tales of wander

On the morning of the first day, we met our bike rental company at a central location to pick up our bikes. Last year, you might remember I rode the Buick of bikes whose sheer weight made my knees buckle after 285 miles of riding. This year, I have a proper road bike—carbon frame, lightweight, and zippy, though perhaps in need of some tuning (which I expected). It’s similar to what I ride at home and a welcome sight. Let the cycling begin!

Day 1: Shakeout ride. Today’s ride is intentionally short (13 miles) with the expectation there’d be kinks to work out…we’re all in a foreign country on unfamiliar bikes, using unfamiliar routes, with unpredictable traffic and hazards, etc. There are bound to be kinks. Though we all expected that, we hadn’t anticipated a few additional variables, such as the possibility that three of our group would not have their luggage (and thus, their pedals and other riding gear), or that the rental company would fail to deliver all of our bikes (two of our members didn’t receive theirs). Nevertheless, after a few hours of troubleshooting/bike finding/helmet retrieving/pedal and saddle installation, we somehow managed to embark on our ride just in time for some rain, which made navigating our way out of the crowded old town slow and precarious. Old stone is not grippy.

Once out of the old town, we were able to relax and increase our speed. We found the aqueduct landmark that would guide us for the first part of the ride and were surprised (dare I say, delighted?!) by the pristine gravel path before it, which then turned into patches of thicker gravel before we encountered an overpass that would force us to to hoist our bikes, climb the stairs, and get over to the other side. This was becoming an adventure and I was loving it. On the other side, we sadly had to connect with a more unwelcome adventure: a busy, narrow road without a shoulder. Though always a bit harrowing regardless of where you are, we were pleased to see how accommodating Italian drivers are with cyclists. They didn’t honk at us impatiently, yell, roll coal, flip the bird, or go apoplectic—they simply swerved out of the way and went on with their day. And we call ourselves a civilized country _{^{(don’t even get me started)}}. 

We continued riding as our busy road turned into a quiet one, enabling us to relax and get a small taste of rural Lucca. Soon, our riders spread out widely and broke far apart. When you’re riding in a line with eleven people (which is a lot), it’s bound to happen. At home, this isn’t an issue because the routes are well known to us. Here, it’s more of a problem and revealed to us what we needed to work on. When we regrouped, there was a bit of tension as the people in front of the line heard about the challenges of those in the back, which included mechanical failure, lack of routes, etc. (It bears mentioning that when you’re riding in a single line, the people in front don’t know what’s going on in the back—it takes a lot of communication and coordination to make it work safely.) We immediately resolved to discuss it at dinner so we could fine tune it all. 

That’s a shakeout ride. Kinky as hell, but an opportunity to make things better.

Day 2: East of Lucca, 31.2 mi, 1403 ft. We’re ironing out the kinks by taking control over what’s in our control, such as making sure everyone has the routes. Though some of our group are still without luggage, they’ve been able to source better pedal options to make the day’s ride more pleasant. As we begin our ride and attempt to make our way out of the city, we encounter the things that are less in our control, such as the busy city traffic. With a population of about 90,000 people, Lucca isn’t a big city, but you’d never know that by the cars weaving in and out of the roundabouts. After a tense start, we eventually get far enough out of the city that we can relax. Soon, we’re encountering a mix of terrain and landscape, complete with small towns, olive groves, the occasional palace, and plenty of welcome gravel breaks that get us off the road. 

Today’s ride went much more smoothly, with more frequent regrouping and better navigation. I continue to be impressed by Italian drivers—as well as the resilience, patience, and general good humor of my cycling friends, who I love spending this time with. They’re a fantastic group of people who work well together and I feel privileged to be here with them. After the ride, we go our various directions to eat lunch, clean up, and rest. Later, we’ll reconvene for another night of food, fun, and drinks.

Tomorrow, we ride to Pisa.