Our B&B organizes a small breakfast for their guests that consists of a croissant and a coffee at a choice of two local restaurants. We chose to have ours at Bar Central in the town square as it had tables in the morning sun. By 08:30 it was already warm enough to sit outside comfortably. This was not the healthiest of breakfasts but sufficient to get us out the door and on the road. We also bought a sandwich that we would eat later.
Horti Leonini was created in 1575. The sculpture in the middle of the park depicts Cosmos III dei Medici. Nice park to walk around in the morning after breakfast. We were the only ones there at this time.
Our B&B was right at the edge of the historic centre and not far from a large highway interchange. Last night we walked over to the the entry / exit points of the multiple roadways so that we know exactly how to get on the SS2. Looking at the size of the road from our room window caused Scott some concern but there were few other options. We knew that we only had to ride on it for about 5km, mostly downhill, before we could leave for a quieter SP road.
This morning when we started off and were moving along toward an on ramp, a car pulled up from behind and slowed, rolled down their window and called out , ¨you forgot to leave the keys!¨. Scott reached into his pocket and found the string of three keys. We were so glad that our host chased us down as from prior experience it is a pain and expensive to send them back by courier!
Our host and his brother in front of B&B Il riposo del viandante. If you are going to San Quirico dʼOrcia, this is a fine place to stay especially if your bike needs some work!
The ride on the SS2 was so easy that Scott regretted all the time he spent researching alternative routings. We left SS2 on an off ramp and seamlessly connected onto SP14 to begin our climb up to Montalcino. It was a nice ride up to the town on a much more civilized grade than we had ridden yesterday. We were very excited to go to Montalcino as they are hosting the L`Eroica rides in Tuscany in a couple of days time.
Another hilltop town was our first goal today. We were warned that Tuscany was hilly.
Five different courses. Chose one that works for you. Over the past few days we have ridden several pieces of the planned courses and will be leaving town on the first part of the 27km course.
Preparing the swag bags (boxes) for the participants. I asked about merchandise sales of any items that would commemorate the event. But surprisingly had no luck finding anything for sale in the nearby stores.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reptiles_of_Italy#/media/File:Podarcis_muralis_near_Entella_river_06.jpg Reply to this comment 1 year ago
Scott Fenwickthank you Bill! You are a wealth of know when it comes to these things and we really do appreciate your comments. I think I will correctly up date our caption. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
After exploring the town we headed out on Strata Provinciale Traversa Dei Monti (SP 14) and after a bit more climbing we rode straight down a 12km hill dropping roughly 500 metres to the valley floor. We joined SP64 to finish the last dozen or so kilometres. Although it was a fairly flat, straight road, the afternoon traffic was a bit of an irritant. Straight, flat roads seem to attract more cars and trucks that tend to drive at higher speeds.
Top of the hill looking at clouds and showers in the distance. We are not heading that way.
The road surface was good in many places but caution was required as the pavement changed quickly and there are many spots that have deteriorated over the 12 km downhill. But it was fast!
We were pleased when we pulled into our hotel just outside of Paganico. We are at the southern most point of our tour and the ride today was all going west toward the Mediterranean. We found it odd that we couldn't find any opportunities to spend the night right in the town of Paganico. Instead, we are just a kilometre outside of the town right on SP64 highway. It was not really a busy road but we wondered about the lack of ambiance when we booked this place. It turned out really well! Rifugio Da Giulia is set amongst a group of businesses that include a bar, a very good restaurant and a tabac (convenience store). Best of all, they also had a large swimming pool and we were the only ones there!
Pat by the pool with a resident shepherd of some type.
Our host told us there was a 1km walking trail into Paganico where we could find two restaurants but that the one next door to his establishment was excellent. We spent the afternoon by the pool drinking beer in the warm sun, a bit of swimming and fruitlessly trying to up load pictures to the blog. The wifi here was terrible. For dinner, we went next door and both ordered the homemade tortelli pasta in sage butter along with a shared plate of grilled vegetables. We finished the meal with a delicious chocolate cake. It was all very good including the 2 euro glasses of house red wine! Although we were alone when we arrived at 7pm, the restaurant was quite full when we left. It was obviously a bit of a hidden gem.
After dinner we heard some music and wandered across the highway to see where it was coming from. There was another restaurant hosting a group function with a live three piece band playing some wonderful old rock by names like Gerry Rafferty and Eric Clapton. We felt a bit like we were crashing a party so we did not stay long. Going back across the street, we found an evening soccer game going on under the lights. We watched a bit of the game between a couple of U18 looking teams before turning in.
As it turned out, there was lots for us to do 1KM outside of Paganico and we will pass through the actual town tomorrow morning. We will also continue to ride westward and then, near the end of the day, turn the corner and begin to head north to Massa Marittima. We have now been cycling for about three weeks and only have two weeks left for the tour.
