Ride Day 13: San Gimignano to Lucca

We say goodby to Toscana today and head toward the Tyrrhenian sea, aiming for Lucca.  Once we drop from the central rolling hills of Toscana the ride gets pretty flat as we cruise across the coastal plains.

Lucca is a very cool and old walled city that sits on the coastal plains about 25 km from the bigger and more popular city of Pisa.  We decided to come here for a couple of reasons but mostly because we wanted to avoid the crowds on the coast.  After a hearty breakfast at the Agritourismo under clear skies that promised a warm day, we loaded up and rolled out.  We were looking forward to the later part of today’s ride, after the first 20 km of climbing, since from there the remaining 65 km were pretty much all downhill.

The ride out of San Gimignano was a long climb and the temps were rising fast.  Our legs protested but we finally settled into a rhythm as the road went beneath us.  

Riding up the pass out of San Gimignano.  We didn't pretend to try to keep up with them...

A random villa in the middle of the mountains

Saying goodby to the Tuscan countryside 

Arte in a randome village

It was Sunday morning and these tiny mountain roads were almost empty except for hundreds of local cyclists, many in very large groups.  Sunday morning must be the club ride day here – one group that came past us had at least 100 cyclists and they were flying.  They take cycling very seriously here.  But everyone had a shout of encouragement for us or a question about this or that.  It helped us get over the top.

Sundays are club ride days here

At the top of the pass out in the middle of nowhere we came across a brand new fancy golf course resort.  Our GPSs went crazy and told us that the road was closed.  After some confusion we realized that the road had been rerouted to accommodate the golf course.  A bit of rerouting and we were headed down the pass on the other side.  The vegetation changed right away – we are now on the coastal side of the mountain and it has different types of plants and the farmers’ fields were planted with different crops.  And we could feel right away that the humidity was lower.  And we started seeing and hearing sea gulls – we are only a short way from the Tyrhennian sea.

It was such a hoot to ride on a flat road, even downhill, and we had a tailwind most of the way.  We passed through some small villages and stopped in one for ice cream (they were having some kind of festival).  We took our time.  Partly because it was sweltering hot.  We went through 8 full bidons of water today.  Partly because we were not in a hurry.

Crossing the Arno river again as it flows to the sea

Small village with some kind of festival

Strolling through the stalls (Doug in his new Suisse jersey -- happy early B-day from Lorie) 

All kinds of food to eat

 

But gelato and fresh water suited us most

Riding the last few kms into Lucca we came across a beautiful aqueduct.  We thought that maybe it was a Roman leftover but it turns out that it was built in the 1800s as the main water supply to Lucca. 

If I were smarter I would have been able to recognize that it is modern, not Roman

And as seems to be a recurring theme of this trip, we came across another bike race.  We had no idea what it was but there were a fair number of spectators for a local race.

These signs tell the racers where to go

Riding through the Elisa gate into Lucca put us onto narrow streets where our GPSs simply gave up.  So we wandered around, got lost many times, and decided to stop at a restaurant and have a salad for lunch. 

The Elisa Gate into Lucca

Looking forward to a day off the bike

La Panzanella Salad -- a local dish

Insalata mista

The best bread we have had in Italy, made in the little restaurant and really good

The street in front of our AirBnB with one of the famous city towers (this one
with trees on top)

The main piazza -- lots of people but they're hiding in the shade of the umbrellas due to the heat

Beautiful public art

 We eventually connected with our AirBnB host.  We are staying in a 4^th floor walk up (that mean 5 floors in US speak) in a building that is 600 years old.  But the apartment has been lovingly restored so that its appearance (and up and down floors) remain true to the original but everything else has been upgraded to modern.  Other than the walk up, it is perfect.  It is on the top floor and has a little sitting room on the top where we can have breakfast and look out over the town.  They cannot run electrical conduit through the rock and brick and tile, so they decorate it on the exterior and it becomes part of the aesthetic.  Clever.

We are well fed and watered today, for sure.  Negronis always come with snacks

The basilica -- they say that there 100 churches in Lucca 

We made dinner in our apartment -- gnocchi with pesto and salad

The dining room in our apartment

The view out the kitchen window

The breakfast room at the top of the apartment 

If you can't get into the wall, put the wiring on the exterior and make it look good.

We are parking here for two nights.  We have covered a lot of road over the past seven days and done a lot of climbing.  Our legs are telling us that we need a break.  It will be fun to take some time to explore the town, maybe even do nothing for a while.  Some bike maintenance for sure.  

Ciao.