Loved every minute

Casabianca to Castello di Spaltenna Italy

This morning was tough for me... I finally fell a sleep about four am. I've woke up every morning to see the sunrise... not today. I was the last one to get breakfast and to be ready to ride. I contiplated not riding at all today. The thought of doing 70k in the hills just wasn't working with the few hours of sleep that I got.

But... I suited up and was glad when I hit the first decent. Right out of the gate there was a 15k decent that was a blast. Hitting 68k on the winding roads was leaving me with a grin ear to ear. I gotta tell you... fat cyclist (ME) live for the down hills. Then of course the up hills came... They weren't huge but short and steep. One of our ride mates John stayed with me and climbed with me the whole day. I know he climbs much better but it didn't matter... he stuck it out. It's nice to have company on the climbs. Most of the trip, I've been climbing alone... That sucks....

I still didn't feel like riding. Wasn't that I was hurting or suffering... I just didn't feel like riding anymore. So after about 40 k I decided to pull the "I'm on vacation" card out of the o'l back pocket. Very glad I did. Didn't miss a freak'n minute of the rest of the day's ride. I sat in the van and enjoyed the next 30 k drive and loved every minute.

At the end of the day we pulled into our destination, Castello di Spaltenna in the Monti Del Chianti region. Now we're in some serious wine country! Our home for the next few days in a midevil period castle. Our rooms are dotted throughout the property through winding walkways and cavern like paths. Jeff and Lori are staying in the turrit of the castle. Very cool experience.

This evening we all piled into a shuttle van and went to dinner in the next village over at someone's house... yes, someone's house. There's this Italian man that teaches us to cook dinner. We had a blast making pasta and sauce and drinking vino. The guy looked like he was a Disney characture. He didn't spkeak a lick of english... but was funny as hell!