A Trial Run ??km (probably 80+)

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No longer having to adhere to a fixed schedule, and with breakfast starting only at 8:00, we took a more casual "let's see if we can figure out how things work" approach to the day. The first item on order was to see what the 'cyclist lunch bag' contained: a banana; an"energy bar" that provided only 126 calories from 22.8 grams of carbohydrates, 2.3 grams of protein, and 2.5 grams of fat; a ham and cheese sandwich on what seemed to be the Italian equivalent of Wonder Bread; and a bottle of water. I'm not sure why the latter was included inasmuch as when we checked in we were given cycling water bottles that could have been filled instead.

We then sought further clarification from Chiara (who speaks excellent English) about our meal plan here, since last night the waiter told Bob he could select from any two of the 4 sections of the menu (I, being quite tired and still having a fair bit of food remaining from earlier in the day - and also having been apprised of the way things were supposed to work and having earlier ordered lunch - elected to forego supper and simply went to bed at 9:00 in order to try and whittle down my sleep debt that had been accumulating). So now we know we can order one of either lunch or supper in the restaurant (i.e. the bag lunch doesn't count) without incurring any further charge, except if we select more than two of a salad, primi ("first dish", typically pasta), secondi (second or main dish), and dessert, in which case we pay for any extra. I guess it makes for better marketing to do this rather than to charge more up front, but really - I think most folks would prefer at least 3 courses - and Italians or Italian wannabees could go for four if they wish.

At any rate, following some fruitless online consulting we finally decided to head out with the few directions we had and just let the day unfold. It was a good thing Bob had brought along a toolkit, because I stopped several times (the first just at the end of the hotel driveway) to adjust my seat, and also several times later to fiddle with the gears until I finally got them working smoothly. Our progress was thus slow, but how slow was hard to gauge since our bikes do not have cycle computers (!) and few directional signs indicated distances.

Our day was, for the most part, fairly flat - and in the early going, when we were on the former sea plain, annoyingly straight as well. It was only when we got to Massa Marittima than we had any serious climbing, but that 3km was fairly steep, leading, as we have become accustomed to, to the old town centre. Along the way Bob and I got separated, as unbeknownst to him I had stopped to adjust my gears, and unbeknownst to me he had pulled into a gas station just before the climb in order to relieve himself (or if that's too genteel for you, to pee. I'm using words like 'unbeknownst' so it's not clear what level of language I should be striving for here).

I knew that Bob had been ahead of me and that last week he hadn't been climbing as quickly as I do, but I also wasn't sure how well I was doing with my new bike, so I just thought it odd but not definitive when I didn't come across him on the climb. When I arrived at the top and still didn't see him I hoped he had stopped earlier, since the alternative was that each of us had different interpretations of what it meant to cycle "to Massa Marittima" (typically in towns like this there's a lower piazza as well as a higher, often-cobbled older piazza, with one-way roads that lead up and down so the possibility of not seeing each other even while being close by can be very good).
Thinking it a safe choice in case Bob was indeed on top and looking for me I headed to the information office (which I had announced as my intention earlier in the morning), which unfortunately was jut over the otherside of the hill and not terribly visible from the piazza. In what I have now come to expect as normal, the couple in front of me were rather clueless and always had "one more question" (e.g. at one point asking the Massa Marittima information officer about things in Cinque Terre, about 215km away) so it was only after about 20 minutes that I was able to get a better map than the sketchy photocopy we had been working with, and also directions to the public toilets. As luck would have it, as I crested the hill back to the piazza I saw Bob approaching from the other side - he had indeed stopped at the gas station (apparently leaving his bike in a place where he thought I might notice it. I didn't), had retraced his steps for a bit to see if I had had a breakdown, had turned around when he had decided I hadn't, and as luck would have it, emerged at just the right time. So we took some photos, ate lunch, lamented how much the (head)wind had picked up, and chose to simply backtrack our estimated 35km (really closer to 39, according to Google maps) route rather than attempt to make a loop of things.On the way back we could see how some sections had been slightly uphill or downhill, and just for completeness, discovered there is no back way into our hotel property (yes, because we made a mistake), and consequently put in a few extra k's. But we returned to find that as requested, housekeeping had left us some detergent so I tried out the washing machine. This too, was an adventure and I didn't think of looking online for the manual until after I had started the machine - which meant I couldn't open the door (yes, even after hitting the Pause button) to get the model number, which I would need in order to get the proper manual. Over two hours later, my clothes finally stopped circulating, and it looked like my detergent estimate (the bottle suggested 250grams for 5kg of laundry - who the hell weighs liquids?) was appropriate. Now I just have to see how well drying al fresco works. The fact that here is a washer here but not a drier gives me some hope.

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Photos

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Through this portal our journey begins

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Not sure what this was but it looked neat from afar

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What some people take pictures of

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Not Bob - a guy from Munich enjoying himself while his wife plays in a tennis tournament

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We didn't go down this road (actually an entrance)

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That's Massa Marittima and (the speck waaay down the road ahead of me) Bob

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Together on top at last (sounds romantic - it isn't)

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water from Fonte dell'Abbondanza, established 1265

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Our way home

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Was very pleasant in spite of the wind

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Still don't know what his was, in spite of having ridden by it (right in front of it, not just from this vantage point) twice

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RTFM

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Not a bad setup for cycling here at all!