We were up at 6:00 to start packing. Breakfast buffet was at 7:00. Same good food including scrambled eggs with very yellow yolks. I got my bags on the van while Ann loaded hers into the rental car. I left the hotel at 8:30 with Kathy, Hal, Julie and Don. Our route for the day was parallel to the coast.
After 9 km, we began a climb up a bluff. We had excellent views of the countryside and the coast. Near the top of the climb, we pulled off at a turnoff where there were several young Brits on a bicycle tour. We stopped, chatted and took photos. There were two tandems where the stokers were developmentally challenged. All the other riders were on single bikes. They left before we did, but we soon caught up to them and passed them in Fiorenzuola. This part of the ride was on a ridge were we had lots of rollers until we reached a good downhill into Pesaro. The weather was warming up but the wind was pretty strong at our back or our side.
At Pesaro, Julie and I decided to take today’s alternate route which was advertized as being non-scouted. It cut inland but still went parallel to the coast. We managed to take a wrong turn but got back on route in Fano. Our adventure included some very narrow country roads, some bad pavement that reminded me of some of the California roads and a couple of very steep climbs.
When we reached Fano, we stopped at a cafe where we had panini and chilled Nestle peach tea. As we were getting ready to leave, black clouds surrounded us. It began to rain heavily and the wind kicked up with strong gusts. We decided to wait it out at the cafe passing the time with strong coffee.
When the rain stopped, we started again and got back to the planned route. Luckily we had on our rain gear because it started to rain again, lightly this time. We bagged the planned route which went inland and forged ahead on the main highway. There was some traffic, but the shoulders were wide enough to ride safely. Julie got dirty wet because she was drafting behind me and caught the spray from my rear tire.
When we got to the outskirts of Senigallia, we caught up to Ron and Ellen. Julie lead us to the hotel. It was still stormy, but it had cleared enough for us to rinse all of the grime off of our bikes.
Here’s the link to today's ride.
At Happy Hour tonight, we re-introduced ourselves with our Italian names. Then we talked about our careers. Very interesting people in our group. Ann took notes so we can review them later.
Dinner was at 7:30. It included a salad bar, spaghetti with shell fish or vegetable soup, mixed grilled fish and sweets. Afterwards, Ann and I took a short walk along the sidewalk next to the beach looking at all of the private beaches with their cabanas, umbrellas, beach chairs, etc.
It’s now 9:30 and we are wrapping it up for the night.
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