2001 - MTB Tuscany trip

Biking trip around Siena, Tuscany
May 18-25, 2001
Derek - Jacques




Friday 18 May 2001 afternoon:

Derek and I drove from Rome to Torraccia, and after loading bikes and gear we took off towards Montalcino, where we found a room in agriturismo Colsereno. Nothing wrong with the place, but I would not go back there. Early to bed since Derek was still jet-lagged.


Saturday 19 May 2001:

Nice day, sunny and clear. Went to Buonconvento to buy some food supply for a picnic. Town was in full preparation for Mille Miglia which was to pass through around 11:30-12:00. Mille Miglia is a "replay" of the original 1600 km long race from Brescia to Rome and back. It started in 1927 and lasted until 1957 when a terrible accident killed many spectators. In order to participate cars must have been built before 1957, and this is THE classic car event of Italy with outstanding cars.


Cars from Mille Miglia race

Took off 10:45 from agriturismo. Passed through Badia Ardenga, nice abbey, we followed regional trail No 5 on dirt road (nice system these trails: there are signs at most intersections, but where do we find the relevant maps).


Good signs


Road became asphalt and we had a long uphill to Castiglione del bosco (elev. 1800 feet), where a nasty aggressive dog attacked us on the road. The track became impossible to ride and we had to walk down. Though the map showed a crossing place, there was no bridge or ford to cross the Ombrone river. After a 2 hours unsuccessful search, we decided to go south (outside the range of our map), and finally found an agriturismo (tempting pool and mono-kinied ladies!) where the owner indicated a possible ford. After another two hours we finally found a place to ford the river. Fortunately it was only thigh deep, but we had to make 2 trips to carry our load and bikes. Finally we are on the right side of the river but 4 hours later than planned!



Crossing (fording really!) the Ombrone


After a long uphill through Castelnovale (impressive10thcentury castle closed to visitors) we entered Pari where fortunately we found a place, which provided us with a house, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and a superb casalingo (home-cooked) meal. It was the only restaurant in Pari and they manage the rental of the house. That was lucky since we were beat, and the next possible place was far away. Put clothes to dry during windy nite. (Approx. 40 kms)



Sunday:


Cloudy and grey morning.  I called MLG for mother's day on my cellular. From now on we will avoid bike trails and stay on roads. Downhill to Bagni di Petriolio, (old sulphuric baths) with crowds camping out and soaking in baths outside. Kept on asphalt road upwards to l'imposto (that was our alternative destination for last nite, it would have been really difficult to reach, tired as we were!) and on small asphalt roads to Monticiano where we had a picnic and a beer at a bar.

Monticiano




Onward to la Fornace, then down a small road which was really a tractor track through the fields (darned Italian maps are worthless).  Reached again the asphalt road climbing to Radicondoli where we stayed in Podere la Fonte (Radicondoli 53030, Siena, 0577-790797, 90,000 lire per room). Nice old farmhouse with separate beds and great bathroom. Diner at restaurante Nazionale (nothing exceptional). (Approx. 55 kms)




Monday:

Nice breakfast with bio products from the agriturismo. Decided to scrap Volterra, roads looked too hilly and weather too uncertain. Went on asphalt roads to Casole d'Elsa, not fun due to heavy traffic on that road. Then to Colle Val d'Elsa that looks like Bagnio Reggio on a rocky spur with good views. Bought ingredients and had a picnic on the piazza.

More trafic and an up-hill road to San Gimignano, with plenty of Germans, Austrians and Dutch cars and motorbikes, really main roads like that should be avoided when biking. Derek's recommended hotel, Leo Bianco was full as all others in town (we wanted 2 single rooms). Saw our Montreal friends Bunny, Heather, Anthea and Amanda D. near the well on piazza della cisterna (some coïncidence!!).

Canadians in San Gimignano!


The lodging office found us an apartment owned by il pino ristorante. Great flat with 2 rooms, each with bath, and a living room. Climbed to top of Torre Grossa, the biggest tower in San Gimignano with great views all around, good opportunity to see plenty of clouds.

San Gimignano


Diner in an OK resto but nothing to write home about. My room was just above a bakery that woke me up at 02:00 and was noisy for the rest of the nite. Too bad! They had a scale: I checked in at 80 Kg (176 pounds!)
To-day we saw a change in landscape, easier smoother hills, and we are getting in better shape which makes it easier to reach the top of them hills! (Approx. 50 kms)



Tuesday:

Roads are nicer, not as steep as yesterday. Went to Certaldo, took a pedestrian alley where we had to walk the bikes to reach Certaldo Alto, the old part of the city.


Certaldo


We saw the castel and Osteria del vicario (tel 0571 668228, cost 150,000 lire for a matrimoniale with breakfast included) looking the same as when I stopped there with Betsy in 1984 coming to take job in FAO. Previous owner (South African lady named Linda) still lives next door. Long hard ride on asphalt, passing gorgeous houses (well done, good taste and great views spelling: big bucks!) to Marscialla, where there was a fantastic hotel Villa Tavolese (300,000 lire for 2 persons including prima collazione 0571 660224, www.toscanaitaly.com). Nearby is castello Sta Maria Novella great looking castle and park, visits of garden is possible through hotel Villa Tavolese.
Picnic in Tavarnelle under cloudy skies. Long uphill again (I don't know why Derek keeps calling it flat, I shall have to send him an English dictionary sometimes!) to Badia a Passignano a nice abbey complex open Sundays only, may be nice to visit sometime.


Chianti roads
Badia a Passignano



Next to it an Antinori cellar/restaurant, full of Germans/Austrians/Dutch, offering sampling at 4,000 lire for a glass of wine!. Then great downhill on dirt and asphalt road to Montefioralle, (just before Greve-in-Chianti) worth a trip but no housing available, one would have to sleep in Greve-in-Chianti 5-10 kms away (which would not be a bad deal!). If there again we should try the restaurant: Taverna del Guerrino (055 853106, or home: 055 853609, www.greve-in-chianti.com/guerrino.htm, no credit cards), very much home cooking. Note that the slope on the road is very very steep (would guess 15-20 %!), it would be hard riding uphill but it would certainly open up the appetite.

Greve-in-Chianti has a nice piazza, with bars, restaurants and hotels. Good for an overnite stay surely. However no rooms were vaailable and the man from tourist bureau found us a place in Panzano.

Panzano


It turned out to be a long arduous uphill ride and a single room in a nice looking farmhouse, but it did not serve diner and was far from centre of Panzano (problem in riding bike when already tired and at nite). We decided to drop that and asked the tourist office in Panzano for a place to sleep. They found us a big room two beds with breakfast in a B and B. OK but no more. Had a few glasses of wine in an enoteca, overpriced and then a good diner at restaurant "oltre il giardino" closed Monday, 055 852 838 ask for terrazza upstairs or garden, 150,000 lire for two with wine (castello di Broglio) at 30,000. Highly recommended. ( Approx. 55 kms)




Wednesday:

While passing the gate of the B and B, I ripped one of my pannier, did a makeshift repair but it would have to be fixed ASAP. No one to do it in Panzano. I will have to ride easy!
Quick (1 hour) visit of Panzano, not much to see, then dirt road under nice sunny skies to Volpaia. Road OK for cars. Long uphill, but we are now getting better at riding since we are in better shape, Derek calls those roads flat again!!!!!! We turned off that road and had a great fast downhill on a dirt road and noticed that Panzano was in a funny direction, on top of that the map did not match the ground! In fact we did take a wrong turn and ended up in Lamole (FAO commissary sells their wines!) and had to fight our way back up to the main road. There was Volpaie agriturismo and Volpaia, we wanted Volpaia and took road going to Volpaie agriturismo, hence the confusion!

Volpaie or Volpaia?


Volpaia is a nice little village in the hills with one wine producer offering wine and wine tasting. Group of French hikers stopped over for lunch. One Swiss among them was checking my bike for the way I maintained it; he must have been distressed seeing the mud left after our adventures in the Ombrone river but was nice enough not to make any disapproving comments.
Long downhill followed by one of Derek's flat road to Radda-in-Chianti where we found 2 double rooms each with very efficient bathroom. Many Austrian motorcyclists in there. Radda-in-Chianti is a nice little town but a bit too small. Decided to spend 2 nites there and circle around the countryside. No one to fix my bag in Radda, but I was told someone could do it in Gaiole-in-Chianti.
We had lunch of sandwiches in a café in Radda and off to Gaiole. Long down on dirt road through Fontecaresimo and Vertine, a nice nearly empty village, blue bar only food place in town (so to speak!). Gaiole nice quiet village, nice cobbler fixed my bag for 5,000 lire, had a beer, Derek chatted with a group of American bikers which were cruising for 2 days. Back on a traficky road until we could catch a dirt road to San Piero then walk up a terrible trail (wide but surface impossible to get traction on and quite sloppy) until San Sebastiano. There it became a good dirt trail with very nice houses along the way. La Mandria, an azienda agricola is in a good position, not an agriturismo I am afraid (to be checked though).

Near San Sebastiano


Through Adine, another of these great locations with nice looking houses, then asphalt road (flat dixit Derek) to Radda. Good diner at Le Vigne, 130,000 lire for two with good chianti wine (30,000 lire for a Cennatoio, we had passed their estate earlier in the day) after which we walked back to our B and B, too risky to ride at night without lights. Sore buttock after all this riding! We offered ourselves a Fernet-Menta and ice-cream to finish the day. (Approx. 50 kms)



Thursday:

Finally sunny and nice weather. Down same road we came up yesterday to San Giusto and then a flat (really, not Derek's definition!) dirt road along the river, great ride, passed Torrebianca wine estate, indicated by a multicoloured plastic cow, entered their wine show room which was more interesting than others even if too modern for my taste.


Terrabianca sign (not a real cow!! ) and end-products



They export to Canada through an agent from Boucherville! Aiola, uphill, is a small village with a great castle, not open to public but looking very good. Vagliagli is a small village, old part is nice but otherwise just modern constructions. The road immediately passes on a crest and has fantastic views on both east and west, impressive! Thereafter down a gravel road to Querciagrossa, of no interest. We wanted to go a little further since it was still early for lunch. We got hit by a few drops of rain and saw sign for Osteria del Laghetto, went there to investigate, way too fancy for us, rain getting more and more insistent. Saw sign for café bar at Cornia. Finally reached it after one of the now famous “Derek's flats” and saw 3 persons (mother, son and girlfriend or daughter?) eating. It was open and they provided a great meal. Excellent bruschetta al pomodoro, followed by a plate of olives, dried tomatoes, melanzane, then spaghetti con sugo, with red wine and water. La capanna sul Poggio tel 0577 743145, 15,000 lire each. (Reminded me of ristorante near castagna dei 100 cavalli on Etna in Sicily).

La capanna sul poggio



Still raining not very hard but enough to be uncomfortable. Walked up a very steep and slippery hill, maps were not accurate, navigated all' ochio and found our way to an asphalt road to Castellina-in-Chianti. Nice rocca (fort) there. Tried to take a dirt road to avoid the main road, bad maps again and we ended up on main Castellina-to-Radda road, that we followed to Radda, mostly flat and good. Hot shower felt great with dry warm clothing. Diner in Radda at "chiasso dei portici" Expensive, slow and not worth it! (Approx. 45 kms)



Friday:

Fog everywhere, visibility 50 m. Breakfast at bar, where we met a French guy from Cognac who tours all of Europe on bike. He had already "done" France, Spain, Portugal, Corse, Sardinia, Sicily, Greece, and Italy, 10-12,000 km and was going north. He started this winter and plans to finish by October November 2001. Only problem so far when he was physically pushed off the road in Corsica and luckily hurt only his knee. He must have had 40 or more kg of luggage. He says it is better to put load on front wheel than on rear one.
Fog lifted and we took small roads to Fornacella. Saw this great looking house with huge windows, which turned out to be an art museum in a private residence, worth the visit just to see the inside of the house and the views. Great place. Dirt roads to Pianella, Guistrigona, lunch at “Trattoria Lombardi alla stazione” in Castelnuovo stazione (working lunch at 18,000 lire antipasto, pasta, main course!) followed by nap on a bench in the shade....
We took a new asphalt road towards Asciano and got hit by violent storm, had to shelter in a casa cantonale along the road. We then continued on dirt roads with beautiful sights of Le Crete. Really what I wanted to see, same landscapes as in many italian movies. They grow cereals on large estates, there are few trees, very different from Chianti territory, not as rich, more austere may-be due to clouds, but I like it. In fact this is what I recalled Chianti to be like when we passed through with Bams and the kids early in our Rome years. Great place to ride through, but it would be a bit monotonous to live there!



Le crete senese



We found a modest hotel in Asciano, no charm and noisy but hot shower was welcome after the storm, put things to dry, had diner in hotel (home cooking but not extraordinary). Investigated for an agriturismo for Saturday nite, nothing since they don't serve diner and we want to eat and sleep in same place. We will see how to play it to-morrow. Grappa di Brunello (OK), ice cream and bed. (Approx. 60 kms)



Saturday:

Beautiful day, sunny and clear. A huge limo was waiting in front of hotel for an Italian wedding, all men dressed in their finest threads!. Took asphalt road gently up toward Monteroni d'Arbia with idea to take side dirt roads, did not see any, though they were marked on the map and we ended up in Monteroni, where we decided to loop towards San Martino-in-Granaia, there was a sign for an agriturismo. Rode a dirt road, with great vistas of Le Crete, but it was hot. No way to make a loop, what the map shows as roads are in fact tractor tracks in the fields!
Back to Monteroni where we bought lunch ingredients and had picnic lunch in Radi overlooking Le Crete. Off on asphalt road to Vescovado de Murlo (Fred and Meg stayed nearby with a friend when I went to spend a nite with them) had a drink and then to Miniere de Murlo, under a hot and beating sun.
From Miniere de Murlo we took an abandoned R.R. track through forest, flat but interrupted with landslides. R.R. was used to transport lignite from mine to market. A great ride, really enjoyable.


Vecchia Ferrovia della Miniera near Murlo



At the end we had to ford a small river, it was fun and we didn’t even need to put our feet in the water, and arrived at la Befa. Nice agriturismo with restaurant nearby (il palazzotto, 0577 808310, email:ilpalazzotto@tin.it, 130,000 lire for two with bfast) but no way to sleep there since they had only double bed in a small room. Decided to get back to car and find place either in Montalcino or go to Torraccia.
Track took us through fields and mud holes, we sank shaft-deep in it, great fun, and took a bridge over Ombrone River. Peed in it to take our revenge over this darned river and poison the fisherman who was not happy at our crossing the first day of our trip, and back to the agriturismo where we had left the Yaris. We washed bikes and loaded gear before going to Montalcino. No accommodations available in Montalcino, Derek bought some souvenir and off to Torraccia for pizzas at Maurizio in Acquasparta, great snails and pizza. Then nite nite. (Approx. 65 kms)



Sunday at Torraccia:

Derek wanted to go for a bike ride. We went up the Pineta track to the hill near Lo Scoppio, then long asphalt road down to Acquasparta, lunch and then roads to Casigliano and Torraccia under a hard beating sun! I took the shortcut and Derek missed the entrance to Torraccia ending up doing an extra 5-6 kms!!!! Called Marino for Alfa's brakes but he could not do it this week.
We took 17:09 train to Rome, had drink and diner at Bucatino where Derek treated me and offered a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino (70,000 lire while it was 60,000 in the store in Montalcino, moderate mark-up!). To bed early to be ready for work and plane back to-morrow morning! (Approx. 45 kms)



Conclusions
A good trip, more physical than last time due to the lay of the land, I estimate we did about 60 km average, which was plenty, total estimated 450 kms.



Next time:
• provide a day's rest in the middle;
• do more sight tours, I get the feeling we did not take full advantage of sightseeing as we did in France, such as making detour 1-3 kms to see castle or similar;
• take small dirt roads and have maps 1/25,000, or have maps at 1/50,000 and stay on major dirt or asphalt roads;
• repair equipment included: rustines, colle, papier de verre, chambre a air, 3 demonte-pneus, cle de 10, Allen wrench, leatherman tool, cables for brake and derailleur, quick chainlinck and chain tool, oil and WD40 spray (we were lucky nothing broke);
• check bags for weaknesses, wear and tear before leaving, as well as odometers (have new batteries, etc.), etc.
• clothing consisted in: light quick drying clothes for biking, correct clothing for diner, (would need: two lacoste, 1 pair cotton pants, topsiders, 3 pair socks, 2 calbuts, 2 short and 1 long-sleeve capilene shirts, biking pants, quick-drying solid biking shoes, good top-class rain gear, gloves, cap, bandanna, helmet with sunvisor and bugs-net, sunglasses); was just about right.
• Medical kit included: hydrogen peroxide, Band-Aids, aspirin, strong sun-cream
• telefonino
• ID card

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