San Francisco

On the way home from Italy, I stopped for two days in San Francisco.

SF has a diverse, vibrant bike culture that makes it a great town for bikeshop crawling.
My flight got in at midday, allowing time for raid via Bay Area Rapid Transit on Jitensha Studio in Berkeley, where I bought a couple of tee shirts to avert a laundry crisis, and a handful of Honjo mudguard fittings for a carbon-fibre fender project.
The Berkeley BART station has a Bike Station providing secure bike parking and bike repairs for commuters.

Last Friday of the month is Critical Mass night, which I remembered too late to join in, but the Mass went past my hotel, noisy, good natured, and taking several minutes to go by.

Saturday morning saw me back on BART, heading for Walnut Creek and the World Headquarters of Rivendell Bicycle Works. I took the Breakaway, planning to go for a ride up Mount Diablo or perhaps head for Sausalito in the PM, but ended up taking one of Rivendell's Rambouillet demo bikes a short way up Diablo instead.
Its a dangerous place to take your credit card, and so I departed with a couple of wool jerseys, a a pair of Nitto Noodle Bars for the Ritchey, and a few other essential widgets.

Sunday morning I caught the MUNI bus up Haight St, which was still in Kris Kristofferson mode, headed for the bike shops on Stanyan St.
There seem to be few less shops there than when I first visited in 1990. It was always a cheap thrill to venture into Velo-City to get your fair share of abuse from owner Holland Jones, who once lambasted me for my 'colonial' accent.

Fortunately, American Cyclery is still there, with its mix of old, and new-but-interesting.

Once I had exhausted the delights of Stanyan St, I hopped back on the MUNI bus for a few blocks, then embarked on a death march along Steiner St in search of City Cycle, who cater to the Very Big Wanker demographic. Despite being in loose control of two still-functional credit cards I managed to walk away without a new Serotta or seven.

Volterra - Massa Marittima - Milan

The 65kms along route No.439 from Volterra to Massa Marittima caught me by surprise. I did not give much consideration to the map, and found myself grovelling. Not that I wasn't expecting some climbing- the first 8kms descended back to Saline de Volterra, and everywhere is uphill from there.

The scenery is somewhat unusual- miles of shiny silverpiping snakes through the hills, and sometimes across the roads, feeding steam to the geothermal power station at Larderello.
The chimneys appear to vent steam from pools of hot water at their base.

25th of April is a public holiday in Italy, in commemoration of Italy's liberation from Fascism in WW2. I was expecting some extra traffic on the roads, but the Italian motoring public seemed to have stayed at home, except for groups of motorcyclists who all thought they were Valentino Rossi, or given their age, perhaps Giacomo Agostini.

I got to Massa Marittima in time for lunch in the town square, before finding my hotel and packing my bike.


The next day the people from the hotel dropped me at the bus stop to begin my return to Milan. After the bus trip to Follonica, I caught the train via Genova to Milan , thence to Saronno via the local Ferrovie Nord service.

RIGI Sighting

While I was finding my way out of Siena this morning I spotted this RIGI leant outside a hairdressing salon.
The owner came out to talk to me, but the usual communication problems applied. I think he was telling me that this bike is unique. It is certainly unusual insofar as the frame appears to be fillet brazed, while most RIGI frames are lugged.

More photos here on the Wool Jersey Gallery.

Siena to Volterra

Last year I rode in the opposite direction from Volterra to Siena, so I made an effort today to find another route.
I wasn't entirely successful, missing a planned turn early on, but I found an alternative a few kms later that took me away from my previously beaten path.

It is unseasonably hot here, and I was happy to find an osteria in San Dalmazia just when I was starting to wilt. A plate of ravioli, some salad and a beer saw me right.

Last year I arrived in Volterra a total wreck, unprepared for the 450m climb to the town. I was better prepared this time, with plenty of water for rehydration and cooling.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Massa Marittima, hopefuly to be reunited with my bike case and other possessions, before catching the train back to Milan on Thursday.

Siena, again

This morning I was still munted from yesterday's exertions, so I decided on an easy day.

Radda to Siena is only 28kms, too easy, so I took a detour via the part of the percorso Eroica, starting with the downhill strada bianca through Vertine which is the last section of the 200km ride.

After stopping for coffee in the square at Gaiole, I followed the Eroica signage through three or four stretches of strada biancha before I missed a sign and found myself in sight of Siena's towers. I followed a couple of backroads in the hope of finding lunch at a rustic osteria, but they were dead-ends.

Finally, I got lunch, and Big Boy of Birra Moretti in a restaurant decorated with photos of il Palio, the annual horse race held in the main square of Siena.

Back in Italy

Actually, I've been back here for a week, but Italy's quaint laws about public internet access make internet cafes few and far between.

This afternoon I'm in Radda in Chianti, where I stayed last year for Eroica.
This morning I started in San Gimignano, riding my Ritchey Breakaway to Greve in Chianti for lunch, thence to Radda by the scenic route. I should have had dessert in Greve too, as my bowl of traditional Tuscan bean soup was well & truly burned up on the 8km climb from Dudda through Torsoli.

Yesterday I rode to San Gimigano from Massa Marittima, where I had spent three days at the Continental International Marketing meeting. Click here for a map.

Tomorrow's itinerary is somewhat vague.
If I'm feeling sharp in the morning, I'll head for a new location, if not I'll try to get a second night at the pricey Hotel Radda and do a short loop around Chianti country.