Monday, June 3, 2013

A morning ride and an evening meal

After working as Van Support for a week, sitting in the car and shuttling guests, I started fearing the loss of my ability to ride a bike.  So on my first day off (and my one day before heading to Rome with a friend) I took myself on a nice hard, long ride (yes, I know).  

One of the highest peaks in Tuscany, which doesn't actually make that large of a statement, is Monte Luco.  There are three roads that take you to summit, and I've ridden one of them with guests on trip.  I decided, as a right of passage, to conquer the path deemed the most challenging.  The climb from the surrounding area was about 1,000 feet, which is not as impressive as I like to tell myself, but it was fairly steep and constant.  My thighs definitely got a good burn.
I came from Montevarchi; this sign at the top shows the other two routes to summit.

Earned another great view.
 I road down through the valley to the town of Gaiole (one of the five main Chianti towns) to grab a coffee, regroup and plan my route back home.  This was at 46 km/29 mi.  My legs felt great going up the hill, and the pistacchio cannolo and cappuccino really boosted my confidence.  The idea popped into my head that I could ride back up Monte Luco the way I'd come down, and then I'd be able to say I had summited the peak from all three directions.  Once that idea entered, my pride wouldn't let go, so I said goodbye to the nice English vacationers I'd met and headed back on my way.
Mid-ride coffee stop and route routing ;)
I now have a very biased opinion of the final route up Monte Luco.  My confidence starting slipping as the uphill began; my thigh muscles weren't so machine-like as I'd fancied.  I started to bonk pretty badly, and couldn't find my rhythm between short sections of steepness and cruising breaks downhill.  In the end I made it to the top, and I'll probably never tell anyone how difficult it was for me.  (Oops, too late)
Summiting from the third direction, what a beautiful sight!
 There is a town nearby named Panzano, which houses a famous butcher restaurant.  The owner, Dario Cecchini, became well-known for his supreme skill with all things meat.  He's had Mario Batali as a culinary student and has been published in Bill Buford's book The Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Guess which part describes Dario).  I had been waiting for a chance to try it out, and figured it would be a great recovery meal from my 92 km ride (kilometers make me seem so much more impressive).
A great question to ask

The aperitivo was a party!  Apprentices walked around refilling shots of grappa and glasses of wine.  I got a picture with Dario (on someone else's camera).  Turns out he either has turrets or really likes to squeeze younger women.
 You eat in a group setting, so our table ended up being filled with a group of mid-forties Italian men.  It was a riot.
I thought the second one on the left looked a bit like Daniel Craig.  All the guys thought that was hilarious.
 All of the meat dishes were EXCELLENT (the other dishes not so much).  My favorite was a dish called Rosmarino in Culo, translated to Rosemary up the Bum.  It was raw ground pork butt with rosemary mixed in.  Turns out I like Rosemary up the Bum very much.

This is an unrelated picture of an udder-like ketchup bottle at a local food-fest in San Giovanni.  HIlarious


Sunday, June 2, 2013

My first trip as Leader

Beautiful view from my bedroom in our final castle (Castello di Velona)

I finished leading my first trip; I'm a real girl, as Pinocchio would say (if he were a girl).  On the whole, guests were good, my coleaders were great and no problems.  I'm not the best leader I can be yet, but duh, right?  I will get better with delivering route raps about where we will be riding each day, fun anecdotes and specific directions.  I need to share more with guests.  I'm a person who doesn't always feel like talking, but that's a luxury I can't allow myself as a guide.  I can also start predicting and preparing for things so guests never have to wait for us (ex: the guests are coming back from lunch so let's get water bottles and travel bags out for those who are going to ride, get the van ready to shuttle others, etc.)  But in the end, I think the trip went very well.  My age actually worked on my side; in training they warn that being young can make building credibility challenging, but I'm an old soul.  Most of the guests were at the age where they saw me as one of their children, and most of them made a comparison of maturity in my favor.  They also gave me all sorts of ideas and advice about what I can do in life: concussion therapy, health and wellness director with a company, etc.  We had some great chats.
Getting ready.  (This is actually in Puglia, we've gotten SO much rain in Tuscany that I would not be out in shorts and T-shirt)
Spot where I stopped to mark a turn for guests on our first ride.  Not bad

A lovely couple celebrating their 10th anniversary.  Hopefully they bring their kids on a BR trip!

Badia a Passignano.  We have a wine-paired meal here.  WOW!  

The wine cellar at Passignano

Best chicken I've had in Tuscany (also, maybe the first).  Badia a Passignano


Castello di Velona.  It feels like Christmas every time we come to stay here.


There's a theme I've picked up on recently of putting pictures of the owner's children on restaurant menus.  There's a place in the leader-house town all the Backroads people have dubbed "Dirty-G's" because the owner, Giovanni, has racy (borderline pornographic) pictures of his adult daughter (and the restaurant's only server) all over the restaurant.  Here's another pizza menu I found that's a bit more innocent:

Waiting for guests.  Let's beat the rain!

Castello di Velona

Castello di Velona

This is not a sign of having experienced riders...