Before I finish up on last night, I will say that today was my most remarkable cycling day ever, for good reasons and less good ones….so you will want to read on!
Barolo was very quaint. The dinner was so full of calories I am surprised we could even move this morning! The lasagna with truffle cream porcini sauce and shavings of black truffle on the top was a revelation in both flavor and “poor diet”! Fantastic! The 2016 Giacomo Grimaldi Barolo was, as expected, a great wine....although it took 30mins to “breathe”, so it was a fairly abstemious evening!
Onto today’s cycling. Lovely ride through Dogliani despite the very steep hill at the exit to the village. And then it all got a bit complicated. Without going into all the details, let’s just say that, like the movie “Sliding Doors”, Richard S took a divergent path to end up [eventually] at the same location (Millesimo) where we had a light salad lunch (for a change!). We are still to work out where he actually went but, suffice to say, we have learned a few lessons for route management, communications management and people tethering!! All that said, the ride along the ridge was spectacular with views across to the Alps and beautiful valleys. After we all reunited for lunch 30 miles later, we did the last climb before descending to Savona. And thenit got really interesting……
As you can see from the photos, the cycle route we were following led us straight to a landslide which we [bravely/stupidly] climbed over. We managed to disturb a couple engaging in what was probably an illicit romance and who clearly did not expect to see four cyclists clambering towards them from behind the “Road Closed” barriers! Steep descent to Savona and a very welcome beer in the historic district outside our apartment (thanks to John!).
After today, I am not sure what the next few days might bring but what an experience already and we’ve only completed three days! Oh, and we have hit $205,000! Fabulous!
Fish night tonight as we are at the seaside!
Data details today: 58 miles (92km), 4,685 feet elevation (1,420m). Cumulative: 200 miles (320km), 13,083 feet elevation (3,965m).