From: Bagno di Romagna/Acquapartita
To: Florence (via passo dei Mandrioli, Badia Prataglia, Poppi and passo della Consuma)
Miles: 60.8 (5,000 ft. of climbing)
Miles Completed: 332.5 (12,900 ft. of climbing)
Lunch: Pizza in Poppi
Dinner: Trattoria Paledioro
Accommodations: Hotel Romagna
Today’s ride reminded me a great quote from the movie Vanilla Sky: “the sweet is never as sweet without the sour”. The rewards from the pain of climbing are incredible – the views, the wind, the sky, the downhill descent – the list goes on. Climbing mountain passes on your bike captures the essence of cycling, which makes you appreciate all the things we take for granted and miss with our modern conveniences (like cars and tunnels that cut through mountains). Dr. Ed and I diverge a bit on our “descending” philosophies. I like to take my time and savor the reward of the climb – he likes to “bomb” it down as fast as possible.
The first climb was actually not as difficult as expected for a few reasons. First, while the 7 mile length proved accurate, our diminutive waiter friend created sky high expectations of a 15% average grade – the average was actually only 6.5% (did I just use the term “only” to describe a 6.5% average grade? -- I must be losing my mind). Second, the climb came in the beginning of the ride when our legs were fresh – I actually felt pretty spry when we got done (despite how I look in the picture below). Third, the grade was actually very consistent throughout the climb, which I think is better for your legs since you don’t random areas of nasty steepness that can crush your quads.
Can't I just turn left here and avoid the pass?
Yes, this is the first mountain we climbed. It hurts just looking at it, no?
Seven miles of this -- talk about banging your head against the wall -- good thing we're wearing helmets.
We made it! Look how happy I am! (NOT!)
Proving once again that life is an expectations game, the second climb is more difficult than we were expecting – a 5% average grade for 9 miles. We almost ran out of water as we climbed through several small towns that were in “lockdown” during siesta. As we are approaching the second mountain pass (passo della Consuma – this is where the picture on the header of the blog was taken), I notice we are approaching another Hotel Miramonti and I am excited about the poetic justice of starting our climbing at one Hotel Miramonti and finishing it at its sister location. I excitedly head into the hotel and find someone who speaks English. I start explaining how our ride began at their other hotel in Bagno and the guy is just looking at me. “Our other hotel….what other hotel?”. “Hotel Miramonti” I say. He laughs “Sir, there are probably 100 Hotel Miramontis in Italy – Miramonti means ‘mountain view’”. I feel pretty stupid but I’m so excited to be done with the climbing for the day I get over it quickly.
The rest of our ride is a long, beautiful descent into Florence. I’m relatively disappointed with Florence when we arrive because it is extremely crowded and touristy – probably didn’t help that we arrived at rush hour but still. Our accommodations are okay – two stars but a respectable two stars – however, we need to leave our bikes locked outside in an alley. After today’s difficult ride I’m secretly hoping someone steals them so we can just take a train for the rest of the trip (kidding…sort of).
We got a dinner recommendation from Barbara at the front desk of the hotel and it was very good – I had torellini en brodo soup – very tasty. I’ve decided from now own I’m not eating any bread at dinner, nor am I getting anymore meat dishes. The pasta is so delicious here that I’m just going to get two pasta dishes instead.
Tomorrow is a scheduled day off so I’m looking forward to exploring Florence.
Ciao.
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