Siena to Volterra

May 8, 2022

via San Gimignano, of course

We did a little squiggle leaving Siena it would’ve helped a lot how do I loaded the correct course for today instead of the course for Radda to Siena.

The Oca contrada was parading again this morning, with much bigger numbers and many more drums than yesterday. A few of th3 older ones were looking the worse for wear…

The traffic was fairly heavy until we got well out of Siena, to be expected when leaving a city. The scenery improved once we got past the Colle di Val d’Elsa. Our route bypassed the town but not the Sunday traffic. Speaking of Sunday, we stopped at two different gas stations where the pumps were open (you could buy gas, presumably self-serve and pay by card) but the washrooms were locked. A restaurant adjacent to the second gas station let me use their facilities. Much appreciated!

The route I’d plotted to San Gimignano included a bit of strade bianche (the unpaved road, not the race course) but Al went by the turn. Our Garmins corrected for this (I don’t usually have the navigation on but I did at this point) and sent us through a winery access road and down its driveway to the original course. Soon enough (not really, I prefer climbs to end sooner than they usually do) we arrived at San Gimignano. Along with lots of other tourists and people on Sunday outings.

An interesting roadside footrest for adjusting your layers

The Strade Bianche on the way to San Gimignano (from whence the previous view)

San Gimignano wasn’t as bustling as Siena but there were still plenty of tourists and souvenir shops

The town has installed some very nice (pay) public toilets and there are directional signs to them everywhere. Next up was lunch, for which we bought some tasty focaccia sandwiches and Al had a beer with his. We still had 30 km or so to go, so I stuck to iced tea.

San Gimignano has many piazzas like this one where we ate our sandwiches and, apparently, 14 towers still standing. Only one in the photo but 6 were easily visible from the centre of the piazza.

The next part of the ride was very scenic but, as we were starting the long descent before the final climb to Volterra, the forecast rain started. We stopped and put on our jackets but really should have put on the pants and shoe covers too because it intensified to the point of a couple of cm of water on the road at the bottom of the valley. Then it reduced to occasional spits as we climbed (and climbed) to Volterra.

After finding our accommodation and festooning our little apartment with wet gear, I wrote much of this and edited photos while Al oiled the chains. Then we borrowed the umbrellas our host had kindly left for us and walked up into the mediæval town. Thankfully, the rain stopped. I hope it stays stopped for at least a week as it might take that long for my shoes to dry!

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Today's ride: 71 km (44 miles)
Total: 176 km (109 miles)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesIt is really helpful, when trying to dry wet shoes, to first stuff them with crumpled newspaper, next walk around a bit in dry socks, (let the socks dry after), then air dry overnight. Hope this arrives in time to be helpful. Dodie
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2 years ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Steve Miller/GrampiesWe’ve used that method before but you need newspaper, which we don’t have. We tried some paper towel…
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2 years ago

Keith AdamsI think it was in Volterra that we saw an artisan carving alabaster on a lathe. They turn out some impressive pieces.
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2 years ago