57km / 2 hours 54 minutes / 468m gain

Today was a gorgeous ride, and I am finally out of the plains and heading into the hills of Tuscany. There were a lot of busy roads today, which I didn’t enjoy, though. I stopped in town to read and chill for a bit.

I stayed at a fantastic B&B called La Vecchia Quercia; the host was amazing and made me dinner. It was so nice to have a homecooked meal, and the 2nd course after an amazing risotto was a local dish of cabbage stuffed with meat. I loved it! And I slept so well as it was in the countryside, utterly quiet and so peaceful (view from my room in the morning in the Day 8 post).

39km / 1 hour 56 minutes / 102m gain

I had an easy day after 2 long rides. I am notorious for getting excited, doing a 100km+ ride, thus destroying myself and then needing to ride 2 more weeks. So I am trying not to do that this time, as riding for ~21 days straight is its own feat.

I stayed at a beautiful hotel/restaurant called Mathis. The lunch I had there was amazing (I tried some local specialties)! Then I walked around town, stocked up on food, read, and had some gelato.

I don’t have many pictures as I was on busy roads, which can be stressful. It was also very flat farmland.

72km / 3 hours 22 minutes / 138m gain

I had a great time on the ride today; it was nice not to ride in the rain. It was super foggy for the first couple of hours, then the fog lifted a little, and it was colder, and then the sun finally came out toward the end. A lot of rivers, lakes, and trees along the way. A few spots where I had to jump on the highway, but otherwise, it was a mix of bike paths, gravel roads, and back roads. Great route!

Breakfast this morning was basic, just a croissant and a roll with butter and jam. I only had a little bread left, so I ate that for a snack after a few hours, along with my last two apples. I need to find a place to restock food. I am staying at a weird hotel off a highway, though, so no luck yet. I had an amazing late lunch of pasta and pizza, though (super nice people, and the pasta was spicy, which was fantastic). Breakfast should be good as an I splurged on a nice hotel today.

What else?

• The hotel where I am staying has private garages for rooms so that people on the outside can’t see license plates… Lindsey and I refer to these as Italian hooker motels. We think they do that so people can have affairs discretely (or ladies of the night). We saw one happen on a trip in 2020, which was hilarious as we watched an older gentleman pull into the garage in front of his room, and then a very dolled-up lady got out of her car in the parking lot to join him.
• I saw a rabbit today. Beyond cows and goats, this is the only wildlife I have spotted.
• I feel good, and I can tell my improved training is helping. It is still a bit early to tell, but hopefully, I will feel similar around day 12. My legs don’t get tired, but what happens is my soul gets exhausted at some point as I get mentally worn down.
• I really like my new bike seat, and so far, my butt is feeling ok. I am definitely sore by the end but not terribly yet. I hope that holds up, as you don’t really want to be using a new bike seat 2 weeks before a ride like this (mine broke).
• I passed a few pilgrims today, all walking.

68km / 3 hours 28 minutes / 74m gain

The day started with heavy rain; luckily, it only lasted a few hours. It was cold, though, and I felt a lot better after I switched to thermal gloves and fleece. It is amazing how nice it is to have your hands feel warm on a cold wet day, really helps you mentally.

Breakfast at the hotel was only a croissant. I stopped at a cemetery to eat the least of my bread and my last can of tuna. Luckily I found a really great bakery and had some amazing focaccia, among other things.

Only a few pictures today as it was rainy most of the time. But, you do get to see my amazing lunch :)

Tomorrow is another long day with how hotels fell. But, it is a very flat ride, and still only 70km which should be good.

42km / 2 hours 21 minutes / 156m gain

Today was an easy day, as I couldn’t find a hotel anywhere but here. It was also a very wet day (so no pictures). Even my bags are pretty soaked (I am glad I lined them with plastic bags). Luckily, the little hotel where I am staying had a hose I could use to wash all the mud off. The only thing that will be annoying tomorrow is that my shows will still be soaked. I will try out some waterproof socks and see how that goes. 

I am out of the mountains and in the plains. Today was 75% on gravel which I love. Although with the wet, I am coated in mud. It took a lot of scrubbing to get my clothes clean. I bet 16th-century women had guns like Popeye. I really enjoy living out of a few sets of clothes; it is so simple, you arrive, wash your clothes and switch into your other pair.

Tomorrow and the next day are long rides, as everything was pretty booked up in this area. So I am doing two 70km days (but mostly flat). Tomorrow has a 50% chance of rain in the morning, so cross your fingers I get the dry half…

The hotel owner recommended a pizza place down the street. It was one of the top 3 pizzas I’ve ever had. The cheese came in a container with smoke, and it was all just amazing. I wandered around town a little, but with it being Sunday, it was pretty shut down.

52km / 2 hours 56 minutes / 402m gain

I had a great ride today. The B&B had an amazing breakfast of meats, cheese, and bread. Nice to have some treats :)

I stopped at a local market near Fort Bard early in the morning and got some sausage, bread, grapes, and apples for the ride. I ended up spending an hour at the fort this morning. When Napolean came through, the fort held off his army of 40,000 for 2 weeks with only 400 soldiers and 20 guns. Pretty incredible spot to control the flow of traffic between France and Italy.

Below you can see a Roman road with wheel tracks in the stone. There is so much history in this area :)!

Tomorrow is a pretty easy day, followed by two hard days of 70km. With where hotels land it isn’t always easy to stack things up nicely (especially when you book as you go). Should be fun :)

55km / 3 hours 8 minutes / 565m gain

I dropped my backpack off at the car, and I was off. It was an amazing ride. It was 90% dedicated bike path through the valleys as I left the alps. On my left was a rushing mountain river, and the trees were turning different colors everywhere I looked. I stopped at a 14th-century castle and climbed through the ruins near the midpoint. I saw a lot of castle ruins overlooking this historic route (following an old Roman road).

I ended the day with a glass of wine and a multi-course tasting menu at a local restaurant (near my B&B). I finished the latest book in the Bobiverse series, which is some fantastic science fiction.

After three driving days, I arrived in Aosta, Italy, to start my bike tour. I plan to follow the Via Francigena from here to Rome. Then my bike and I will catch a ride back up Aosta and drive back to Portugal. The entire ride should be ~1,000km.

Aosta is beautiful, and I look forward to my time here at the end of the trip (spending a full day here at the end of the trip). It also had one of the coolest bike shops I’ve ever seen.

That big monument you see above is from 25 BCE, celebrating Augustus’ defeat of the Salassi people in that area. The Romans built a fortified citadel here, roads connecting the rest of Italy, and a ton of other stuff (as Romans do).

I look forward to a deeper dive when I get back toward the end of the month.

Training & Packing

I hit a wall on training, so I spent the last 2 weeks just resting. Also, my bike seat broke, which really sucks. This is the second one to break by Selle Anatomica and was a replacement for the first one. Both broke from metal defects, and I do not recommend their saddles. This sucks as it means my butt will be sore from getting used to a new seat on the tour…

This tour is likely to be a bit colder and wetter than others I have done. So I packed a little more warm gear than on previous rides. I also tried to go lighter than my last tour, so I went pretty minimal.

My daily ride kit: 2 bibs, 2 short sleeve athletic shirts, 1 pair of shorts, and 2 pairs of socks. Every day when I get in, I wash my ride clothes and hang them up to drive.

In case of bad weather: a waterproof jacket, a warm long-sleeve layer, and a mid-layer jacket. I also brought my thermal/waterproof gloves and waterproof socks in case of torrential downpours or cold mornings.

Post-ride clothing: 1 pair of biking pants, 1 pair of light pants, two pairs of underwear, 1 pair of socks, and 2 cotton shirts.

Electronics: small MacBook air (have to work some to keep Shepherd humming), kindle, iPhone, bike GPS, little headphones, charging cables. I didn’t bring my 4g modem as I’ll just piggyback off my phone if I don’t have wifi and need it.

And that is about it. I’ve got everything in two bags on the back of the bike.