Craig's blog

Today was the day the weather report had continuously promised rain, but we awoke to blue skies.  We started with a ride to Coltibuono which was similar to yesterday’s ride before lunch, this time with 18 miles and 1,700 ft of climbing.  The girls all wanted to ride after lunch this time, so they all shuttled up the big hill.  Patty and I (and most others) rode up.  It was a beautiful climb through a green forest – much greener than what we’ve seen on previous days.  It reminded me more of our rides in the Santa Cruz mountains. 

When we got to the top we arrived at a medieval abbey that is now a bed and breakfast among other things.  There we got a tour of the place as well as olive oil and honey tasting, both of which were interesting.  While we were on this tour, our fantastic Backroads tour leaders were preparing a big picnic lunch for us.  It was basically a huge array of salad fixings, which of course was perfect for me. 

After lunch we headed off for the afternoon ride which was scheduled to stop in Castellina after 13 more miles of riding and another 1300 ft of climbing.  There was the promise of gelato in Castellina so our whole family headed off.  The girls were unhappy with the climbing (the ride went along a ridge, but there was a fair bit of uphill), but they persevered.  As we got closer to Castellina, the sky got very dark and it was clear it was going to rain.  The only question was whether we would arrive before getting dumped on.  We had a big descent into the town which Jessie and I did together.  We felt a couple of drops, but we basically made it unscathed.  Within 2-3 minutes of being there, the skies opened and it started pouring.  We all headed into the gelateria for cover (and for gelato) while our three guides packed all the bikes on the vans.  The poor ladies got totally soaked, but they have great attitudes and always had smiles on their faces.  Not everyone fit in the two shuttles, so Doug and I stayed behind and walked through the town (after it stopped pouring) while the others shuttled back to the hotel.  We were unbelievably lucky throughout the trip that the weather was so good as we just missed the rain a number of times, but especially today.

Tonight we had a farewell dinner in the hotel which was excellent.  We all really liked our guides and the other families along on the trip as well as spending time with Diane and Jim and Maddie and Doug.