Day 5: Lucca Hills, 31.1 mi, 2612 ft. It’s going to be another hot day, so we rolled out early. Once out of town, we began making our way up the hills overlooking Lucca, riding on narrow, winding roads that form switchbacks up the hillside. The landscape was beautiful—full of small, picturesque towns with stone cathedrals, vineyards, and olive groves. Today I made a concerted effort to stop and take pictures of the landscape (it was a good excuse to take breaks from the climbing) and at the top of each climb, we enjoyed the fruits from our labor: views of hillside homes, lush green flora, and tall Italian cypress. At the end of our climbing, we stopped at a picturesque little town for a coffee and a rest before making our way back down again. Overall, it was a truly glorious morning of riding followed by an equally glorious afternoon nap.
Day 6: North hills, 38 mi, 2825 ft. A big storm is coming that threatens to derail our last day of riding, so as a group we decided to choose the route we wanted to do most from the two that remained: one longer, but flatter, and one shorter, but hillier. Given that we loved the views from yesterday’s ride, we chose hills…and hills we definitely had, beginning with nearly 10 miles of climbing that began with a gentle incline, then got much steeper after about five miles. Like yesterday, the road up the hill was narrow and winding, with hairpin turns that snaked up the hillside, taking us through little hillside villages along the way. After our biggest climb was done, we treated ourselves to a cappuccino break at a lovely restaurant that offered views of Lake Massacciuccoli below. Then, it was time to descend. Normally, the descent is the “dessert” after a hard climb—something to relish and enjoy. However, the hairpin turns meant lots of blind spots where we couldn’t see oncoming cars on the narrow road, plus the road itself was in poor repair in many spots, with large holes and uneven grades. The result was a steep, brake-gripping affair that made my hands cramp and my breaks squeal. Thankfully, with the big descent over, we had several smaller hills and descents to enjoy. It was yet another beautiful day of riding.
Day 7: Thunderstorm. 8 mi. All of the heat and humidity was bound to lead us to this day. The forecast called for over an inch of rain, so we canceled our last ride and decided to meet in the morning to return the bikes early. The storm hadn’t started yet, so I tried to get as many laps around the wall as I could (according to my Garmin, the wall is officially 2.88 miles in circumference), but only completed 8 miles before the first fat drops began to fall. Though I’m disappointed to lose our last day of riding, I could see how lucky we were to have had the weather we had. Before we arrived, the temperature was even hotter and now this thunderstorm is ushering in at least 10 days of intermittent rain. We seemed to have hit a sweet spot.
Later that evening, the group had one last dinner together before we all go our separate ways the next morning. This has been our evening ritual—finishing each day with laughter and camaraderie along with copious amounts of food, wine, and gelato. I’m sad to say goodbye to my friends, but at least I know I’ll be riding with them again when I return home, so it’s not goodbye for long. I’ve had an incredible time with them and can’t imagine a better group of people to have had this experience with, nor a more beautiful place to do it.
Now it’s time for the next part of my journey: Perugia.
tales of wander 
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