San Lorenzo Nuovo to Rome

So I haven't updated my blog in quite some time, sorry about that. As I guess many of you would know, I'm now back in sunny Melbourne. The weather here is just amazing compared to what I experienced in Europe for the last 3 weeks of my trip, it's currently 40.5 degrees Celsius outside.
I plan to write the rest of my blog over the next few weeks, covering the last 3 weeks between Rome and London before I flew back to Australia for Christmas. Also since I'm now on a desktop (as opposed to my iPhone), I'll be able to include photos from my Canon Ixus 85IS compact camera rather than just photos from my iPhone which are of poorer quality.
I'll now take you back to Tuscany, where I rode from San Lorenzo Nuovo to Rome.

Monday November 29, 2010
I didn't sleep very well at all, the hard uncomfortable ground and the fact that I'd slept so much the day before meant I had a very patchy sleep. I didn't get up at 4 am because it was still raining. It was still raining at 5 am and 6 am too, so I turned my alarm off and woke up at 8 am, it had finally stopped raining and the sky was clearing up. About time!

A view of a large lake I had to skirt around, called Lake Bolsena, in Italy.

I packed up and headed off, and stopped about 10 km down the road when I found a supermarket. There I grabbed some milk and ate breakfast.
I was grateful for the fine weather but not for the sub-standard Italian roads. All day I was on narrow roads with constant traffic. I had to thank my lucky stars that I wasn't hit by a car.
After about 80 km, I was 40 km from Rome. I'd been making good progress when all of a sudden, the road I was on turned into an Autostrade, which cyclists aren't allowed to ride on. I checked the map for a suitable alternate route but there were none. The only ways I could go were huge detours, either to the coast or further inland. I went for the inland route, since I planned to take the coastal route on the way back out of Rome.
This detour would have added a good 30 or 40 km onto the trip distance.
So because of this, it got dark well before I was near Rome.
I ran out of energy at about 4:30 pm, so had stop for a late lunch and finished the last of my left over stroganoff which I cooked in Siena.
I listened to podcasts along the way when I could, but often there was too much noise from the traffic. The situation got worse as I approached Rome; the roads got busier and were still narrow, then it became a dual carriageway, and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to ride on it. Either way, I didn't feel safe or comfortable. So when the bike path started about 10 km from Rome, I was keen to get onto it. This proved much more difficult than expected and than it should have been but after hitting several dead-ends, I got onto it (see the map of my track, the bike path follows along the river).
Then, after I'd been on the bike path for only a kilometre or two, the path was closed off, because some of the wooden planks on a bridge were broken, and I couldn't get past the block. So then I spent the next hour or so trying to get back onto the bike path. I eventually did, but it was so difficult it was ridiculous, ended up taking a dirt track where a few vicious dogs chased me, and I was worried they would bite my leg.
The frustrations of cycling in Rome didn't stop there though. There were lots of little narrowed sections designed to stop cars and motorbikes, but they were so narrow that I struggled to get the loaded bike through them. Then there were things like steps on the bike path, and no bike path where my map said there was meant to be one. Oh, and it started raining too, so I couldn't easily look at my map. The whole experience of cycling there in Rome was inconvenient and frustrating.
Once in the city, I found some Wi-Fi and picked out half a dozen of the most suitable hostels from hostel world. I didn't think any would be full, so I just wrote down the address of one and went there. Unfortunately they were full though, except for a few €28 beds, much too expensive!
It was about 10 pm, steadily raining. I rode into the city a bit further, in search of Wi-Fi to look up more hostels. I found a sketchy connection outside a cafe/bar, so I sat down there under the canvas to shelter from the rain.
There was a middle aged Italian man and two middle aged Italian women sitting at the table beside me. 

Some Italian locals in Rome.

They asked if I needed any help (they spoke English well enough for us to talk). I told them I was looking for a hostel. The bloke said he knew where one was nearby, and he described how to get there.

However, I stayed there to look up hostels, but the Wi-Fi connection wasn't working at all. We chatted a bit; I told them I was from Australia and about my trip (the usual). We introduced ourselves, the blokes name was Donato, the blonde woman was his ex-girlfriend, Daniella, and the brunette woman was Daniella's sister, Gabriella.
After a few minutes, Donato told me to follow him and he'd show me where the hostel was. Daniella said she'd watch my bike.
The hostel was only a minute or two's walk away, there were actually two right beside each other. It turned out that one of them was full, and the other ones reception was closed, so no luck there. We walked back to the bar and sat down. They kindly bought me a pot of camomile and lemon tea, and Daniella gave me her fur cardigan. These were just what I needed since I was getting cold. We chatted more, Daniella kept smiling kindly at me. She could speak the best English of the three of them. She told me the reason Donato liked me and was being friendly because I was a cyclist - he was also a cyclist apparently. He got me to feel his leg quadricepts. They mentioned a few times that they were all crazy. But also that they had good hearts so I needn't worry. Donato would also randomly break out into song.
Anyway, Donato offered for me to stay on the sofa in their flat, but warned that the flat was very small. I went along with it.
The four of us walked up to Donato's flat, and yes it was very small. We rearranged every item of furniture in the flat (that is, the sofa, a cabinet, a table and a coffee table) to create more space.
We all hung out in the flat for a while. Donato had a guitar so I had a strum on that.

Donato having a strum on his guitar in his flat in Rome.

Daniella told me she broke up with Donato because he was too crazy. But she said he was the best man she'd ever met, and they seemed very close. Donato had said a similar thing to me about Daniella.
I ate choc-chip biscuits and mandarins for tea, and a little later Gabriella went home since she had work the next morning. Donato and Daniella headed off to get pizza and go to some clubs. They actually both work at a club called rHome, one of them is the manager.
I decided not to go with them and went to sleep on their sofa at about 3am. It wasn't where I expected to be for my first night in Rome, but I was happy to be there, I'm always up free spontaneous accommodation.

My bed for the night in Donato's apartment on Via Cavour, Rome.

My route for the day, San Lorenzo Nuovo to Rome.

An overview of my route so far, from France to Italy.

Ride Stats:
Distance: 172.96 km
Average: 19.2 km/h
Maximum: 57.2 km/h
Time: 8:59:14
Total ascent: 1244 m
Total descent: 1650 m


Route Map:
http://maps.google.com/?t=p&z=15&ll=42.688220,11.904607&q=http://share.gps.motionxlive.com/shr/x/kmz/e93f4cca6553c3c27dc2a34651772b9d

San Lorenzo Nuovo

Sunday November 28, 2010
During the night it started raining, and it sounded very heavy. The sound of the drops falling on the tent was so loud that it was hard to sleep.
When it became lighter in the morning, it was still steadily raining, so I kept dozing. The rain continued the whole morning, so I just kept dozing, even though I didn't need the sleep, I would have happily gotten up at 7 am but I didn't want to get up in the rain.

Looking out my tent from inside, unwilling to get up in the rain, in San Lorenzo Nuovo.

My campsite for the night, and indeed the whole day and the following night, in San Lorenzo Nuovo.

I drew the line at 12:30 pm and got out of bed. This gave me 14 hours of sleep! Although most if it wasn't proper sleep, I was often only just in the sleep realm, dreaming a lot. And it seemed my dreams were melding with reality because they were centred around rain. I dreamed that I'd set the tent up in a bit of a ditch, and because of all the rain, a steam started flowing right under, and into, the middle of the tent.
This wasn't far from the truth as I discovered when I got up, water had soaked through the base of the tent, and outside the whole ground was like one big puddle, water everywhere! I started packing up and ate breakfast inside the tent because it was still raining. Then I thought "okay, I'll just wait a little longer, it's been raining all night and all morning so it will have to stop soon. I waited, and listened to podcasts of Dr Karl on triple j in the meantime. It continued to rain, and I just couldn't bring myself to pack up and start riding in the rain. Besides, I'd woken up with a bit of a blocked nose and sore throat, and I didn't want to make myself sick by riding in the rain.
One of the local residents must have noticed me camping there because he came out to see how I was going. He couldn't speak much English but I got that he was offering for me to sleep in the back of his van where it was warmer and drier than the tent. I think he was a tradie of some kind, and his van smelt of fumes. I politely declined the offer.
Then he asked if I liked pasta and lasagne, and I was like "yeah, definitely", and he was like "you wait here, and in five minutes, I come back". Sure enough, in five minutes he returned back with a plate of lasagne and a bag of mandarins. What a kind man!

A meal of lasagna and pork ribs donated to me by a local resident of San Lorenzo Nuovo.

As the hours passed by, the option of spending the whole day in the tent and camping there the night was becoming more likely, I was convincing myself of this. It was still 130 odd kilometres to Rome, and call me soft, but I really didn't fancy riding for seven hours in the rain, it would just be miserable. I knew it would put pressure on me later on in the trip, trying to get back to London in time, but i thought this would be better.
After making this decision, I wanted it to rain heaps justify my decision.
Speaking of the word 'heaps', I'm conscious of whenever I use it now, because Simon, the guy from Bavaria, indicated that it was fairly uniquely Australian thing to say and that Europeans typically didn't use the word. I use it all the time though.
I had another dream that I just remembered too: We were catching a bus, not sure why or where, but it was in Victoria. And at one point we stopped in the main street of a town and I met Colin Lane's family, he had lots of brothers who all looked similar so I wasn't sure which one Colin was. And I think it was Josh Cowan [friend from college] who was telling me while we were on the bus something like "yeah the amount of rain we've been getting is astonishing, we've had 500 mm and 600 mm in the last two days", and I was like "wow, Melbourne's average annual rainfall is only 600 mm."
At one point I smelt smoke from a wood fire and it made me nostalgic of camping in Australia. I think The experience of camping is greatly enhanced by having a camp fire. One of my favourite parts of camping is having a yarn with friends around the campfire while drinking beers. And call me bogan, but I reckon one of the best beers for camping is VB in cans. I don't drink it normally but for some reason it tastes really good when you're camping.
So I guess I've been camping for about half the trip so far, and this is one aspect of camping I miss.
Anyway, the plan for the day was to temporarily adopt the lifestyle of a cat, and go to bed early even though I'd woken up at 12:30 pm and had fourteen hours sleep. Then I would wake up really early the next morning (I'm talking 4 am or a little later if it's raining) and set off to Rome. I have to go tomorrow morning whether it's raining or not, I'm not going to waste another day in the tent.

Ride stats:
No riding

Siena to San Lorenzo Nuovo

Saturday November 27, 2010
Due to my late bed time, I decided not to set the alarm for 7 am as previously planned, but went for 8:30 am instead, giving me almost three hours sleep :(
This wasn't good for Maja though, since I'd told her I was getting up at 7 am and I was her emergency alarm - she had an exam at 8:30 am. And as it turned out, she was fast asleep at 8:30 am when I got up, so I had to wake her up. She got up quick as a flash, went into panic mode and rushed off to her exam.
Luckily for her, she got in and everyone was twiddling their thumbs because the lecturer was late. This would never happen at Melbourne Uni! They seem a bit more laid back at the University of Siena. She can thank the lazy Italians.
I spent the morning packing up all my stuff and downloaded a few maps.

I was just about ready to go but Rosanna had to rush off to the police station to get her permit of residency card, since they are only open until 11:30 am two days per week. She forgot a form so I had to run it to her. I wandered back to the flat and took a few photos on the way:

Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

A building by the Piazza del Camp, Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

Piazza del Camp, Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

Heading out of one of the city gates of Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

I finally headed off at around lunch time.
It was sad to leave; I'd really enjoyed my stay in Siena. I left a bottle of wine for each of them to show my appreciation for them having me stay in their beautiful flat. To be honest, I wasn't itching to get back on the bike. Somehow the joy of cycling has gone for me at the moment. I don't know what it is. I must have killed it by doing too much cycling in a short space of time.
The scenery wasn't too bad.

Tuscan countryside. On the Strada Cassia Sud, past Cerchiaia, Italy.

Tuscan countryside. On the Strada Cassia Sud approaching Colle Malamerenda, Italy.

Tuscan countryside. On the Via Cassia, past San Quirico d'Orcia.

Me on the road again, on the Via Cassia, past San Quirico d'Orcia.

I was also glad that the weather was sunny, since it had been raining for the previous week.

I listened to podcasts for most of the way. Hamish and Andy had their moments but it wasn't that interesting for me. I think their show is too mainstream for me; they talk too much about pop music and pop culture. I've never been a fan of commercial radio.
Then it was Dr Karl on triple j, always a good listen. The podcasts helped the kilometres pass by; I don't know how I've done without them for the whole trip.

On the Via Cassia, near Bagno Vignoni, Italy.

On the Via Cassia as the sun sets in Italy.

As it got dark, it also got really cold, right down to zero degrees. I had to ride with my polar fleece jacket, and I was still cold!
I could really do with some company I reckon, someone to ride with.
I was so tired after three hours sleep that I was almost falling asleep on the bike. So after 100 km I finally spotted somewhere to pitch the tent - an open patch of grass with a few seats, right next to the main road in a little town. I didn't think it being open would be a problem though.
I spent a while trying to find a toilet, then ate left over stroganoff for tea and set up the tent. I really miss staying with Rosie in Siena already. She's got a really good set up there, living in a beautiful city with a beautiful flat, good friends and her being able to speak Italian, I must say I'm a little jealous. I wish I could have stayed longer and done some more sight-seeing with Rosanna but I need to get to London in time to catch my plane and like Rosanna said, if I stayed much longer her housemates would probably start asking me for rent.
I could easily live in Siena though, for a stint.
Having to set the tent up, on your own, in the cold, really makes you appreciate having a house to stay in and friends to talk to.
As Dappled Cities Fly said [an Australian Indie rock band], "Is it the night that makes the day seem bright?"

My route for the day, Siena to San Lorenzo Nuovo, Italy.

An overview of my route so far from France to Italy.

Ride stats:
Distance: 107.43 km
Average: 18.1 km/h
Maximum: 53.4 km/h
Time: 5:55:29
Total ascent: 871 m
Total descent: 759 m

Siena 12

Friday November 26, 2010
So today was to be the day I finally left the lovely Siena, but you know how sometimes time just gets away from you? It always seems to get away from me, anyway. I just can't get a hold of it. Time is fascinating, I think about it all the time, it's such an important thing. I'm always so conscious of trying to use my time effectively, and always like to be doing something.

Rosie and Pedro in their living room in Siena.

During the mid-afternoon, it was so cold that it briefly snowed! I was chilling here outside the economics faculty.

Out the back of the Economics Factulty at the University in Siena.

In the late afternoon, I was still working on the web-log, and Sam came over. I got distracted with music, and playing the guitar with them.

Rosie and Sam playing the guitar.

Rosie and Sam playing the guitar.

And then it was dark. Hmm. I've left in the dark before, Vienna for example. I hadn't eaten since breakfast though, so I rode to the supermarket, bought food for tea and for the trip. I decided it wasn't worth heading off that night and that I'd head off early in the morning instead, and be fully ready to go.
Rosie and I cooked pancakes for tea, with Nutella and ice-cream.

Rosie cooking pancakes for tea.

Rosie eating a pancake with Nutella for tea.

Maja eating a pancake for tea.

Then I cooked a beef stroganoff to take with me for lunch.
A few people came over to hang out. Notice how all these Europeans smoke. Not good!

Some of Rosie's friends in Siena.

Folks hanging out in Rosie's living room in Siena. Rosie on the left, Sam on the right.

I opted not to go to a party at Mo's place with everyone else, so that I could be fully organised and ready to go in the morning.
Then it started snowing, it was amazing!

Standing just outside Rosie's flat in Siena, with light snow falling.

Standing just outside Rosie's flat in Siena, with light snow falling. 

Thinking I had plenty of time though, I went into inefficient mode, and so I was up until after 5 am, still not organised. I'll have to pack up in the morning, and download maps in the morning before I leave.
But hey, at least I've brought my blog fully up to date, for the first time since the start of the trip! Now I just have to keep it up-to-date.

Ride stats:
Distance: 4.24 km
Average: 15.9 km/h
Maximum: 39.3 km/h
Time: 16:09

Siena 11

Thursday November 25, 2010
So today was to be my last day in Siena, I planned to head off the next morning, just had a few tasks to finish off, including finally getting the web-log up-to-date, which I worked on all day.
When you wake up at 1 o'clock and it gets dark at 4:30 pm, the days seem so short!
For tea I borrowed Rosie's Mensa card and went there on my own, since she'd gone to volleyball training.

Dinner at the Mensa in Siena.

After midnight, Rosie returned, with Sam, who despite being pretty tired was insisting that I come out since it was my last night in Siena. I still had a few things to organise (blog posting, buying supplies, washing, packing, downloading maps, backing up photos, booking a hostel for London) but I figured I could do that later. So we drank a bottle of wine between us while playing a cool little drinking card game that Sam taught us. Then we headed out at about 2:30 am, the bar was just closing but we caught lots of people we knew outside the bar and chatted to them.

Out the front of one of the bars in Siena. Sam Conix in the centre.

Out the front of one of the bars in Siena. Derick on the right.

Out the front of one of the bars in Siena. 

Afterwards we walked home again; I worked on my blog and backed up my photos, and got to sleep at about 7 am. Man, my sleeping pattern has gotten so out of whack. It's almost a full 180 degrees out of phase with the sleeping pattern I had in the week preceding my arrival in Vienna, where I was waking up at 6:30 am every day, as opposed to sleep at 6:30 am!
So I still have a few things to do tomorrow, it will probably be a late departure.

Ride stats:
No riding

Siena 10

Wednesday November 24, 2010
Really not much to say today but I'll still post this post since I'm posting a post for every day.
The only thing I did was write my blog. I quite enjoy writing, but I'm getting rather sick of it now, I wish it was all already written. Why do I always have to go into so much detail? I just can't help it.
The only other thing I can say is that Rosanna is being quarrelsome again. I think she's sick of me being in her space, and on her computer all day. She thinks I'm being ungrateful for all her hospitality and hosting (untrue allegations of course, I'm very grateful that she's having me here, especially for so long). She also can't understand why I'm not getting out and about to see places and thinks I'm missing the opportunity while I'm here in Europe. Of course I'm conscious that my time here is limited, but as I've mentioned, I'm not satisfied not having my blog up to date, so it's high on the priority list and I'm focussed on it now. It's different for her, since she's been living in a fixed location for the last three or four months and going out on occasional day-trips or weekend trips, whereas I've been on the go for two months straight and haven't stayed put in one spot for more than a few days, so I'm happy to stay in the one spot for a while for once. I guess I've satisfied that urge now though, and I now I need to get going very soon.

Ride stats:
No riding

Siena 9

Tuesday November 23, 2010

The view from Rosie's balcony in Siena.

I really don't have much to blog about today, since I spent all day inside trying to catch up on my blog - again. I'm just not going to be satisfied until I've documented my trip up to date, I like having things organised and complete. I am actually keen to hit the road again, I think I'll have to go by Thursday whether I'm ready or not. I think I'm outstaying my welcome at Rosie's place, but I'm very grateful to her and her housemates for having my stay so long, I've been here for almost a week and a half and the time has just flown by.
If I don't get going soon, I'm going to start losing fitness too. Already I've noticed that I've put on weight - seriously, I have noticeably more fat on my belly, and I don't like it at all! I'd be interested to weigh myself if I could find a set of scales.
We've had wet and showery weather for the last four or five days, so hopefully I'll get all the wet weather out of the way before I start riding again.
For quite some time now I've been having to put up with my pants continually falling down, since the button has come off on both my pairs of pants (I only brought two with me, and they're both exactly the same, except one pair is medium and one is small). Today Rosie kindly bought me some assorted needles from the 99 cents store, so I sewed the button back on each pair of pants using the cotton and buttons I found on the ground at a flea market in Brussels when I was there several weeks ago.
Rosie also had her exam today, which she's been studying hard for the past few days. She said it was so easy. It was a two hour exam, but she walked out after forty minutes because she couldn't add anything more to her responses.
I also got a call from Leah on Skype, who told me Silkom is really sick at the moment, and has either tonsillitis or glandular fever :(
Okay, since I haven't got much to say, I'll keep this one short and leave it at that.

Ride stats:
No riding

Siena 8

Monday November 22, 2010

A few detailed sculptures at the Piazza del Campo, Siena.

I'm getting into a bit of a pattern here in Siena. Staying up late so I can use Rosie's laptop to type my blog, and consequently getting up late (around mid-day), and writing my blog. I never realised it could take so long to write a blog! It's getting out of hand. So yeah, that's what I've been doing today, not too much else to say.
I went for a wander to the Mensa after breakfast and found Rosanna there, then wandered back to the flat again.

Rosie, Pedro and Maja studying in their living room in Siena.

The most exciting part of the day was tea; we went to a Chinese restaurant with the Conix's: Sam, Eva, Bart and Merline. Stijn and Lise had already gone home for uni classes and work respectively.
As always, it was difficult to decide on what to order, since there were so many options. I ended up going with spring rolls, then mixed fried seafood which was just calamari and shrimp (quite a mix, hey?).

At a Chinese restaurant for tea in Siena. Mixed fried seafood.

At a Chinese restaurant for tea in Siena. Sam, Merline and Rosie.

At a Chinese restaurant for tea in Siena. Rosanna clearly enticed by the fish.

At a Chinese restaurant for tea in Siena. Bart and Eva.

At a Chinese restaurant for tea in Siena.

At a Chinese restaurant for tea in Siena: Eva, Sam and Merline.

Conversation covered various topics, such as Belgian beer. Bart reckons three of the top five beers in the world are Belgian, and that monks in convents brew beer and make cheese, because traditionally that's all they're allowed to do.
We also learnt a bit about Bart and Merline's history. Bart grew up in Leuven, and he met Merline in Leuven. Bart is a back surgeon and Merline is a hand surgeon, but Rosie reckons they don't really like their jobs and want to retire soon. Bart is actually very interested in farming, so he's been asking a lot about our farm at home.
They lived in Africa, in Zimbabwe for five years. And one time there was music concert there with artists including Simon and Garfunkel, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman and I forget who else. But how good would that have been?! It was a protest gig for something or another to do with South Africa.
Rosie also asked Sam's parents what Sam was like when he was younger. Apparently he was a bit of a pyro, and would light little fires on the floor inside. One time he lit a piece of paper on fire, then put it out and thew it in the bin and went downstairs to tea. When he went back up to his room 20 minutes later, the whole place was filled with smoke. Merline put on the wet towell and went in, and the whole bin was on fire, so they had to carry it outside and let it burn out.
I think everyone's a bit of a pyro at heart though, it's natural to be fascinated or attracted to fire, right? I used to love burning off in the Wombat Forest with my friend Chris Nixon and his old man Bob at their place. One time we played this game where me, Chris, Tom and maybe Charley were the firelighters and Robin was the fire-fighter. So our goal was to run around the bush and light fires wherever we could, try to get lots of fires going, and Robin had to chase around after us and put our fires out. At one point I found a mass of dry eucalyptus leaves and lit them up, Robin had no chance of putting that one out! That was the end of the game, we stopped and watched it burn and made sure it didn't get out of hand. Don't worry, this was a very safe game.
Anyway, back to the restaurant...the food was good but we couldn't finish it. I ate as much as I could: Sam's left over fish, Rosie's left over tofu, Merline's left over fish dish, some of Bart's left over duck, and some of the left over curried rice and fried rice. It was a shame to see some of the rice go to waste but I really couldn't fit it in.
Rosie also told the story of the time when me, her, Rachel and Silkom were in Shanghai Dumpling in Chinatown in Melbourne once, and Silkom went to get us all Chinese tea. She came back with the tea and she was the first to try it. She'd never had it before, she took a sip and was like "hmm...I don't think I like Chinese tea." It turned out she'd actually accidentally gotten soya sauce instead of Chinese tea, hahaha, so funny.
And Marline is learning Arabic, has been for about four years. The whole family knows several languages. Dutch is their native language, but they can all speak English very well. And I think they all know French and some German too. Eva's and Sam's German is supposedly quite good. And Sam and Lise also know Spanish, Lise went on Erasmus to Spain. And Stijn also knows Portuguese. So this is a typical European family for you. Man I feel so inferior to these Europeans, I know only one language and everyone else seems to know at least three! Fair enough though, it's much more important to know all these languages if you live in Europe, considering all the bordering countries they have.
The Conix's are a lovely family, they all get along well and seem really close. They're just a really well functioning family, there doesn't seem to be any dysfunctionality in it, on the surface anyway.
After three hours in the overheated restaurant, we walked back to their apartment, said our goodbyes (the Belgian way of saying goodbye is one kiss on the right cheek), and walked back home.

Out the front of Rosie's flat in Siena.

Out the front of Rosie's flat in Siena.

Then I spent the rest of the night writing my blog, and being frustrated with the blog app (BlogPress) because it crashed and lost the post I'd just spent an hour or two putting together.
So it was another late night, in bed at about 6 am, and the pattern continues.

Ride stats:
Distance: 1.25 km
Average: 10.7 km/h
Maximum: 26.0 km/h
Time: 7:02