We were the only guests at the Affittacamere Dal Falco last night. The accommodation was pretty basic but the breakfast was nice and my morning doppio espresso was the best I have had this trip. The B&B also operates a restaurant, so the offerings were of very good quality. We stuffed ourselves with various types of croissants. Not the healthiest breakfast, but tasty. Italians think of breakfast as a big dessert to start the day. We even were seated at a table outside. Today promises to be sunny and likely our warmest day yet!
Our ride today began by cycling on the SS146, our least favourite road system in Italy. We try to route around these SS roads as much as possible but this one is more of the Strata Provincial level with broken road surfaces and no shoulder. Not great riding after our very secluded route yesterday but not bad early on this Monday morning. It was a bit of a shock when the first heavy transport trucks whizzed past. But there were a number of other cyclists on the road so we did not think we had made a terrible choice of roads.
Our first destination today is Montepulcino, a well known town in Italy famous for its wines. Unfortunately, although we enjoy a nice glass of red wine with our meals, we are not wine connoisseurs so one of the big draws of this town cannot be fully appreciated. However, we do appreciate learning about the history and seeing the architecture of the buildings.
We rode downhill from Pienza and begin cycling the short 13 km ride along the not too taxing dips and rises of the road. As we got closer we could see the town perched on the hill as we expect all towns that start with ¨monte¨ to be. We reached the base of the hill at a very busy four corner intersection that was full of cars. Some heading along SS146 and many heading up to Montepulcino. Checking our routing before going further we picked a lesser travelled route and made note that we need to reconsider our route out of town as the traffic on the SS146 would surely make it a less enjoyable ride.
It was a bit of a grind to cover the 100 M gain up the hill as our legs seemed a bit sluggish after the last two days of riding. We followed the twisting roads always selecting the next one that will take us higher up to the top. Eventually we rode through the gates of the town and in behind the walls of the town.
Heading downhill today at the start of our day for a change to connect to the SS146 on a nice sunny day.
We cycled around as well as pushed our bikes up and down the interesting streets of Montepulcino. It's a very cool town! We were very much an oddity though, with our fully loaded bikes on the sharp inclines of the narrow streets. Numerous people came up and asked us what we were doing and where we were from. Everyone was kind and thought it was cool but likely slightly crazy too. Although we looked long and hard for a restaurant recommended by a friend, we were unlucky in our search. We ended up sharing a pizza for lunch and refreshed ourselves with water as it was getting much warmer and time to be heading on.
Heading down from the hill, we missed a turn and went in the wrong direction at first. Errors of this nature are fairly costly as the only means to correct them is to return back up the hill! The plan was to get to the main intersection at the base of the hill and check to see how busy the road was that we were planning to ride to Montichellio. We found traffic chaos and decided to take an alternative, unpaved road. It was so the right choice. The new route turned out to be partly paved and then transitioned to a well graded dirt road. It was, of course, steep on both the up and downhill sections. The last section was mostly over ten percent grades.
The dirt road here is better than we expected and appears to have been recently graded with new finely ground material. It makes for a smooth, firm riding surface.
Montichello is a much smaller center than Montepulciano but was a very appealing place to stay. Its name means “little hill” in Italian. The entire town is on a steep uphill that will get you breathing hard by the time you reach the top. It has only a single church and the town could be completely explored in an hour.
When we arrived just before 3 o`clock the restaurants were closing for the afternoon break and the streets were quite empty. This may have been in part due to the loud thunder that was letting everyone know that heavy rain was just around the corner, and heavy it was! Fortunately we found our great B&B before the skies really opened.
We went for dinner at a restaurant recommended by our host that was just a few doors away. We both had pasta dishes and a shared our usual tiramisu desert. Everything was delicious. The size of the town, the lack of tourists and great restaurant choices made our stay here one of Scott`s favourites on this trip.
