Day 23
Sleeping location: An airbnb in the gorgeous old town of Perugia
Distance (km today/total): 134 / 2670
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1200 / 18300
Number of bridges on the route of the seven bridges: 31
Day in three words: Under Tuscan sun
A last big push before a semi-rest day tomorrow, and easier next few days after that. We packed up from our lovely little olive grove and set off along the Route of the Seven Bridges, which runs about 50km from Regello to Arrezo. This bit was absolutely wonderful cycling, with enough ups and downs to make it interesting but no big climbs. The route tacks along the hillsides via various cute little towns and impressive bridges, and because it’s well surfaced it was popular with other cyclists. Maybe because it was Sunday, or maybe because this was a less extreme route than the mountains yesterday, the cyclists were a lot more relaxed today and frequently rode in big sociable groups. We got loads of ciaos and thumbs up, and even managed to overtake two guys (both old and pedalling gently; one re-overtook after drafting us for a few kms). The Route also drastically undersells itself as we (Matt) counted 31 bridges along the way.
After this nice 50km there was a long slog along flat roads in the hot hot sun. This was mostly unremarkable, although we did go through the area where I stayed with my family 16 years ago. About halfway we stopped at Lake Trasimeno for lunch and a dip. The lake was pretty middling but getting in the water after 2hrs on the bike was delicious, as was the watermelon I had carried for 40km (worth it).
The way into Perugia was totally rubbish, along busy roads with no shoulder or bike lane and loads of merging across traffic. Getting up to the old town was also an ordeal because Perugia appears to be vying for the award of world’s steepest city - I have never been anywhere that has escalators to get you from the car parks to the city centre. A FURTHER ordeal was getting into the airbnb; the keys had been left at a bar that had a different name and address than the one in the message, and then they gave us the wrong keys, by which point I was about ready to murder Piergiorgio, but we got there in the end. Some more delicious pizza and beer and wine then made everything better. Tomorrow we are going to have a lie in, then a look around Perugia, then a relaxed 50km to the base of the Apennines (pt 2). Bliss.
Distance (km today/total): 134 / 2670
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1200 / 18300
Number of bridges on the route of the seven bridges: 31
Day in three words: Under Tuscan sun
A last big push before a semi-rest day tomorrow, and easier next few days after that. We packed up from our lovely little olive grove and set off along the Route of the Seven Bridges, which runs about 50km from Regello to Arrezo. This bit was absolutely wonderful cycling, with enough ups and downs to make it interesting but no big climbs. The route tacks along the hillsides via various cute little towns and impressive bridges, and because it’s well surfaced it was popular with other cyclists. Maybe because it was Sunday, or maybe because this was a less extreme route than the mountains yesterday, the cyclists were a lot more relaxed today and frequently rode in big sociable groups. We got loads of ciaos and thumbs up, and even managed to overtake two guys (both old and pedalling gently; one re-overtook after drafting us for a few kms). The Route also drastically undersells itself as we (Matt) counted 31 bridges along the way.
After this nice 50km there was a long slog along flat roads in the hot hot sun. This was mostly unremarkable, although we did go through the area where I stayed with my family 16 years ago. About halfway we stopped at Lake Trasimeno for lunch and a dip. The lake was pretty middling but getting in the water after 2hrs on the bike was delicious, as was the watermelon I had carried for 40km (worth it).
The way into Perugia was totally rubbish, along busy roads with no shoulder or bike lane and loads of merging across traffic. Getting up to the old town was also an ordeal because Perugia appears to be vying for the award of world’s steepest city - I have never been anywhere that has escalators to get you from the car parks to the city centre. A FURTHER ordeal was getting into the airbnb; the keys had been left at a bar that had a different name and address than the one in the message, and then they gave us the wrong keys, by which point I was about ready to murder Piergiorgio, but we got there in the end. Some more delicious pizza and beer and wine then made everything better. Tomorrow we are going to have a lie in, then a look around Perugia, then a relaxed 50km to the base of the Apennines (pt 2). Bliss.
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