Yesterday's ride started on a long false flat which brought us to a 5 to 7% climb that lasted 10 K. The pace from the beginning was somewhat brisk and I was forced to remind myself to be patient for this ride was to be 150 K in distance or 93 miles! I found many opportunities to settle in and stay with the lead group but conserve energy for the day to follow.
The ride on this day was supposed to be as difficult as the day before but finish with rollers and some super fast flats. Well, I was far from disappointed from the magnificent terrain and blown away by the 10 mile decent into one of the old fashioned towns. Again, the narrow streets in all the towns are so reminiscent of Italy. However the roads seem to be made for cycling. To this very day we have not been beeped at or pushed to the side of the road at any time. The motorist wave and encourage you as you either work your way up a mountain or speed with ease on the winding switch back descents.
We ate lunch by tons of fig trees and rode through a field covered with every color imaginable. This field smelt phenomenal and was situated just at the base of a gradual climb.
Riding and eating and riding and eating and stopping for espresso is something all of you would appreciate. The joy is surely in the journey and doing an activity with like minded individuals who share you passion for life through movement makes for memorable moments and a desire to spread your experience..........hence, I hope to see many of you here next year for I plan to make this more than a bucket list trip.
The climbs on this ride had us cover a total of 8,000' and max speeds on the descents were 51.... Not by me! However on the way back home at approximately mile 65 to 85 we averaged on the flats a ridiculous 24 to 27 miles per hour and I am not exaggerating with the average speed. The tour guides picked up the volume and all I did was hold on and thank Jesus for this great opportunity I was a part of.
The ride finish with less vigor but rolling roads and somewhat bumpy. This proved to play a role in an accident with our second group as two riders fell and some ribs were broken, road rash was to be had and a collar bone and elbow were broken. Both are recovering and say a prayer that they have a speedy recovery. Otherwise the ride finished safe and some of us ran, swam and we all ate at a fabulous tapas restaurant. The vino flowed, the beers were cold and the shots were disbursed amongst this strong group of campers.
Next post will be about today, which was a recovery ride of 2:30.
