65.9 miles ridden – 861m climbed – temperature 30C

After a breakfast buffet tussle with an elderly French group of walkers I set off with two riders – both previous Bike Adventures riders – just before 8am when it was still autumnally fresh in advance of a hot day.

Our first 10 miles passed through central Pisa and the southerly suburbs before we broke out into the countryside. This first stage was as much about getting into the habit of riding on the right and looking out for Fiat 500s driven by Formula 1 wannabes and although we swapped the busy city streets for quiet country lanes the narrowness of the roads meant we had to cycle in single file which was a shame. However that gave us more time to contemplate our surroundings as we headed to our coffee stop in a delightful hilltop town called Lorenzana.

It’s always great to get the first part of the first day our of the way – to start finding your legs and get into the swing of the ride.

The next 20 miles was rolling countryside with lots of climbing although thankfully while a couple of the climbs were long the gradients weren’t too steep. The views were magnificent.

Sadly many of the small villages and towns we passed through have lost their cafes, bars, and boulangeries so even though it was Sunday the town centres were generally very quiet. Although we heard lots of church bells we didn’t see many folks milling around.

We eventually found a bar for lunch in the sleepy town of Riparbella and enjoyed a sandwich in an otherwise deserted small square.

From there we enjoyed a stunning decent back down sea level and then had the joy of a headwind for the next gruelling, grinding 15 miles. Boy did my legs hurt by the time we pulled in to Il Delfines Hotel in San Vincenzo. The hotel is right on the beach – a real treat.

The next 30 minutes was a mix of emotions. On the one hand I put my swim shorts on and went into the sea – great to ease off my cramp in 3 feet of sea water! The downside was coming into a room that is small and was dark until I worked out where the control for the shutters and I found myself reliving the moment I tested positive for COVID during my last bike ride in Italy. I didn’t realise that I still had that ghost floating around but hopefully I will have banished it by the time we leave tomorrow.

It currently looks like we can expect thunderstorms over Tuesday and Wednesday – nice but at least it still be warm.