It was a good start of the day this morning at the TOSCANI DA SEMPRE in Pontassieve – with an excellent breakfast. Parma bacon with melons, small tomatoes, excellent cheese, all of it just tasting delicious. Since, however, the delicacies were not served before 8.30 a.m., we mounted our bikes as late as 10 o’ clock – and again it rained.
We had planned a lot. First we conquered a small pass to Vette le Croci (at an altitude of 536 metres), and then we went via Passo della Futa (923) and Passo della Raticosa (966) towards Bologna. And shortly before Bologna, we were on the outlook for a nice place from which to start our fourth leg towards the river Po.
And between Vetta le Croci and San Piero, we really got right into the worst of it: a volley of hailstorm and a miniature deluge. All we could do was find refuge at a Trattoria at San Piero. We were already wondering if it might not be a good idea to take the train from San Piero to Bologna.
But here it was again: the Italian sun. And eventually it lured us back onto our bikes. We were, however, rather late. And we had plenty of altitude to cover (almost 2,000 at a stretch of 82.4 kilometres).
Consequently, after rain showers, a long lunch pause and arduous moments on the hill, it was 6 p.m. by the time we arrived at the top of the Passa della Futa. And we conquered the Passa della Raticosa considerably later than 7.30 p.m.
During the descent, it was about time to look for a hotel – which was not easy at all. All the hotels seemed to be either closed (in Monghidoro), or else the hotel turned out to be a pensioner’s home, regardless of the sign saying it was a hotel (shortly afterwards). Since dusk was already approaching, I started to get worried if maybe the time had finally come for us to have to pitch our tent in a quiet corner surrounded by nothing but nature.
But in Loiana (at an altitude of 750 metres) we finally were successful shortly after 9 p.m.: the hotel Pineta had mercy with us two tired bikers. We were asked to hurry if we wanted dinner – but then all was well.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
P.S.
The three pictures (all of them were taken in the afternoon sun) fail to truly reflect all the beauty of the scenery.
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