This morning we woke up not to open windows and birds chirping, but to silence. And, that was a good thing! Unlike the peaceful Tuscan countryside, Florence is all city, with the sounds that go along with it, such as horns, yelling and carts being hauled across old roads made of stone. So, we are happy that our hotel has extremely well made windows, that allows us to open them when we choose and close them when we want to sleep.   After sleeping in, we wen...

Wow, can't believe it is our last day with Backroads. In a few hours we will be dropped back off at the Florence train station, where 6 days ago we all started the journey. In those days we have made new friends, conquered fears of hills (both up and down), compared bruises, scrapes and other assorted ouches, enjoyed amazing views, local scenery, food, wine and experiences and most of all, loved our trip.    While most of our riding mates headed out fo...

We woke up facing our last full day on the bike. After feeling off yesterday, Ken was back to his perky self and we were both ready for some cool biking. We also woke to birds chirping and beautiful blue skies. Not only will I miss the Tuscan scenery, food and wine, but I will also miss having our windows open at night and waking up to the birds (and not the freeway).   After breakfast, we got the route rap and found that we had a fairly long day ahead of...

Today I woke up ready for the bike. Ken, not so much. He was very slow moving and didn't sound or look like he was ready for anything but back to bed. He had a very long day on the bike yesterday, so it wasn't surprising. I headed down to breakfast and he eventually joined me. We went back to the room to get our riding gear, and I knew it was going to be a tough day when he laid back down on the bed.  I suggested he rest for a bit, then grab the ...

Our third day on the bike was going to take us to Monticello, famous for the wonderful Brunello wines that we enjoyed last night. At the route rap, as yesterday, there was a significant climb into Monticello ( about 5k). My hand was sore from yesterday, and I needed to get comfortable again due to my two spills from yesterday. Once I got on, I kept up with Ken for most of the 12k to the van check point. I had already decided to grab the van up, and found L...