned not to join the elite “Road Bike”
group populated by 20 and 30 something speedy climbing demons that never rode
less than 100 kilometres a day at speeds averaging in the middle 30’s and
climbs of over 2000 meters. They
are all crazy, hard body stick people with the exception of a man in his 70’s
from South Africa that fits right in.
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Guide Danilo Clowning at Lunch Spot on the Road
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Best Ride - Seaside Exploring
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Last & Longest Ride
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Lastly the best
highlight were the folks travelling in our group. They make it a joy to tackle each day with a positive
attitude toward what it might bring.
On the days when the body was not feeling 100% they were there in
support. As Deborah said, “we are
a family, everyone looking out for one another.”
We waved goodbye to Marci and Keith this morning. They are off to trek in the Dolomites in northern Italy.
Looking forward to
Greece. Deborah and I have never
been. Our first few days will be
spent in Athens sightseeing and then we are off to the islands of Santorini and
Naxos, then over to Hydra to check out why Leonard Cohen spent so much time
there.
