For various reasons, we started this tour with very little cycling in our legs. Not in form, shall we say. So both of the day rides I’d planned (a 37.6 km loop to the southeast with 1080 m of climbing and a 48.4 km loop to the northeast with 1516 m of climbing, including Passo delle Radici) got scrapped in favour of a rest day yesterday and a less intense ride today.
Fuelled up by a breakfast Rachael Anderson wouldn’t approve of (pastries, cappuccinos, and what the Italians call orange juice), we set off up to Castiglione di Garfagnana. I think this was the village I could see perched high above us as we were approaching Castelnuovo and thinking, “That can’t be it! Garmin says we’re almost there and the climbing is done!”
Almost there! Castiglione di Garfagnana. We were passed by two cyclists on road bikes, one is on the right.
We had a short stop and I bought us a punnet of strawberries. We ate half of them sitting on a bench and the rest fit into my handlebar bag for later. We rode on, stopping frequently to look at the views and take photos.
We reached Piazza Al Serchio, our planned lunch spot and turnaround point, just after noon. Apparently the town has only had this name from about 1863; you may recall that Serchio is the name of the river we’ve been following since Lucca. Apparently theses a historic bridge here, but we didn’t see it.
We found a little restaurant with tables in the shade and a place to lean our bikes. There was no written menu so we each chose a pasta dish from the spiel. Al ordered macaroni with some sort of sauce and was surprised to get something similar to the papardelle I’d had previously. He also ordered a beer and once again was presented with a giant (660 ml) bottle. I had ravioli with ragu (meat-filled pasta with meat sauce) but stuck to water today. Our meals were good but not spectacular.
RWGPS suggested we go this way to avoid part of SR 445. It was short, but we weren’t going to ride it.
We did the loop counterclockwise, which was a good choice. Most of the climbing was early on and in the shade, and the outbound leg was the more scenic.
Rachael AndersonCappuccino and pastries sound like a good breakfast for a climb like that but I’d probably add some protein also. Kudos to both of you! Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Jacquie GaudetTo Rachael AndersonSadly, the protein component isn’t always on offer. Al is always excited when eggs are available; I prefer yogurt (and get excited when plain is available). Reply to this comment 2 years ago
