che ore sonno?...its VERDICCHIO time!

somewhere in the extremes lies balance... A weekend adventure was hatches as Fabrizio Dragoni and I (The White Dragons) went along the dark and open road towards Marche, options were decided without any real reasons, other than its fun to get rad.  The plan was to drive south, drink some verdicchio, camp at a private beach called Due Sorelle, a retired mining spot at the foot of Monte Conero, requiring a ride and hike, drink more verdicchio, wake up, hike and ride out, go to the family beach house featured here, drink a cold glass of verdicchio, swim and eat, go to a concert where they were thoroughly lambasted for only having beer and cocktails and "oh how refreshing it would be to have a nice verdicchio", see some music, pass out late, wake up and swim again, eat well, beviando due-tre bicchiere di verdicchio, and drive back super early on monday morning.  SuperFantasticCrazyWeekendNoPlan as we called it...exactly what I needed! Not much sleep and too much verdicchio makes Jack a happy boy...

first thing we see when we park the car...yup, a big fucking scorpion!

we could have easily fit two more in there...

verdicchio and patatine for dinner. not bad, until the next morning when you realise you have brought no water and have a tremendous hike out and its hot as hell!

zoom in, im actually modeling ear rings that clamp the table cloths on

sperfantastic trail goin in...

with treacherous obstacles...

as far as its safe to go on bike.  we lock the bikes overnight and no one even thinks of stealing them, another vote for It-Lee

re decided NOT to camp in the pee place, which has thus far been our tradition.

I laugh my ass off as the hike turns dangerously steep, with a death-fall to the right most of the way.  Its steep enough to be considered a via ferrata, requiring you clip in to these safety cables.  we did not.

a warning far too late at the last 10 feet of trail

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an incredible nights sleep on the moonscape

wake to the hot sun and the sounds of footsteps nearby...

it was these two...Fabrizio's parents, who brought us a moka pot for coffee, some cookies milk and sugar, coffee on the beach with the fam...not a bad start at all!

alone except for one other camping couple and a few kayakers for the first bit, then throngs of mainlanders start to pour out of three of these shuttle boats offering a slice of paradise to fat families with coolers and loud kids and umbrellas.  Paradise was lost and we headed up...

up this...

steep is hard to qualify, but if you zoom in on the red arrow you can see a dude coming down the "trail" we hiked in the dark.  try to follow where it goes, think like a goat, its that "steep"

in about 20 minutes it goes straight up above the beach...

collect breath, drink some borrowed water, grab the bikes and hit the sigletrack on the way out

back down the hill we grabbed some breakfast and a ton more water, and wondered why the dude at the Forno looked at us silly when we ordered little pizzas and asked if they were still hot...we had no idea it was 9.30am!

tired, with hot weather most of the day was spent on the balcony, napping, short rides for gelato, and more eating.

beautiful orange Italian sunset...this one was for Tammy, who busted my balls when I said I have not had any spritzez this summer cause they are gay...

two generations of grill masters to whet your appetite.  Dragoni's dad has a new knickname, Shawny - cause he looks like Sean Connery of James Bond fame.  He was gracious enough to pose for pictures later in the weekend.

thats his makeshift gun...behind him is the famous Conero mountain where we camped and rode, which of course gives him the full knickname that I made up..."Shawney Conoro"  he loved it!

the evening was spent raiding castles...

fighting off evil spirits..."attenti la curva pericolosa!"

getting wierd...

and completely ruining my low range hearing with a Dub show with friends of Dragoni.

getting really really wierd...

and having a shitty american hot dog for dinner...

seeing the sunrise and waking up 2 hours later here in the sun in front of the house...

I shook off the demons with a ride on Nona's ancient rusty bike, and had a little session scribbling down ideas in my little black books over a beer in town to get my head straight.  Please make note of the Stache Only Summer...so far its a winner!  Some Italian chick said I looked like an actor, and was too young to comprehend the Magnum P.I. Jokes that followed.

I had the pleasure of sitting with Nona (the term for Grandma) at lunch, the woman is 99 fucking years old man, still comes down the three flights of stairs every morning in her swim suit, for a swim in the sea, reads books in the sun all day, speaks PERFECT english and Italian switching back and forth depending on who is listening without missing a beat, will tell you a story from 94 years ago, and has a smoke after her lunch.  A truly amazing experience to talk with her about sunsets, and hear her tell me who the best painter of sunsets is and the first time she saw his work and what it meant for her.  An amazing woman I hope to spend another weekend listening to again soon.

Nona and me in stitches...

most of the rest of the day was spent watching this...

with these pervs...

...in what will be forever called, "Bar Pervert - Now Serving Verdicchio"  It looks like a burned out Sarajevo war house but damn if its not as attention getting as wearing a sombrero in It-Lee.

another amazing meal where the quality and personal preference for regional food was discussed, over another verdicchio and some amazing home-cooked grub.  We bid farewell and crashed, only to begin our two hour return home just before sunrise.

 An Amazing weekend with some cool dudes, swimming, a cool ride, an amazing Nona, some colour to my skin, camping on a private beach, a glass of wine with dinner officer, and a totally unplanned adventure.  Shawney Conero would do it...why not?  Per che No?

CAUTION: Weather (and my mood) may change drastically and suddenly in the high country...always be prepared.

sometimes you NAIL it...sometimes you dont, and no matter how much time and thought and preparation and map printing, and scouting, and asking around I did, this vacation just did not pan out like I had hoped, and I had a difficult time staying flexible and neutral to the sights and sounds, and company around me.  It was not a collection of my finest moments, but by no means the fly off the handle and leave early in a tempest as I have been known for in the past, throwing hands up in defeat.  I stuck it out and it mildly redeemed itself with some decent singletrack, some sarcastic joking at the expense of the germans, an easy traffic free drive back to Romagna, and a mom-cooked meal upon return.

And those last 5 pretty much sum it up...a valley well marketed.
Ive got just enough time to throw a couple pictures up before heading down south on a Dude-Bro weekend with Fabrizio Dragoni at his grandfathers hand-laid brick beach shack... a weekend that will certainly yield more photos and stories for this-a-here blogityblog...stay tuned, Ill post it when the Verdicchio haze wears off....

...as much as I thought we were prepared for the next few departures...wait a minute!  This friggen blog is not supposed to be about WORK!  Its supposed to be about the adventures in spaghetti-land!  Its supposed to be photos that inspire you to get on your bike and go for a ride...not a forum for me to mildly bitch about how busy I am at my seasonal job in a foreign country were the food is amazing and almost 90% of the women have dark hair! (sorry GH)  When I first got this job I wondered how long it would take for me to take it for granted...HA!

As Chopper Read might say..."Harden the Fuck Up Scotty Boy!"

Presented with an opportunity on Tuesday to take train and garbage-bike to Florence, to replace a fork in the middle of a long rental, I took it!  A great chance to fake like a messenger, ride like a dick and then sit in a cafe afterwards and draw, all the while pretending like I am way better than the tourists that flood the streets in Florence.

Looks fake almost eh?

The kids renting bikes were camping above the city near my favorite plaza, Piazza Michelangelo.  They were exploring the city so I had to find the bike that needed a fork.  When I did, it was locked with two locks between two other bikes, so I had to make do and replace the whole fork and brakes and computer right there...not a bad 45 minutes work!

out with the cracked...

in with the not yet cracked...

Back to town to Angie's Pub, a favorite of mine, where I could relax and draw in the "Angie's book"

another crowded train station and I was headed back home.  I long day but worth it for the story.

 

Tuesday night was the last installment of Hott Faenza Nights!  All the stores stay open late and there are street art and performers all over town, families and couple get dressed up and cruise around, spending a little money here and there and saying a hearty CIAO! to their buddies. I met a cool couple from Chile who are riding their bikes around Europe, she selling amazing hand made jewelry, he playing a small guitar.  They were to go over the mountains the next day and their bikes were in a bad state.  So I convinced them to come by the Farm and have a little tune up, which I was really thankful they did.  You can check them out on FaceBook HERE, or even HERE.  Cool people with a cool story, reminding us that we can turn any idea into a plan, and that life is for living.

The rest of the week is open to suggestion, but since I am on call this weekend and need to stay near the Farm, I am working on friends' bikes..."L'Amicicleta" as I have invented...if you got a bike and its making funny sounds, bring it by the Farm and Ill have a look at it - it will only cost you a song, joke, or story, whatever you have.

CIAO
S.