Craig's blog

This morning breakfast was at 7:30 and we met at the bikes at 8:45 to get our briefing for the day.  We were off around 9:15 and it was already getting warm.  The morning ride was only 16 km, but included a 1,000 foot climb which is much more than any of our girls have ever done.  I got permission to go ahead as Patty was riding with Katie, Kelli was riding with Maddie, and Jessie was riding with Diane.  It felt great to be out and riding after so long without real exercise (other than a lot of walking).  It took less than an hour to reach the lunch spot.  Maddie and Kelli made it up quickly and easily.  Katie and Jessie chose to take the shuttle the last part of the climb and Patty had no problem (other than not really liking the heat). 

We explored the hilltop town of Montepulciano, climbed to the top of the tower at the top of the town to get a commanding view of the surrounding valleys and then went to a restaurant to have a big group lunch.

After lunch the kids were shuttled with Lica to do a high ropes course and they said they had a lot of fun.  The adults rode 25 km back to the hotel and then a few of us did a “bonus loop” that added another 19 km.  It was a great day of biking.  Patty started to melt a little on the return trip and Doug and I got rained on a little on the bonus loop, but all in all it was excellent.

When we got back we relaxed for a couple of hours before dinner which was an Italian BBQ.  Tonight our table selected a wine from Montepulciano in honor of today’s destination, and Patty particularly liked it.  Just as we were finishing it started raining with some serious wind, which got many of us wet (we were sitting in a covered, outdoor area).  We’ll get a good night’s sleep before we put the bags out tomorrow in preparation for changing hotels.  Hopefully we won’t get rained on during our ride tomorrow.

By the way, I still haven't been to a place with decent wifi, so I can't upload pictures.  Hopefully I'll find a place before we get home...