September 6, 2023
Livin' on Tulsa time
The day after arrival can be challenging sometimes. One feels jetlagged and disoriented. This adventure that's supposed to be about bikes has instead up to this point been all about cars and planes and walking, and luggage that doesn't even have wheels on it. Blech. It takes its toll.
My body refuses to deviate from its allocated west coast time zone, despite the great fatigue it has accumulated over the past two days. For five hours, I tried desperately to sleep. I mean, it was nice to be lying down in a soft bed, but every so often I thought, "Why don't I just assemble the bikes and get it over with?" I finally gave in to the impulse and spent a good couple of hours futzing with the many bolts and washers holding all the racks and fenders together, reinstalling seat posts and pedals and wheels. The bikes seemed to have survived the journey unscathed. Maybe, after all this time, I'm finally learning how to pack them correctly!
Speaking of which, there was still the matter of breaking down the boxes and cleaning up the huge mess of tape, bubble wrap, and zip ties that now surrounded me. By the time I'd completed all these tasks, daylight was peeking through the curtains. I was exhausted, but also thrilled to have all these vital tasks completed. Plus which, morning on a bike tour means two things: coffee and pastries!
After breakfast, we explored the south side of Fiumicino, enjoying a cool morning breeze all the while. One of our jokes, that isn't really a joke at all, is that we start making lunch plans as soon as we finish breakfast. So of course we were talking about making a run to the grocery store, and figuring out which of the many nearby markets would best suit us.
The store was bustling, and although we've described Italy so far as a hybrid of Spain and France, the new sights and sounds were still overwhelming. What is all this stuff, and what do all these new words mean?
And of course each country, region, and even supermarket chain has its own system of dealing with the purchase of food, and with waste management. We forgot to weigh and put the labels on our produce. That always seems to catch us off guard. One thing I'll say about first impressions is that people here seem to be more casual than in other European countries. They might look and act like they hate their jobs (and I totally get it and I love that they don't feel pressured to put on an act), but they seem to genuinely like social interaction, and they want you to feel welcome.
We asked our host what we should do with our boxes, every so slightly hinting that we would love to reuse them at the end of our tour. He offered to store them for us, and we offered to come back and stay at this place at the end of our tour. The only flaw in this plan is that for reasons unknown to us, the apartment is booked from now until the end of November. He offered us a deal on another property he has about 5km from here, but we declined. Even broken down and folded, I don't want to have to carry two bike boxes on our bikes or a bus or whatever. We'll just stay at another nearby apartment or hotel. There are a lot of them around here. Long story short, we will have bike boxes waiting for us in October! That's going to make our last few days in Italy much simpler. The bike box scavenger hunt can be fun, but it's also stressful and takes time away from being a tourist.
I was able to take a long nap in the afternoon, which coincides with night in Seattle, but also with the Mediterranean siesta tradition, so hey, win win! After a light dinner, we took our bikes out for a spin to test everything. A few tweaks later, and I think we're very confident in the mechanical fitness of our steeds.
Tomorrow will be a fairly short day of riding, but we've got 340m of climbing towards the end of it. We'll stay two nights in Campagnano di Roma, then we'll start our tour in earnest, with sights set on Firenze. We're ready to get this show on the road!
Today's ride: 3 km (2 miles)
Total: 3 km (2 miles)
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