So there's this movie where some American woman moves to Tuscany and it's all very romantic and sunny. Well, so far we haven't seen anything of the sun since we scooted down from the Passa della Radici into Castelnuovo. The day started wet in Reggio Emilia as it had been raining during the night. Wet cobbles and lots of traffic demanded caution as we found our way safely out of the city and onto quieter country roads. That's when they went skywards. Yep, more climbing. In fact yesterday was one of the tougher days of the whole tour. 120km and 2500m of climbing. Up, up and up to lunch, although one descent did break the monotony.
The rain began well before lunch and by the time we got to the 'Tennis' bar we were cold and soaked. A heaped plate of pasta with local sausage was supremely satisfying. But we had to face up to a fourth 20km of continuous climbing before casting the Passa della Radici. In fact there were a couple of flatter and even slightly downhill section before the summit which was quite fortuitous as it allowed me to discover that, once again, I had lost my rear brakes. This made the long, steep and winding decent of the last leg in Castelnuovo infinitely more challenging. Wet roads, poor visibility and cold demanded caution. No brakes either demanded extra caution and so I took it vary carefully, even stopping on a couple of occasions for photos as nothing suitable had presented itself before then.
At last I was able to glimpse some warm sunbathed villages in the valley below and arriving there was a welcome relief. Hot chocolate on arrival and a fabulous dinner at small trattoria several kilometres away in the hills was a fitting end to the day.
The rain began well before lunch and by the time we got to the 'Tennis' bar we were cold and soaked. A heaped plate of pasta with local sausage was supremely satisfying. But we had to face up to a fourth 20km of continuous climbing before casting the Passa della Radici. In fact there were a couple of flatter and even slightly downhill section before the summit which was quite fortuitous as it allowed me to discover that, once again, I had lost my rear brakes. This made the long, steep and winding decent of the last leg in Castelnuovo infinitely more challenging. Wet roads, poor visibility and cold demanded caution. No brakes either demanded extra caution and so I took it vary carefully, even stopping on a couple of occasions for photos as nothing suitable had presented itself before then.
At last I was able to glimpse some warm sunbathed villages in the valley below and arriving there was a welcome relief. Hot chocolate on arrival and a fabulous dinner at small trattoria several kilometres away in the hills was a fitting end to the day.
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| First real glimpse of what lay below after many kilometres in the gloop |
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| Some warm sunshine in the valley below.
Today's stage will be a much shorter affair. Just 80 odd kilometres and 1200m climbing into Pisa for a well earned rest day.
Until then...
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