A cold ride up and over Valico di Viamaggio, 1050 metres: a memorable adventure spiced with rain, fog, wind and mist. - Italy Bound with our Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze
A cold ride up and over Valico di Viamaggio, 1050 metres: a memorable adventure spiced with rain, fog, wind and mist.
We were grateful to find an Albergo in Badli Tedalda and the price was right at 50 euros. However, we think that the 2 star rating might be a bit generous - 1 star seems dubious as well. However it did give us shelter from the very cold, windy weather even though it was not much warmer inside. The bed was so cold and damp, the bedding felt wet to the touch. We dug out all the blankets we could find and stayed under the covers. To reach our room on the 3rd floor, we had to climb past 2 floors that were occupied by a large number of young men from Africa who are in a holding pattern waiting for papers allowing them to work. Barry talked to a young man from Gambia who has been here for 6 months. Barry asked him why he was here atop a mountain, and he said that they are not given a choice. This is where he was sent and he must remain here until his papers come through. Needless to say, the cold climate and remote location are a challenge for them. About 3 guys share a room and the floor of 8 roooms share a toilet. He said that he is not enjoying Italy and he really misses his mother and family. It made us feel bad to be critical of our room as our situation is so much better, The restaurant however was quite good - pizza for dinner from a wood oven was delicious and a half litre of local wine hit the spot. As well, the young woman who worked there was very friendly, spoke English and took good care of us. At breakfast she simply asked us what we wanted - "anything you like" - so we had local cheese, fine meats, bread, juice, coffee. All in all, the experience in the restaurant made up for the room. As we ate our breakfast, we noticed that the view was nonexistent. Mist and fog had taken over the landscape and covered everything with moisture. As fate will have it, the minute we got on the bike the rain started. We donned our rain gear and headed off. When we could glimpse through the mist, the view was dramatic. Once we reached the top, the winds took over. The wind combined with the winding road meant that the 20 km downhill to Sansepolcro would not be as swift as we had hoped. But, it was very nice to have a continual descent for a change. At times Barry had difficulty controlling the bike as the cross winds were fierce. It was a white knuckle ride at times and we were chilled to the bone when we reached Sansepolcro. The helpful tourist office (thanks Maja) dircted us to a great value - a small family run Albergo Taverna, once again 50 euros. A hot shower, a picnic supper in our room and we are happy to be warm and comfortable.
Breakfast in the very pretty restaurant at our hotel.
Our hotel for the night at 700+ metres. This area is known as Alpe Della Luna. It is jammed in between four different provinces: Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Umbria and Tuscany.
We are trying to get some warmth back into our bodies. Hot water in our thermos to make coffee and a Snickers chocolate bar are just what we needed. We had to stop at the side of the road as we were both chilled to the bone. As we got on our bike again and rode around the corner, there to our surprise was a village with warm cafes and shops.
We found this amazing bike shop in Sansepolcro. We wanted to find Shimano cleats for Mary Ellen so she could use the spin bike pedals without sliding off the pedals. To our surprise we discovered that the bike shop sold Speedplay Frog pedals. These are excellent pedals as they have 20 degrees of float and are well suited for tandem and recumbents. We decided to buy the Frogs for Barry and Mary Ellen could have her Shimano pedals back. Michele the owner and mechanic of the bike shop was very helpful even though neither he or his wife spoke any english.
Leonardi's Racing: an impeccable shop with interesting displays of the products and brands they carry. We loved the Brooks section of the store. Parts of the store feel like a museum with collectibles, great books and quirky touches. A store with character and well run by this personable husband/wife team.
Being Canadian (they sell the Canadian brand, Sugoi) and the fact that we talked about Canadian pro cyclist Ryder Hesjedal merited an invite to his working section of the store and a photo. We really enjoyed our time here.
We like to celebrate success in dealing with bike issues, so a visit to this bakery that has been in the family since 1948 was something we needed to do.
