Finally 111km

---

It had previously been announced that we would have a new guide - Sandor - for today's ride, and we woke to something else that was new as well: blue sky - and it lasted all day (although once on high we could see storms in the hills across the valleys, so it was never clear that our good luck was going to last). While looking through my bag for the clothes to wear in today's ride I was reminded that I had packed a couple of pairs of black socks; they would've been the choice for our wet weather rides had I remembered they existed - duh!

Another thing I had forgotten was mentioning that the mystery of how we had missed a turn on day 1 had been solved in conversation at dinner last night: it turned out the two guys from our group who had blown by me had arranged with Bartolo to join the faster group that had passed us (if they could catch them, which they did). Unfortunately, no one had bothered to tell me that, so when there was no one from our group waiting at the junction I assumed we were to continue climbing on the road we were on. Ah well, the ride back to town through the rain wouldn't have been much fun anyways.

Today's ride, though, was presented as something of a Grand Tour featuring several long climbs over a healthy distance (which would normally be the precursor to a day off, but because of our 2 days of rain it has been determined that we will be able to ride tomorrow as well, should we choose to do so). At the first climb, I arrived at the top ahead of enough others that I was finally able to pull out the camera and record some of the countryside we have been passing through. By that time, though, the wind had picked up considerably and it was quite an effort to ride into it; fortunately it turned out that another feature of the Grand Tour was the appearance of the hotel van which dispensed water, bananas, and sandwiches to whomever wanted, something that happened 2 or 3 times during the day.

Another highlight was the trip to Urbino, a 15th century walled city that is a world heritage site perched on a hillside at the top of a 10km climb. It was there that I discovered just how quickly the camera I had borrowed burns through a charge - i.e. it died before I had a chance to get the really interesting shots today, like the 18% descent on a narrow cobblestone road that leads to the heart of the town, or the view from Telluvia, similarly perched at the end of a long climb. Presumably at some point I will be able to provide evidence that Riccione (where we are staying) really is situated on the coast of the Adriatic, but for today that was it photographically.

Another nice aspect of today's ride was the opportunity to 'ride off the front' of the group and zoom down a 5km descent (on that rarest of Italian entities, smooth pavement!) at whatever pace we wanted; normally we are required to stay behind the guide. This was a concession to Nick, a cyclist from Sydney, Australia here with a few of his mates, who manged to persuade Sandor that we could do it "at our own risk". Although it turned out not to be very technical, it was fun to finally be allowed to enjoy some speed after having worked so hard to earn it, something that had been quite frustrating to that point.

Towards the end of today's ride, Nick and I would trade places a few times on the climbs, with him starting off ahead of me, getting passed, and then ultimately passing me in turn later, using me as "motivation". Afterwards when asked. he told me he was 28 - to which I replied "I have shorts older than you!"

We returned to the hotel shortly before 3:00, and even though I had been eating all day I (and others) still found myself hungry enough to eat a respectable amount of food to tide me over until tonight's supper (at 7:30). All in all it was a pretty good day (finally!). Except the sore throat that has been teasing me over the past 2 days has just decided to reveal its presence with abandon. If it's the one a friend of mine in Ottawa had, then at least it should pass quickly. I hope so.

---

Photos

IMG_8169
Morning climb view #1

IMG_8171
Morning climb view #2

IMG_8172
View from the top of Urbino #1

IMG_8174
View from the top of Urbino #2