Last ride and last night in Italy

On Friday, Rosanna and I were back on the tandem. Besides our usual guide Edy, the Borge e Castelli group was accompanied on this ride by Stefano Giuliodori, the Director of Hotel Dory. Stefano is a very experienced cyclist, and also served as our tour guide with a lot of intimate knowledge about our destinations. First we climbed to the castle at Montefiore, where we had a cappuchino before circling around the castle and hearing the legend of the ghost who wanders the grounds. I found out later that the castle contains an old deep well inside that has such unique acoustic properties it has been used as a jazz recording studio.

Then we descended most of the way down at 10-12%, only to climb again to the peak of the day at Montescudo (elevation, 1230 feet) where we enjoyed the amazing view, and saw a giant, rock-lined hole in the ground which, when filled with snow, served the ancients as a refrigerator. A little later we viewed the ruins of a church that was bombed out during World War II, when this area was the front line for a major battle during the invasion of Italy. Finally, we stopped one last time at a church whose cornerstone was laid in 800AD (and where Stefano was married) before heading back to the hotel for one last night. After dinner, there was a slide show of photos from the week's rides, and an little awards ceremony. Heiki won the award from our group; she had only recently started cycling, and she rode like a pro all week.

Overall, we rode in four guided rides, covering a total of about 160 miles, over 10000 feet of climbing, and a multicultural experience non pariel.