Well Ok, I did not see a movie, or feed animals in the zoo as Louis did in the song, and Sangria in the park sounds great right about now...but those things are not part of what I'm talking about here folks...
I mean BIKES!!! And SUN!!! and a light breeze and unseasonably awesome temperatures in the 20's (mid 70's for you yanks.) I mean a sunday with little traffic and a swimming hole all to myself! And I desperately needed to ride off the MEAT pile that Igor grilled up at his house the night before.
Igor's house is a perfect blend of Italian chotchsky and professional skater...this should be painted..."Still life with carrot and skateboard" maybe...
...that's the indoor/outdoor patio with wood fired pizza grill built in, the Italians don't take grilling lightly!
It had been raining like a son-of-a-bitch and Igor knew we were probably not up to much. Not true for Olde Hank of course, I rode to market and met up with a homie who owns the skate shop...
and met a dude with a cool bike who organizes polo matches, bought some groceries and some bring orange paint and rode home in the pouring rain, happy as a clam! We went to his house and grilled a TON of gut busting meat, a perfect base for the next days spur of the moment ride.
And by spur of the moment I mean spur of the DAY! All in all, with trips to town and a stop for some wicked awesome pizza pie, it was a 108.88 KM day (again for you yanks...67 miles...for my Colorado audience that roughly FoCo to Lyons to Estes Park!) I decided to ride from home to the swimming hole in Premicuore, which has been featured in this blog before, but not by bike, and a bike that weighs 16.45 kilograms EMPTY no less (36.19 pounds). here's a wrap...
That's KIWI!
that's the canyon I crept through all day...off in the distance...
Spring green in the middle of summer!
with time to stop at every cute old village...
Had the roads to myself...
Till I ran into Tom Seleck!
Cut through the tiny hamlet of Predapio...Birthplace of (in)famous facists like Mussolini...
Climbed some passes...
crossed some rivers...
and stayed looking sooooo good...
roadside goats always make me laugh...
Past this mountain beach...
up more passes...
Picnic time...
Then the last few KM push into Premicuore...
The trail to the waters edge is hidden and nasty with mud and steep...
And SOOOO worth it!
Its hidden under this old roman bridge and there is an amazing waterfall and deep pools to dive into. A real icy treat for my tired legs...
Leaving was tough but I was hungry and wanted to get home in time to cook...
What took me 4 hours to climb I was able to shoot down in about 2!!
This house will be a painting sooner or later I took like 15 different angled shots of it, dig that patina in the old paint! (Did I really just write that?)
Its the Strada dei Sangiovese out there...tons of wineries and tons of vines...
And as much as I wanted to spit on his grave, I was less interested in Mussolini's tomb than I was in these bricks that make up the facade of the church...sea shells in the mortar, 500 meters above sea level!
Back into Forli...
And to the safety of the huge bike paths...
With sunset on the radar...
I set out for one more stop...
Before riding home on the farm roads...
With 2, count em, 2 pizzas strapped to the bike!
THAT'S how you end a day on a bike in It-ly!!!
S.
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