San Gimignano to an Agriturismo near Montalcino
Strava: 98.5 km, 1,940m, 5:51, 583 shifts
We woke up in our luxurious apartment, ate all our food, and took off at 8:30. We rode up to San Gimignano and accidentally did a scenic loop before finding the right track and heading down. It is nice that in Tuscany towns are on hilltops so you (mostly) start each day riding downhill.
We turned south and headed for Siena. The track took us on some really crazy steep paths – my low gear has never had such a workout! Sorry no photos. The kilometers pass very slowly on rough, steep terrain so it seemed like we’d never reach Siena, let alone our destination for the day, 60 km further. But somehow it worked. We rode hard and finally found ourselves climbing the steep road up to the famous town of Siena.
One minute we were sweating up another 15% grade, the next we were in a mass of tourists. We arrived right at an entrance to the Piazza del Campo, the big central square. We rode down to the bottom, then across, looked around, then decided we’d do better for lunch out of the tourist zone.
With only one false start, we got on the route and headed out of Siena, mostly descending. Our route turned off on a small dirt road pretty soon and we took it seven km until we found a beautiful outdoor restaurant. We had drinks (1.2 liters for me) plus sandwiches and cake. After a nap in an easy chair and it was time to go.
We had 40 more km and at first it was great, gentle slopes, lots of downhill. But nothing lasts so soon we were climbing a brutally steep 400m rocky dirt road, very sweaty. We somehow made it up that, and the climbing continued. Now we were up at 600m. It was so scenic, so classically Tuscany. Hills everywhere, some with towns on top, cypress trees, very nice air. At one point we could take a paved road or a ridiculous looking rocky, very steep trail. Wytze: “Well, we should do it so we can say we rode EFI.” (EFI=Every effing Inch) So we took the trail. I had to walk a few meters, Wytze just laughed and cranked it out. Soon there was a sign to our Agriturismo, just 2.2 km down a dirt road. I was so glad when we pulled in. Again, the day was harder than the numbers would suggest.
We checked in and before anything else, secured beers and snacks. We relaxed outside for over an hour. Then moved indoors to our rooms for showers. Soon it was dinner time. We had homemade wine (normal at an Agriturismo) with a great meal. It was about 2 ½ hours, very fun. Days like this aren’t easy but the sweaty hard work fades while the fun and comradery stays.
Nathan's Blog 
Your photos are deceiving as you do not show yourself during the hard work. Glad you showed the gear ratios as that tells the story!
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