BAC Florence to Elba – Day 4 – Massa Maritima Loop

I thought about taking a day off today, but my old tired body said that it was OK to ride. Besides, the route was short and not too demanding. The weather was perfect – clear, sunny skies and warm. I started out riding solo but I was soon joined by Kathy, Hal, Dave and Eric after I got a little lost getting out of town. Our turn-by-turn queue sheets are easy to read but the street signs are not.

The route took us through forests, past a castle dominated village and alongside olive groves. Part of the route was named Strada del Vino – Wine Road. It was not dominated by vineyards but I could see quite a few and some signs offering wine tasting.

The climb back to our hotel was very difficult – steep and hot. I arrived as the  noon church bells were ringing.

Here is a link to today's ride.

After cleaning up and cooling off, I met Matt and Tim and we wandered over to a different deli style cafeteria. I had some cold bowtie pasta with green vegetables and pesto sauce. This was accompanied by rice with shellfish. I couldn’t eat it all. Matt and Tin ordered a stuffed something that was shaped like a very fat fish including flappers on the rear. We thing that it was fish based. Time ate one of his. Matt gave up after one bite.

Back at the hotel, I stretched out on the bed and soon took a long nap. I hope this doesn’t cause me to stay awake tonight.

I joined Ruth, Darrel and Matt at dinner tonight. I had a tomato salad with basil, etc. along with tortellini carabonara verdera. We stopped for gelato afterwards.