Biking - Day 6, Morning

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Originally uploaded by pdbreen.

The final day of riding. Has it been a week already?
Of course, finishing with an uphill yesterday means we start the day with a nice downhill. That's a good thing as many choose to do an optional ride to Vetulonia. This was a climb of a little over 1000 feet in 4km with no oportunity for rest on the way.
After some exploration of the town at top, we headed back down - but weren't able to fully enjoy the ride down as we had to stop several times for a bike race that was heading up the hill.
On reaching the bottom we learned that the restaurant wasn't going to hold the reservation and we had about 30 minutes to go about 20km (12.5 miles) to the seaside town of Castiglione della Pescaia.
Though we gave it our best, we didn't quite make it. The good news is that seats were still available at the pizzeria when we arrived. Another good pizza and I'm starting to really enjoy salads with oil & vinegar dressing.
After some exploration of the town after lunch followed by a gelato, we hopped on the bikes for the final ride of the trip. The ride ended with the same hill as yesterday, but it was a bit easier today - must have been more fatigued than I realized yesterday. When we reached the hotel, no one was happy as we turned the bikes over to Franco & Claudio for the last time - everyone wanted the rides to continue for at least a few more days.