June 16, 2023
Montecatini Alto to Lucca
The morning was warm, but not hot, and importantly dry which was nice. A warm breeze most of the evening even dried the last of our washing for us. We started the day with a great descent down into Montecatini Terme, then it sort of slowly petered out to a mostly downhill run on a quite rough and busy road. The manholes were placed about half a meter in from the curb and they were often crumbling at the edges. I can pass between them and the curb but with the trailer James has to basically ride in the middle of the lane if he wants to save his back. We didn't have any issues with the traffic, despite the volume.
We stopped at a giant supermarket for supplies then carried on with the traffic. The day was getting hot and humid by this stage and we were all ready to stop once we reached Pescia. We found an amazing playground there. There was a little plastic motorbike, a scooter, and a sandpit full of diggers and trucks. It was so interesting that Tobias didn't feel like eating lunch, didn't look twice when we crossed the road to get the bikes packed up and definitely did not want to say goodbye when it was time to leave.
The road got quieter after lunch, and it also headed uphill. In the blaring sun we climbed about 100m to Montecarlo nestled in the olive trees, then descended straight back down again. The breeze on the downhill was definitely welcome. Big black clouds were brewing ahead though it seemed they might just miss us. As a precaution we had our afternoon break under the shelter of a church and dodged a few drops, but the sun was shining again pretty quickly. We passed straight through the walls and into the city of Lucca for gelato. We found a great spot to sit and watch people.
It started spitting again as we rode out and to the campground nearby. I was a bit worried that there would be no space for tents since its website says it's a campervan park and the reviews aren't great. The camper section is a bit grim, but there is a wee tent field parked in the back where we found a Danish family in a bell tent and their Thule trailer (no bikes though, with a 9 month and a 3 year old they are driving this trip). Later as the kids were all heading off to bed an Italian cyclist showed up, but we didn't get much of a chance to say hi. Tobias loved having more company and took an immediate liking to the Danish Dad. After dinner he said he was all done then "go look man" as in, he just wanted to go and look at him. He got his first bee sting which was pretty tough for him, but the 3 year old produced a plaster and once he'd gotten over the pain he just wanted to show everyone his foot.
We have just a short day tomorrow to get to Pisa, then just one more day in Italy before we catch the ferry across to Corsica.
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Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 1,577 km (979 miles)
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