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