Cycling Day Three - Santarcangelo di Romagna

Santarcangelo di Romagna

Well Warren, Deborah and I graduated from Toodler College today and joined the bigger boys and girls on the 60 km ride to Santarcangelo di Romagna and then on to a BBQ at the hilltop home of the Belvedere Bike Hotel owner, Marina.  All the rides ended up at Marina’s Farm House for lunch so everyone in our group sat down together.

It was quite a change.  Going from a group of 10 to 12 to a group of 22 much more experienced riders.  Going from an average speed of 18 to 20 km to an average of 24 to 26.  Going from one hill climb of 300 m over 1.5 kms to several hills (and higher speed down hills).  The biggest, King Hill (we provided the moniker) was approximately 5 km at a 10% grade. 

Deborah did not take any hand held camera pics while riding along today, at first.  It was simply too difficult.  In the beginning we had to be so focused we didn’t really appreciate all the beautiful vistas and villages that were there that first hour.  Later, as we were more comfortable and were better able to read the riding habits of those around us, we became more relaxed and appreciated the beauty we were sailing through.  It can be a little tense and fearful for your safety when riding in a large group.  One person screws up and many can go to the pavement.

The day started with a rather leisurely cruise out of town.  A few surprise short hills gave us a quick insight of what was to come.   You had to get your gears right ahead of time or risk coming to a complete stop when it got too steep.  By the time we got to the King Hill, we were ready.  Deborah, (the only one of 22 not on a road bike and without her feet attached to the pedals for the upstroke power) finished in the top half of the group.  She performed so well the leader took a moment to congratulate her at the top of the climb.  I began near the back of the pack and had just made my way to near the front when I suddenly felt like my heart was going to explode like a Canada Day bottle rocket from fatigue.  I thought I was having the big one but when I looked down I realized I had another gear to use.  I had even pulled out of the line of riders so if I had gone down, no one would have had to pile up over me.  As soon as I straightened out the gear I made it too the top much relieved.  Warren was right behind me and soon Deborah crested the last part of the hill.

Along the Way.

That Blur Might be Deborah's Shadow.

We stopped for cappuccinos in Santarcangel di Romagna.  I must admit I was too gassed for coffee and just sat around and rested.  The café was right in the main square and in front of the city’s community school.  It was interesting to see all the Mums and Dads picking their kids from the school at lunchtime.

Soon we were off to ride a further 15 km to Marina’s house for a lunchtime BBQ for 100+.   We arrived with most of the other riders in attendance.  The BBQ was fantastic.  All of the meat food groups were represented except fish.  Pork, Beef, and Chicken were in abundance as well as lots of stickmen greens.  Champagne was served and we were serenaded by one of the leaders that performs in local bars in the off-season.

Lunch is Served!

Marina's Yard at the BBQ

Congrats to the Riding Queen(s) - Nola and Deborah.

Okay, Okay, who has never bought a shirt on holiday they might not wear again.

The Group - difficult to get them all to stand still for a pic.

Other Riders - Great View

George, Deborah, Nola, Warren

At the end of lunch our leader gave us the option of 20 km home, with a major hill, or 25km on the flats.  We opted for the shorter distance and the hill.  By the time we hit Riccione, Warren, Deborah and I were in the first group of five.

The Final km Home.

A great day and we are in that state of healthy tired.  We have a couple of hours to recover and then it is more drinks, dinner, and tomorrow’s decision to be make.

Ciao!

Cycling Day Two - Gradara

Gradara

After much discussion we decided to join the Toodlers again for a 40 km trip to Gradara Hill Castle.  We looked carefully at the 60 km trip but the 40 km included what we had done yesterday, with only a 7 km increase on the way out, with a 8% grade, to another, further hilltop town.  Plus… we don’t know if we are quite ready.  We opted instead for Gradara that included a 300m rise (in the last 1.5 km) to the castle. 

I did make the trade up from my rental Hybrid to a Go-Fast Road Bike.  I am glad I took the easier ride as it allowed me to get used to the bike.  It handles differently, like moving from a sedan to a sports car.  For the first half hour I felt like I was going to lose it on the curves.  It is so light I could lift it with my two smallest fingers.  The tires are narrow enough to fit into an ATM Credit card slot but it is soooo much faster.  I found myself braking on the flats to prevent running up on the bike in front.  The only times we are free to go at our own clip is on the hills.  The leader gathers everyone together at the bottom, describes the turns and elevation, stresses how everyone is to ride at their own speed, and then releases the hounds.  I know it doesn’t sound like much but it can be exciting.  On our one and only serious hill, Deborah and I finished top three in the group.

The Countryside was flat or rolling hills.

Danielo was our guide once again.  Out of town a similar way, over the freeway and into the farmland.  We could see the picturesque hill town castle in the distance and slowly made our way there.  Being Monday, there were a few more cars on the road and a few near incidents in the traffic circles.  It is an odd dynamic.  Cars in the circle have the right-of-way but bikes in a line seem to take a civil right-of-way, albeit not a legal one.  Of the many cars that stopped in the circle for us, two did not.  The guide gave him a chewing out with his hand and we were on our way.

Danielo giving out the riding instructions.

Gradara town/castle has a 360-degree view of all the farms, villages and the Adriatic in the distance.  We stopped for an hour and toured the original castle (built in 1150) and explored the shops and café’s within the fortified walls.  When we finished touring, we returned to the wall entrance and sipped cappuccinos while awaiting the Toodlers to regroup.

Taking advantage of the rest stop.

Time to Go, really!

It Was Straight Up.

My new friend - One of the Stick People in the Fast/Far Group.

What goes up must come down so the return trip was much faster.  I lost my chain part way down and the group stopped while Danielo fixed the chain.  The first thing he did was bring out the rubber glove for one hand and of course some smart ass had to make a comment …. And soon we were all in stitches.

I think he said, "bend over" in Italian.

Back to the hotel we flew.  Danielo seemed to like to have his group back first for lunch at 2:30 pm.

After lunch, shower, and change we hit the beach for the rest of the afternoon.  Deborah and many of the others took an Italian cooking class before dinner while the rest of us drank German beer in the Italian sun.

Haven’t decided about tomorrow’s ride.  Dinner, drinks and decision to follow.

p.s. Phil, the most serious biker in our group did 105 km today.  This was in the space of 4 and onehalf hours.  It included two 8 km, 8% hill climbs.  I am not sure we will ever consider that to be fun.

p.s.s. Deborah met a City of Abbotsford employee she used to work with at the pool.  He flew over to bike with a friend but he had never biked before.  He was moving extremely slowly when last seen beached by the bar.  One of many Canadians here for bike week.

Cycling Day One - Morciano

View From Our Belvedere Balcony

Cycling Day One

On the evening of our arrival, the hotel put on a reception and dinner for all 100+ participants for the biking week.  The wine was poured freely (I suspect not so free when all costs considered but at least "prepaid") and the food was both varied and excellent.  Each group had designated seating but cross talk with bikers from around the world soon ensued.  Many carafes of wine were consumed and the noise level rose accordingly.  The ‘first night’ excitement was palpable throughout the room. 

After dinner and much brave talk, each person signed up for their chosen tour.  We talked big but in the end we signed up for the “Leisure Tour”.  We, included Warren & Dianne, Sam and Cheryl, Linda, four others and ourselves.  The Leisure Tour was 40 kms to the hill town Morciano and back.  Marci and Keith chose the “Panorama Tour” along the coast covering 60 kms.  Nola, Glen and Philip chose the “Adventure Tour”, a hill climbing 80 kms.  Each tour started at 15 min. intervals from our hotel on the beach and returned at nearly the same time.  Clearly the elevation climbs and speed were the differentiating factors.

Up at 7:30 a.m. to ready us for a 9:30 a.m. start.  Joined everyone for the buffet breakfast in the main dining hall.  The stick people gathered around the fruit and yogurt.  I did the same to appear to fit in.  It is important to “look” the part if one is to be successful.  After the sticks moved to their respective dining areas, I tucked into the bacon and eggs, after all I am on holidays (can retired people be on ‘holiday’?).

We convened in our respective start areas at 9:30.  Our group, self-dubbed “the Toodlers”, had a great local leader.  He talked about safety being a big issue and we started by learning all the hand signals given by the leader at the front.  Communicating with his hands seemed very natural to our Italian Leader. He also gave a strict lecture about staying in line and communicating with the person behind you. 

Ready For the First Ride.

We began by meandering our way out of the town following main roads.  The traffic we encountered had a much different attitude toward cyclists that exists back home.  Cars were very respectful and cognizant of us as we negotiated round-a-bouts, “downtown” village squares, and faster regional roads.  We did have to be wary of the roads themselves.  We might complain but our secondary roads are in much better condition than anything we encountered today.

Once the confidence was up, we began to enjoy the scenery along the way.  Distant hill top vistas, olive groves, fruit orchards, and vineyards lined the way as we cruised between 18 and 20 kms. per hour.  We climbed to one baby hill town of 500 feet.  We stopped for cappuccino and a little exploring in Morciano, our goal for the day.  Taking a different route home we had one more stop in another village and were witness to a village wedding for Lucia and Laura.

Looking at the Countryside along the way!

Coffee Break in Morciano

As we approached Riccione, the speed picked up as folks gained biking confidence and visions of a fabulous hotel lunch back at the Belvedere started to rise.

Lots of Riding But also Lots of Sightseeing.

All in all it was a leisurely day.  Personally I think we could have done a little more work but it was a good way to start.  The only downside (and it was minor) was the fact that I had to bike in line following a rather large lady, with her biking shorts slipping a little below the equator on occasion.  Not a pretty sight to follow.  Eventually I found a reason to stop and check my bike fitting.  

We are thinking about moving up to the next level tomorrow or the day following.  I noticed a couple of old fat guys in the next level group.  

When we got back we joined up with our fellow riders from the other groups.  Everyone had a great time and Philip was proclaimed the top hill (up) rider of the entire Belvedere group.  The tour leader let him pass them on the long uphill on the 80 kms.

Off to dinner, drinks and sign up for tomorrow.

Venice & Bologna

We haven’t posted in a few days due to lack of internet and photo import problems but all is well now so here is some catching up…

Venice

The trip from Verona to Venice took only a little over an hour by train.  We passed through green fields, orchards, and vineyards.  The last few minutes were a 1.5 km creep along a narrow causeway taking us into the city of islands (118 islands to be exact).  You don’t really see the city until you walk out of the train station onto the Grand Canal.

We had a little over an hour to soak up the atmosphere on the steps of the station.  We had to wait until the vaperetti (water buses) started to operate after the pilots completed a three-hour strike.  A strike by the vaperetti can be quite devastating in a city without roads.  Eventually we made our way to St. Mark’s Square and found our hotel after a five minute walk through the narrow alleys using Deborah’s phone GPS.  (Thank you Mike for the tip on using the cell phone GPS without having the costly data roaming turned on!)

Deborah looking out our Hotel window

Walking in Venice is quite challenging.  It is a maze of canals and narrow walkways.  It really makes for some very interesting exploring and lends itself to great photo shots.  Nothing is on a grid and the islands are not all connected by bridges.  We came across more than one person completely lost.  One night we were approached by four folks who could not find their hotel after imbibing in one too many with their dinner.  We weren’t able to help them and left them giggling and crying.  We didn’t go anywhere without a map in hand. 

Evening walks looking for the "just" the right restaurant and bridge for a picture

Rush Hour in Venice

Venice is an expensive city to live or travel in.  It also caters to the rich.  Deborah enjoyed seeing the shops specializing in all the most exclusive fashion houses of Europe.  Unlucky (lucky?) for her she didn’t want to overload her pack for the walking bit yet to come.  We knew it was going to be expensive when it cost $2 to have a pee in the train station and the walkways were made of marble.  September is the first month of the fall prime travel season.  July and August are too hot but prices are more reasonable we are told. 

We did the usual tourist things.  Saw lots of picturesque scenes of water, boats and old buildings.  We had to say no to lots of beggars and aggressive “no’s” to guys selling blue-light things you throw in the air. We took a walking tour of the city that included the St. Mark’s cathedral built in 100 AD.  We also saw the Santa Maria del Giglio church across from our hotel and the Peggy Guggenheim Art Collection amongst others.  Although these names meant nothing to me before our tour they were no less impressive.  We also took a Grand Canal tour and experienced Venice by water.  The thing that stood out for us was the architecture.  Every period of European architecture is represented here.  Pisa has nothing on Venice with its one leaning tower.  All the buildings in Venice lean.  I guess that is what happens when you build large buildings on wet sand.  I can just hear them back in the day, “lets build a huge church on this soggy spot and lets use lots of marble and limestone, it isn’t that heavy.”  Everything is sinking.  St. Mark’s Square flooded at high tide.  You walk on the marble square and all of a sudden the seawater started bubbling up from the drains.  We had a lightening and thunderstorm our first night and that may have contributed to the flood since locals said it doesn’t always do that.

St. Mark's Square at High Tide

One of the cooler Venice experiences was attending a concert featuring the music of Vivaldi.  I must admit out of the 1200 plus tunes on my IPod, I don’t have any Vivaldi, and most likely never will but… to sit in a small concert hall, built 1000 years ago and listen to music composed 400 years ago, just down the street, was truly an amazing experience.  Surprisingly I recognized much of the music but not by name.

The picture doesn't do justice to the flying fingered fiddler.

View of Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge.

No building is square.

People watching was a huge highlight.  There were folks and languages spoken from all over the world.  Clearly it is a destination for many and the fact the Mediterranean cruise ships call daily makes for a very eclectic group of visitors. English is still a language most Venetians are fluent in and there are no language barriers to getting around.  Great food and good wine rounded out the experience and after two sleeps it was time to move on.

We decided to visit Bologna for our one unscheduled day before we joined the rest of the group in Riccione for the start of the ride.  It was a short one-hour train ride from Venice to Bologna and then a 2.5-hour hop the next day to Riccione.

… speaking of the bike riding…. We were sitting in a garden in Venice, waiting for our canal boat tour, when I heard an Aussie accent asking a group if they were from Canada.  They said yes and she replied that she was too, an Aussie currently living in Whistler.  I interjected and said she should have just said she had a Whistler accent.  After a bit of chitchat it turned out that she and her 10 friends from Whistler were headed to Riccione to cycle as well.  They warmed up by hiking the Dolomites in northern Italy the week before.  Eventually I saw her other friends, all tall walking sticks with weathered fit faces… I think we are in a world of trouble if we are expected to keep up with these folks.

Bologna

We only had one night and an afternoon in Bologna.   It is a university town with all kinds of young people populating the many squares drinking coffee and eating gelato.  We joined them for some leisurely time in the afternoon.  When it came to dinner I thought we would be eating Bologna’s specialty, baloney but it turns out it is Bolognese sauce.  We had a great dinner of Tagliatelle Bolognese in a sidewalk café.

Caught an 11:30 am train (I am now a Trenitalia account holder) to Ricionne and joined our biking friends at the Belvedere Bike Hotel.  We were personally greeted upon our arrival, ushered to the pool for lunch and drinks, and given the details of the biking week.  Our room is on the top floor with a balcony overlooking the Adriatic.  I think I can see Croatia.

Off to dinner and drinks, more to come…

Today in Verona

 Verona

Woke up this morning, enjoyed breakfast, packed up and moved into the ancient center of Verona.  Had a little trouble finding our hotel even though the address was only 100 meters off the main square.  The GPS said we were there but we couldn’t find it.  Finally asked a shop keeper and she pointed to the green door next door.  There it was, the Al Filarmonico written on a 4” by 7” brass plate at the bottom of the door.  We rode a rickety elevator built for two, dumped our stuff and joined a city “jump on, jump off” bus tour.

One of the first stops was Juliet’s balcony.  Didn’t see any Capulets or Montagues but it is possible they blended into the 100’s that were there to see Juliet’s statue.  People lined up to get their picture taken cupping Juliet’s bronzed breast.  It is supposed to bring good luck but we didn’t stand in line to test the theory.  We did learn that Shakespeare didn’t invent the love story.  Some guy named Luigi Deporto wrote the “true” story hundreds of years before and Shakespeare adapted the novel into a play, using all the original character names and geographic references.  The Capulets actually owned the house with the balcony back in the day.

We were treated to many sights of ancient Roman ruins and art but the most memorable item for us will be the Arena.  Built 2000 years ago as a purpose built 30,000-seat entertainment center.  They have cleaned up the wild animal scat and most of the Christian blood, and the gladiators finally ran out of bears, wolves and lions to kill.  The gladiators were eventually replaced with altos and tenors.  The Arena is now the largest outdoor opera house in the world.  It is amazing that a building over 2000 years old, remains essentially unchanged, and is still operating with the same intended purpose.  Not sure BC Place will still be operating in 3986.

There werent any real lives to give the thumb up or down to but couldn't resist.

The night’s highlight was dinner.  Deborah chose a restaurant based on the Trip Advisor’s highest ranking.  It was further out than others off the main square.  A small place in a narrow alley.  It looked very promising.  We enjoy trying to pick items from a foreign menu so we were initially disappointed when we found an English menu translation and then quickly happy again as we found out that the elegantly named main meat dishes were… horse.  You could order horse tartar, horse frays, horse meat sauce, or horse steak.  If horse wasn’t exactly what you hankered for, you could have donkey.  Needless to say, I ordered chicken and the Osteria del Duca will not get my number one recommendation. 

Feeling a bit bad not biking anywhere especially when we saw all the regular folk biking around the city.

Check Out Those Heels!

Headed to the train station tomorrow to travel to Venice.

Arrived in Italy

Arrived in Italy

Well, we made it.  We arrived in Verona, the city made famous by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  Haven’t been down town yet to see if there are any Capulet Family gang members hanging around the street corners but we might see some tomorrow when we start exploring.

Great trip over but not without a few challenges. 

The drive down was fine but when we arrived at the Airport Marriott, they refused to honour our reservation for Park and Fly.  Long story short, we like to fly out of Seattle.  It is relatively convenient, always cheaper, and usually cheaper to park the car.  Thanks to Jinder and Kal, we usually use the Springhill Suites Marriott in Renton, we have always parked for free (regardless of the length) and received free shuttle service to the airport coming and going, all for the price of a single night’s stay (about $100).  We usually chose to stay on the night of our return.  This time around the Springhill was full on our return date of Oct. 3.  The manager booked us into a sister hotel at the airport at double the usual price and assured us the same rules applied.  When we got to the airport Sunday, the Marriott manager said “no”, despite the reservation.  No sweet-talking changed his mind and there may have been an F-Bomb fly from someone as we melted down.  No place to park or stay and we were leaving in two hours.  Desperate, we drove back to the Springhill; they created a vacancy, registered us for the free 25 days parking, and dropped us off at the airport with time to spare.  Challenge resolved.

Just as we began to relax over a drink at the airport we looked outside and saw our BA 747 being prepared.  We were taking pictures of the plane through the window and noticed a worker scramble up to the starboard engine and begin applying strips of duct tape to the undercarriage of the wing, where the engine joined.  As our level of concern began to rise, another curious onlooker remarked in his British accent, “Four strips of tape ought to do it, those Rolls Royce engines aren’t that heavy.”  Trusting souls that we are, we boarded without question.  Since we made it safely we can only conclude that duct tape really can be used for anything.

And then we noticed the tape job in progress!

The polar ride itself was great.  We purposely got up early so we would be tired on the 7 pm flight.  Neither of us made it through the first movie.  We both slept until breakfast was served an hour before the end of the 9 hour flight.  The magic of modern chemistry living is marvelous.  After seven hours of sleep we were very refreshed and ready to start the adventure in earnest. 

Note to self… Seattle flights are cheaper but one must read the fine print and ask the right questions.  We knew our BA flight from Seattle to London Heathrow meant transiting from Heathrow to Gatwick for the two-hour leg to Verona.  What we didn’t expect was that we had to clear Customs and Immigration, retrieve our luggage, find our own way from Heathrow to Gatwick, and pay for it on our own, all in a three hour window.  Daunting at first but we were in Gatwick sipping Americano Espresso’s an hour before our flight.

In closing, here it is at 9 pm, safely in Verona, we have unpacked (literally), and are heading to the hotel bar to toast a glass of wine to our safe arrival.

Ciao Baby...