Adventures in Tuscany: Sept. 20-21, 2011 The Ride to Siena, and Rest Day in Siena

I was more than a bit prescient with my comment from Monday night that Tuesday's ride would "flame" the calories I consumed at dinner. Tuesday started very cool and windy - first time I wore long- fingered gloves, leg warmers, arm warmers and a vest since the tour began last Wednesday. We rode 59K of some of the most challenging terrain Peter and I have ever biked. The whole day was rolling hills, or should I say rolling mountains! It was incredibly scenic as each climb presented (literally) breathtaking vistas while each descent, ever with a headwind, brought thrilling speed (well over 30 MPH).

After leaving Montalcino we biked about 23K to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore . It is still a working monastery and much to our regret has been overly updated in many aspects. But, there was still much to enjoy with frescoes and sculpture, even though much of the architectural appeal had been altered. Our guide Stefania provided a great treat by spreading out a picnic of three Pecorino cheeses bought in Pienza - one young, one aged about 6 months and one cured in ashes that was very firm, grainy and pungent. Add fruit and bread we pocketed after breakfast and it was a memorable feast. The ensuing 36K into the hilly terrain and headwind was made easier with cheese power!

The numerous climbs were much shorter than those we did to end the day in our hill towns, but they made that up with steepness. We were battling up 15% and 20% grades in our lowest gear, wishing we could just shift one more time. At one point, I looked at my odometer and saw I was climbing at around 6.5 kilometers per hour. Doesn't require a math degree to get just how slow that is (4.2 MPH!). We figured out that due to the speed of our descents we likely had spent over 80% of our ride day, almost 3 hours, going uphill.

The kismet of it all is that today in Siena it is an official rest day - no biking! We slept in a bit, had breakfast and then joined our group for a guided tour of Siena, starting at the Campo, or city center. Our guide was fantastic and even though Peter and I had some familiarity with Siena from a 4-day visit in 2000, we learned many new things of interested (at least to us).

When the tour finished around noon at the Duomo, we purchased entry to both the Duomo and the Duomo Museum. The true highlight was climbing up to the Panorama, the unfinished east side of the Duomo, the for fabulous views of the city and surrounding countryside.

We bought food and picnicked on the Campo, then hiked over to a Sienese cemetery we had discovered in our first trip. It is a very interesting experience to walk through the tombs and crypts and see the various graves and some of the amazing personalizations upon them. Peter sketched and I just relaxed and enjoyed the moment.

Had another great dinner experience with our convivial group and are looking forward to a great day of biking tomorrow!

The day dawns cool and dramatic for our 10K descent from Montalcino.

June prowls the Abbey and finds interesting scale comparison! We figure it is a secret passage to an illicit TV room...

Theme picture of the day/week/trip - climbing!

The grades were 15-20% both up and downhill. Only problem is the downhills are over too quickly!

June surveys Siena in the distance...getting closer to the promised land!

It's about the journey AND the arrival.

The Campo is the heart of Siena - this is a late afternoon scene when we first arrived.

The Campo at night from our restaurant table. We inhaled pizza!

And the Campo in the morning before our wonderful guided tour.

Sienese street scene - magical.

Endless clay tile roofs and distant mountains from the Duomo Panorama.

The cemetery in Siena is one of the most interesting places in the city - the families of the deceased take great pains to keep up the tombs and personalize them to give the living a window into who they once were.