Italy - Cycling in Albinia

Tuscany is home to some of the best cycling in the world, so we're traveling with a good friend: my bike. The Sci-Con travel case has performed as beautifully as it looks, is easy to maneuver, and (contrary to popular opinion and my own intuition) fits snugly in a station wagon with five bags, a baby and a stroller. This morning I unpacked and drove to a little farm town called Albinia, 30 minutes out of Porto Santo Stefano. The ride was relatively short, about an hour, but now that I have a little experience I plan to ride most days.

Today's highlights: Agriturismo upon agriturismo in gorgeous rolling farmland; angry bike-chasing Italian wolf/dog with apparently nothing else to do; discovering the Back to Start feature of my bike GPS, which is perfect for cycling unfamiliar territory in an unfamiliar country; and the tail 7 miles of my ride in the afternoon rain.

Orbea in January

While those in the eastern US are enjoying the more positive aspects of global warming, we westerners are encased in ice. It's about 10 degrees outside and should hit zero by midnight.

Today, however, it was much warmer: low 20s, sun shining, relatively clean air. So I went for a ride while Jaymi and Max went shopping. We arrived home at the exact same time (really), which turned out to be a convenient photo opp.

Today's destination was the Cows loop (so named because it passes cow pasture north of the airport. I do like cows.) Didn't actually make it that far due to frozen ears and a late start, but you can click the above link to view the regular route. Slick, ey? This all made possible by the Garmin Edge 305 GPS-based cycling computer, which is just about the coolest thing I've ever purchased. In addition to recording my exact coordinates on Earth with every pedal stroke, it keeps track of my heart rate and cadence. Unfortunately I rode sans-Garmin today, so the above link will show you a ride from August 8th of 2006 (which happens to be the last day I rode this particular Cows route before favoring the more interesting Emigration Canyon and Wasatch Loop.)