Rome: It's not about the bike

The Hannibal Epic tour officially came to a close after breakfast this morning. Lots of goodbyes, and keep in touches. Now, how to get about when you've done nothing but ride for 28 days? Legs don't feel all that co-operative really. Perhaps the hop on / hop off bus tomorrow. Our AirBnB host knew we were staying at a hotel near his apartment and kindly came to pick us up. Can you imagine 2 bike boxes in a Smart car? So he took the hand luggage and showed me the apartment before dropping me back at the hotel to collect the bikes. Harold came up as well and we did his washing -  the first of several loads - and while that was on we went for a walk up the Via Garibaldi to Gianicolo Hill from where there are expansive views across the city. Not surprisingly the Garibaldi monument and mausoleum are both at the top of the hill and you can also catch a glimpse of the dome of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. Giuseppe Garibaldi, by the way was a military general, politician and serial husband who, with his military hat on, fought the French during a battle where they, the French, has come over to sort out a couple of papal misdemeanours. He is considered to be one of the fathers of the fatherland as well as an impressive brood of progeny.

The Giuseppe Garibaldi monument

St Peter's Basilica

The Garibaldi mausoleum

By now we were getting pretty hungry and one gelato was not enough, so down the hill to catch up with Richard and head the the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere, where there are lots of little alleyways with eateries off the sides of the Piazza. In the middle of the piazza is a 15th century fountain, popular with people watchers and at one end the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. This is one of the more appealing churches in Rome for a couple of reasons: its history as the first official place of Christian worship to be built in Rome (around the third century when Christians were a minority cult) and its mosaic facade.

Fountain in the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere with the church and its mosaic facade in the background

A few of the many interesting engraved flagstones in the walls of the church

The interior is ornate without being as overstated as many other places of worship.

After dinner and another gelato (I've discovered they have liquorice flavour) I headed back up to Gianicolo for a night shot of the big fountain. The marble Fontana dell'Acqua Paola was commissioned in 1600 by Pope Paul V as a monumental display, in the baroque style, of the aqueduct which brought water to the Gianicolo region. As was the practice as the time, materials were appropriated from other sites, the columns in this case from St Peter's Basilica. Fair enough! Amazingly, nobody there when I arrived on foot, unlike last night when it was packed with people. Got a couple of shots before someone came and parked right in front.

Fontana dell'Acqua Paola in Gianicolo

Rome: we made it...and in one piece!

First, I'm pleased to tell you the brakes were much better today. No howls of protest from the front end, which is just as well because there was a fair bit of moderately steep descending in the wet.

All good things come to an end as they say and it’s especially satisfying to make it to the finish in one piece, given my past history!! Of course, after such a good run of weather, we had to have some more rain for the last day. At least it wasn’t too cold. Everybody rugged up with layers and rain gear and headed out for the last 48km from Spoleto to Narni on the outskirts of Rome. Ride and Seek had decided it would be safer to transport everybody for the last little bit and it was a wise choice. Traffic and narrow wet roads are not a good mix for cyclists.

Narni is an interesting little town situated on an old Roman road, the via Flaminia. It still has quite a lot of Roman buildings and antiquities including a grand Roman era entrance gate to the city where I stopped for the symbolic end of ride photo with Richie. Then it was straight to the designated restaurant for a hot chocolate (two actually) and a cafe corretto samba whilst we waited for the others to come arrive. Suitably warmed up on the inside it was time to venture outside to look around. Sadly, the poor weather and cold were not conducive to more than a few minutes wandering around, in cycling shoes on slippery, uneven cobbles, trying to get some photos.

On arrival at the gates of Narni

More evidence that the Romans were here once

Guglielmo Marconi too!

Not so secret front entrance to the Italian Socialist Party

Made it!

So did Dave and Linda from Sydney

Bikes ready for loading on the van at the end of the ride

Eventually we all regrouped and packe up the van, got on the bus and headed for the Donna Camilla Savelli Hotel in Trastevere, just a stones throw from the Tiber. Cheers and beers all around before packing the bike back into its case ready for the trip home.

A fantastic trip which ticked a couple of high profile items off the bucket list namely, the Col du Tourmalet and the Mont Ventoux, which I had long dreamed of being able to ride one day with Robbie. Those big name climbs do not diminish in any way the satisfaction of all those other magnificent mountains in the Pyrenees and French Alps. We battled rain and strong winds during a memorable day on the Col d’angel as we made our way into Italy. I’m very satisfied to have done those whilst carrying my camera and backpack all the way from Barcelona. A bit of extra weight but, hey, the pictures are worth it. No flat tyres, no injuries. Gotta be happy with that!

So now that it will all come to an end tomorrow morning I would just like to add that it has been a wonderful event: something I would encourage every keen cyclist to consider. Ride and Seek is a very well organised cycle touring company. Their guides were all amazing people, hard working, never complaining and always ready to do anything to solve a problem. They each deserve a special thanks. Mark, Jess, Fede and Bepe thanks to each of you for all your help along the way. In each stage of the Hannibal tour Dylan and his colleagues have put together a great event: spectacular and challenging cycling, beautiful accommodation and fabulous food and, of course you get to share it with some wonderful like-minded people. I loved every minute of it.

Perugia to Spoleto: Nothing's gonna stop me now...

...meaning my brakes are shot by the time I got to the hotel. Last night's accommodation and meal were, to my mind, the best of the entire trip to date, but that could be because I'm getting short term memory loss. Anyway, the bacon and eggs were without peer and the fact that Prosecco was available with breakfast (not that we indulged) sealed the deal. Today's ride into Spoleto was to be a relatively short affair with a bit of flat riding through agricultural fields. Whilst flat, open areas are often notorious for winds. Headwinds, cross winds, anything but tail winds. 

We soon came upon the delightful old town of Brevagna with its narrow cobbled streets and old stone buildings. A perfect place to stop for cafe corretto sambucca and a gelato. Lunch was just 7km away at Montefalco, the jewel of the regional wine industry but, of course, at the top of a climb. Our group of 5 decided we might press on rather than stop there as a 2 hour sit down meal by the time everybody arrived and ate, was going to make for a longer day than necessary, especially as we had set out planning to do an extra loop into the hills.

Suffice to say I was beginning to have second thoughts about more descents given the state of my protesting front brakes. It's an odd thing when the descents are more feared than the climbs: quite the opposite to what you would expect. The others also decided to make tracks straight to the destination at Spoleto except for Mick, obviously keen for more. Turned out to be a little more than he bargained for given the state of the roads (or lack thereof), a chase by some dogs and ending up in some abandoned village. Now this was not necessarily his fault as, for some reason the navigation devices sometimes do funny things and one can easily take a wrong turn. Anyway, he obviously found the challenge a hoot and came back full of beans.

Meanwhile, the rest of us enjoyed a beer at the hotel then a wander into town on foot for a sit down lunch followed by, you guessed, gelato. Next time I see Agnello socottiolo (or something like that) I'm ordering it. Grilled lamb chops. You should have seen the smile on Harold's face as he wiped the grease from his chin. My grilled chicken breasts were quite tasty though I must admit.

Spoleto has some associaton with Hannibal. After the Battle of Lake Trasimene Spoletium, as it was then known, was attacked by Hannibal, but he was repulsed by the inhabitants. During the Second Punic War the city was a useful ally to Rome. Spoleto still sports an old Roman amphitheatre, where Christians were persecuted and the nearby 1st century BC stone bridge, dubbed the Ponte Sanguinario (bloody bridge) is a reference to that.

Not many photos today I'm afraid but here's a few.

Brevagna, where we had morning coffee and gelato. An old man with red rose in hand offers compliments to lady passers-by

Mick climbing up to Montefalco

Followed by Richie

and Aaron

The sky looked pretty as I waited for Harold

Harold: last, but by no means least. This man is a real goer!

And so to the story of my brakes. By the time I rolled into Spoleto one of the front pads was destroyed (I could tell from the noise) and I have managed to rig up a new working front brake set by taking one of the (relatively) unused pads from the rear and pairing it with the remaining serviceable front pad. It's only got to go 48km and mostly flat. Plan B will be to use Jess' bike but I do really want to start and finish on the same bike. Big brake overhaul coming up when I get home.

Sant'Anna di Camprena to Perugia

Not so many kilometres today but we've come to expect there are never any easy days on this ride. Despite being less than 100km, Dylan still managed to find some nastily steep climbs to make us suitably tired at the end of the day.

After breakfast at the former monastery of Sant'Anna di Camprena we were bound for a bit more Hannibalic history around the shores of Lake Trasimene. First however we headed for coffee at the delightful hilltop village of Montepulciano. A long slow climb ensured that we were ready for the recuperative powers of a cafe corretto sambucca.

On the climb up to Montepulciano

Lake Trasimene was the site of one of the major battles of the second punic wars but, to be honest we were more interested in food, specifically lunch, at the time. A delicious gorgonzola and walnut pasta at a restaurant overlooking the lake, oh and the preceding obligatory gelato, was followed by a climb into the hills above the lake where, it is said, Hannibal lay in wait for an unsuspecting Roman legion. As they, the Romans, were caught on a thin strip of land Hannibal's men descended and, with great gusto, despatched some 30,000 Roman soldiers. The name of a small village we passed through: Borgo Sanguinetto (Bloody Village), bears testament to the battle.

Looking back down on the Trasimene Lake and, presumably, the battleground where 30,000 Romans were killed.

Next followed some seriously steep climbs, which I might add it was possible to skirt around as at least one inadvertently managed to do. The climbs themselves are not so bad (although not everyone would agree) but the descents on the increasingly deteriorating road surfaces are just plain uncomfortable. My poor bike's front end has had the daylights shaken out of it (but it's still in one piece at least).
Mick, Richie, Chrissie and I ducked in for a beer at a bar with just 2km remaining as we knew we were going to be out of town and didn't know the situation at our overnight stay vis a vis the availability of liquid refreshments. We needn't have worried. Another fabulous destination: one of the best on the entire Hannibal ride I dare say. Craft beer, roasted almonds, tasty olives... a perfect end to a hard day's ride. Dinner was spectacular as well and I'm looking forward to breakfast.

Sir Rustalot standing guard outside my room in the 13th century castle

and the sun sets behind a cathedral on the ridge

Entrance to Castello di Monterone, our overnight home in Perugia

Frederika, Phillip and Christine arrive at Castello di Monterone

Caught this one peeking through the bushes

Looking out from one of the gardens at Castello di Monterone

Finally, for this episode at least, I should mention that Felix came good on his promise of a book for Mick and I after we both completed the challenge of the wickedly steep climb up to the marble mine. As there was only one book we had a guessing competition and I lost. Mick got the book and I got a consolation prize of a jersey designed by one of Felix' mates. How does black, pink and dark green go with red? We shall see tomorrow unless the fashion police are out in force. Aaron received a cycling motif keyring for generally being a nice guy as well as the strongest rider amongst us. Thanks Felix.

San Gimgnano to Sant'Anna

Well, it was certainly another interesting day today. Dylan had promised us a full immersion into the delights of the Tuscan countryside. The day began with breakfast gazing out over said bucolic idyll before we mounted the steeds and dropped quickly into the valley below San Gimignano. After winding around the outskirts of Poggibonsi we pushed up a climb into the heart of Chianti. Picture postcard Tuscany, Dylan promised and it was indeed beautiful.

View from the window at breakfast in San Gimignano

A longish ride along the Chiantigiana (Chianti way) took us the the vineyards of Brunello di Montalcino. The temperature was starting to drop and the wind began to strengthen such that several of the riders with whom we had started out the day elected to forego lunch and press on.

I was glad to have stayed because shortly after Fredericka arrived with a swag of delights for a picnic lunch. After parking up to shield us from the wind we enjoyed stuffed capsicums, olives, cheeses, salamis, wild boar sausages, focaccia, fresh grapes and panforte. It was heaven. Were had just had our fill when a number of the others arrived and began to eat but, as we were beginning to feel the cold, elected to move on.

Thereafter followed quite a bit of climbing and descending and riding along exposed, wind-swept ridge lines. A couple of picture stops for some classic Tuscan scenes were obligatory, as well as one entry to the official l’Eroica ride. The Eroica is a sportive along the famed strada bianche (white gravel roads) on bicycles manufactured in 1975 or before. 

Ollie and David climbing up into the Chianti hills

Chrissy in her favourite outfit

Mick, Harold and Richard do the same

One of several entrance points to the Eroica ride along the strada bianche

The vineyards at Brunello di Montalcino. The chianti grapes were delicious. Is that a scare crow, or a scare chook?

Typical Tuscan countryside. Ridgekines with strada bianche lined by pencil pines, leading to some building on the top of the hill

I liked the visual appeal of the freshly mown wavy fields .

Another photo stop as we battled cross winds along a ridge

Finally we made it up the steep climb to the gravel driveway of the Sant’Anna di Camprena. This deconsecrated monastery, our home for the night was once used as a setting for the film “The English Patient”.

One of the many rooms inside the old monastery

A view from the courtyard

Looking out on the courtyard, Mick leans his bike against a pear tree and checks his bike: flat Di-2 battery!

Pisa to San Gigminano

A few of us decided to make an earlier start than usual as we wanted to help Harold along the way, given he was unwell. The other advantage of an early start was that getting out of Pisa potentially involved a lot of traffic. We also figured the newbies would take a bit of extra time to get themselves sorted on the first day, especially as some had been up late watching England go down to Wales in the Rugby World Cup.

120km with about 1400m climbing was the order of the day, with a step climb to morning tea and another to lunch in the beautiful old town of Volterra. We stopped inside the old town after riding our bikes up narrow cobbled streets crowded with Sunday tourists. Pizza and gelato filled the hole before we headed off for San Gigminano.

The Tuscan countryside, although very beautiful, is not as green as the fields of Parma and Piacenza which we passed through last week. Nevertheless, there were some lovely, fragrant orchards redolent with fuit. Many hunters, complete with camouflage gear, poke around in the valleys looking for grouse. The odd shot rings out from time to time.

The final leg involved another longer but less steep climb up to the day's high point and shortly after we were rewarded with a downhill run into the finish. That is until you get to the steep ramp up into the old part of town because, as you will recall, the old Italians loved to build on the top of things. Once again we negotiated narrow old cobbled streets to find our hotel in the old walled citadel. Hotel Bel Soggiorno's dining room looks out over the surrounding countryside from a high vantage point.

Dinner was left to us to make our own arrangements. Aaron had found a burger type restaurant which looked good as we are happy to go with a single course and finish early, as opposed to the Italian tradition of stretching the meal out over several courses (and hours). My hamburger turned out to be a 700g slab of beef, cooked blue. Interesting challenge but I was equal to the task. The real reward for the day's effort was the world championship winning gelateria, whose wares we just had to sample on our way back to the hotel to watch Peter Sagan winning the men's road race at the world champs live on TV. A great day.

Tuscan countryside from Volterra's city walls

Rolling down into San Gigminano

Dylan "Fresh Legs" Reynold's, co-owner of Ride and Seek actually earning his keep while we watch on and enjoy a beer

Washing adorns the hotel window 

view over Tuscany from the dining room window

Inside old San Gigminano

The piazza outside the award winning gelateria by day

The piazza outside the award winning gelateria by night

David and Chrissy