This was an amazing ride! The Certaldo to Siena ride, by way of Poggibonsi, Castellina in Chianti, and Monteriggioni, was the toughest so far. There was a lot of uphill (an 18 k climb in just one stretch) and traffic and detours and getting yelled at by an Italian waiter in a great restaurant on the way to Castellina (but I’ll get to that). Total k’s today was about 46-48.
The morning started in Certaldo with breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Tuscan countryside below. We were all up and ready to eat by about 8:30. Daniele was doing a brilliant job of getting us all fed and caffeined up. The breakfast here was one of my favorites.
By this time—the start of the third day with this group—we’ve gotten to know the personalities a bit better. One of the stronger personalities and the life of the party (and a very funny man) is John…Jeannie’s husband. John is a photographer and a very good one at that. He just happens to have one of his celebrity photo ads in Vanity Fair this month.
So, what would be cooler than getting some photography tips from John before wasting any more SD card space on all of those crappy pictures most of us take because memory is cheap and Photoshop can fix almost anything. John’s great in that he will just know where the good photos are. We spent much of breakfast going over the proper way to set your shot and, in a continuation from last night, effectively using a “fill flash” technique to better even out photos in part light, part shadows.
After going though a number of practice shots on my camera, it was clear (still is) which photos he took and which ones I took. His techniques have definitely helped in subsequent photos, but he makes it look so easy. Anyway, I’ve included in this post a few shots John did…one of Jeannie, another of Daniele taking care of breakfast, and one of Damon.
After we all got our bags packed (or our Panniers packed as the case may be) we were off. We rode with John and Jeannie today and really enjoyed the company.
We started with a nice 12% grade for a looooong time. If this had been the first week it would have killed us. We’ve since learned to ride up these long inclines slow(er) and steady...getting into “the zone” where the right gear, speed, and steady breathing negate the need for regular stops to…ah…keep from…um…passing out.
It’s truly amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it (and/or when there are people behind you armed with cameras and smartass remarks when you stop).
It was about 2:45 and we were (still) on the way up to Castellina in Chianti where we were planning to stop for lunch. Just out of Poggibonsi and another 6-8 k below Castellina, Catherine, Damon, and I caught up to Leslie, Jan and Brian who were just finishing lunch in a great restaurant along the main road…John and Jeannie were a k or two behind us.
If you know European restaurants—especially in smaller towns—you know they usually shut down by about 2:00 – 2:30. Catherine, the only Italian speaker in our group, turned on her amazing gift for charming the Italians into doing exactly what she wants and kept the restaurant open for us. Unfortunately, she was outside the restaurant when the waiter came to take the order and I was the only one at the table. When he asked what we wanted, I gave him my I’m-so-sorry-I-don’t-understand-what-you’re-saying look and said, “Just un moment, per favore…?” (Um, yeah...exactly like that.)
Now this is what gets me...if I obviously don’t understand you in your native tongue when you’re talking in a normal, pleasant tone of voice, what good is raising the pitch, shouting and doubling the speed of words? It wasn’t until he started jabbing his index finger into his watch face and switched to his version of English, “Cooks……now….going…!” that I got the true sense of urgency to order.
According to all involved, I did fine except for the TWO orders of lard on toast that I (inadvertently) managed to secure for us...they didn’t go over too well. The rest of the food was excellent and I found that once I actually got the order out, our waiter returned to his pleasant “Mr. Hyde” personality.
Getting back on the bikes and up another few k wasn’t as easy with the newly obtained food weight (every ounce counts on the hills). But we made it and then basically coasted into Siena…well, at least to the outskirts of the town…
We had taken a modified route into the city which took us along some very busy, narrow, uneven and potholed, busy, scary, confusing, and…..ah….busy streets into Siena. The worst part was that it was rush hour and the signs were (of course) in Italian. All that said, however, we made it…we pulled into Siena, checked into our hotel (with free Wi-Fi…woo hoo!), and had a delicious dinner with the entire group in a great restaurant off the Piazza del Campo.
Tomorrow is a free day…we have some ride options or we can just hang in the city. We loved Siena last time we were here, so I think I know what we’re going to do.
Day 11 Stats:
- Ride Sheet - Certaldo to Siena (46 - 63 k)
- Actual Ride - 48 k
- Lunch - mad waiter restaurant
- To Remember - solid 18 k uphill ride, photog lessons, lunch, Siena traffic, clouds, Sarah and Daniele, Siena Cathedral at night
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