Giorno Tre

Giorno Tre

Tuesday Sept 13, 2011



Albergo le Terme to Casabianca:

Today we pack up from two nights at Albergo le Terme to ride to our destination for one night at Casabianca.

67 km (41.5 miles) Elevation gain 3047 feet


Link to Garmin data:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114281567


I recall Andres describing this day as Epic and by now we have determined that he is prone to understatement.  Epic in both scenery and difficulty.  After our last breakfast at Albergo we pack up and drop our bags outside the door of the room.  I am now suffering from severe sleep deprivation due to over-consumption of vino rosso, tachycardia from the altitude (we live at sea level for crying outloud) and trying to save my marriage as my exuberance of the previous day's ride left my dearly beloved feeling like she was left in the dust.


We negotiate ride support for Nace that will allow her to enjoy the descents, to which she has become quite adept, and hop in the van for a boost up the steep climbs.   

Another Tuscan Sunrise

Kim enjoys a cappuccino

Views along the route to Montalcino

Mid morning rest stop at Montalcino

Gelato is also useful as a soothing balm!

Gus and Karina enjoy a Gelato

Shopping for bike jerseys in Montalcino

Lunch on the street at Buonconvento

Hope this is the last climb, note Kim leading Gustavio and Philipe to the top!

The Hamlet of Casabianca

Emily at the apertivo before pizza making at Casabianca

Enjoying a prosecco and showing off our pizza making togs

Too many chefs or an odd convention of bishops?

Taking a turn in the Forno

Mary Susan applies physical therapy to Kim

 The image above needs some explanation.  When Nace and I planned this trip our hope was to leave Naples in the midst of the worst heat and humidity of the season.  Unfortunately, the daily high temperatures in Tuscany were in the 90's and there are no clouds to provide any relief.  Ironically, I said to Gus and Karina during one of our final climbs that I would welcome a rain shower just to cool things off.  Little did I know that this was about to happen after we arrived at our destination, but not before the "iron woman" of our group would finish.  We did indeed get some rain and while Kim was still out on the road a shower created what we all know as the worst possible road conditions after a long dry spell.  The water and oil make the road incredibly slick and Kim went down hard. 

Thus, much needed TLC was rendered, as evidenced above, by Mary Susan.

You may note that I have no photos of our accommodations for this one night stay at Casabianca.  Several reasons for this: I was pretty nearly dead by the time we arrived by bike and the rooms were very dark and quite bizarre.


Casabianca is a Hamlet, basically a little bedroom community, and every building and room had its own unique character.  Upon entering the front door of our "suite" we passed through or past the bathroom which was full of character including a huge tub.  Immediately past this was a large dining room/living room furnished in a way that would make every grandmother beam with pride.  There was a large dining table in the middle of the room decorated with all manner of tchotchke, completely useless to the tired biker.  Thus I cleared the table, applied a spare mattress cover and made the table useful for supporting our luggage.  At an ever higher level of the unexplained there were "frescoes" of doors painted on the ancient walls and in my stupor I attempted for quite a span of time to exit one of these false doors.  Gus found this quite hilarious and I am awaiting the photographic reenactment of this incident which I will include in a blog update if he sends me the photos.