BAC Le Marche - The Adriatic Coast to the Sibylline Mountains 2010

Please visit today's slide show

Today’s ride was the easiest of the tour. There was very little climbing and lots of downhills. The weather was warm again with a slight overcast. Our route led us to Gradara – a town that has a castle dating back to the 15th century. Many of us stopped there even though it was a climb to get up to the historic area and the castle. Ann was there when I arrived. She took the castle tour while I wandered around for a few minutes and then took off.

The final part of our route went directly to the sea. Our cue sheets told us to turn left when we got to Gabicce Mara and follow the water to the hotel. So I did. And I was glad I did. I followed bicycle paths, boardwalks and local roads riding past beachside hotels, shops, restaurants, fishing boats, pleasure boats, beaches and much more. I little like Southern California but with an Italian twist.

Here is today's route.

I got to the Hotel Sarti in Riccione the same time as Ann. She checked us in while I took my bicycle apart and packed it. We learned that the hotel had plumbing problems so many of our group were checked into other hotels. We got an extra large room at Hotel Sarti facing the street.

After showering, I hopped in the rental car and drove one of our tour mates back to Urbino to pick up his luggage which he forget to load into the van in the morning.

Back at the hotel, we all went to the cyclist’s lunch. Then Ann and I took a walk on the beach. Being a warm day, a lot of people were out sunning and wading in the surf. It was apparent how much the Italians like their pasta. There were no hard-bodies at all. Most of the beach-goers were older and over-weight. It was a bizarre sight.

We had a Happy hour tonight. We gave Tom and Julie a card that everyone signed. Julie gave Ann a nice scarf in appreciation for helping transport people when they couldn’t do part of the ride.

Dinner was the Hotel Sarti antipasti buffet. For the main meal, I had pasta with shrimp and then rabbit while Ann had pasta with tomato sauce and bacon and then monk fish. She had a chocolate and pear torte for dessert while I had marzipan cake. We also had lots of wine. We had a great conversation at our table with Harold and Judy Ashby, Carol and Richard Patnoe and Bob Peterson.

Back at our room, we heard a roar of motorcycles on the street outside of our room. We went out on our balcony and watch hundreds of motorcycles go by. We don’t know what the event was, but the certainly made an impression.

At 9:45 and we are ready to go to bed.