Italy Day 4 – Recovery Ride

After conquering Cippo yesterday, a recovery ride was on the cards. Quite when 54 miles with over 4000ft of climbing became a recovery day I don’t know!!

I also dug deep on all of the climbs too which was probably a mistake. I usually feel sore 2 days after a hard session so I will no doubt be properly suffering tomorrow.

Our guide today was the young Gianmaria again. Bruce join us today as well. We had a nice ride out and up into Coriana. I was feeling good so pushed hard on the climbs. The others sensibly held back so will no doubt punish me tomorrow.

The same was true for the longer climb up to Montescudo. I’ve kind of lost track of where we were and which bits were climbs but it was a case of going hard uphill stopping for a photo and then hanging on for the ride downhill.

We stopped for the views.

We stopped to chat to some goats.

We stopped for even better views.

We stopped for coffee.

Finally after a bonus climb up to a farmhouse restaurant we met up with another group for lunch.

Lunch

Numerous local traditional starters, red wine, homemade ravioli with local wild boar, homemade tagliatelle, cakes, very strong limoncello, a banana flavoured shot and a pernod style aniseed shot all washed down with coffee and banter.

Lunch was accompanied by entertainment from Paulo who would be guiding us home.

Homeward Bound

With storm clouds looming it was time to head back to Riccione. A short climb or two but the rest was fast and furious descents and an easy flat tide back. I’m usually useless at the descents. Chris on the other hand was flagged as ‘crazy’ on the descents on the very first ride. He usually leaves me trailing in his wake once the gradients head down or there are any tight bends. The wine and shots seemed to have worked miracles on my fear of descending though. I kept up easily taking the corners well without touching the brakes. Maybe I’ll have to start carrying a hip flask to the top of the climbs as well as a water bottle. We arrived back safe and sound just before the thunderstorms kicked off. Perfect timing and another good ride. I felt good all day so will no doubt be struggling tomorrow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Avatar forComment Author

Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.