Biking - Day 3

IMG_0792
Originally uploaded by pdbreen.

Today is a transfer day meaning that we ride from one hotel to the next (with the van taking all our luggage). The morning starts with breakfast and our ride briefing and we head off - again riding with Ted, David and Jennifer. Just prior to lunch, we add a few extra miles by riding up and down the cypress alley immortalized by Giosue Carducci in the poem Davanti San Guido. We have lunch in Bolgheri, another hill town. While exploring the shops prior to lunch, David found a place that sells Sassicaia by the glass. This is a famous wine that sells in Tuscany for over 100 euros a bottle. We all had a 1/4 glass which cost 10 euro. The result was that none of us though its worth the high cost (though its nice to have sampled to be able to say I've tried it). We all had wild boar for lunch, another traditional Tuscan meal. I had it with wide pasta and it was quite good.
As we linger over lunch and in town, we are the last to leave. This turns out to have its good and bad side. The good is that being the last group, we get to ride with Claudio which means we don't have to worry about following directions or getting lost. The bad news is that it starts to rain just as we leave town. After a few kilometers it stops and we cheer as we think we're past the worst of it. We couldn't be more wrong. We seem to be travelling just on the fringe of the rain the entire way. When we arrive at the hotel, Franco confirms that others arrived mostly dry. Oh well, it didn't seem quite as bad as yesterday - or perhaps I'm getting used to it?