Had a delightful ride down the boardwalk where people were already gathering for a day on the beach. Once out of town, we enjoyed four miles of flat, shaded bliss in a cool 72 degree morning.  Then it was up and inland to climb the hill we had saved for the morning while we were fresh (ha, ha).  Once at the top, we continued to roll up and down the hills, through farmland and a pretty port town.Back into the trees, we enjoyed a ride much like going down Shore Drive (without the fast, inconsiderate drivers), complete with a military base, rather uncanny.

Two hours later we pedaled out of the woods into wide open fields and started to feel the wind in our face; not terriblelly strong, but tough enough to require extra effort to maintain the pace.  Shortly thereafter, the road we had planned to take to avoid a city, never materialized, only dirt farm roads to service the fields.

It was the first time the combination of our road map and computer had let us down, proving that all roads do NOT lead to Rome.  The one advantage of heading into the city is it gave us the opportunity to restock the dwindling water supply, as it had already hit 100 degrees on the bike.  Ran into Tom and Barbara (Augsberg, Germany) at that point, who had intended to follow the same road we had.  We discussed the route from here, as the map was only showing autostrada (interstate), wished each other luck and headed out.  As we approached the autostrada intersection, we were even more confused.  We tried every road that did not put us on the autostrada, but they all turned to dirt.  By this time, Tom and Barbara caught up with us and we jointly decided we had to get on; we were banking on safety in numbers.  Of course, the wind had picked up, making it definitely something to contend with, not something we needed on the highway.  We took the first exit we could which led us on a nice country road

and though we were still fighting the wind, we started to enjoy the ride again. We left Tom and Barbara under the shade of a tree as they took an afternoon break and we moved on.  The dry desert-like heat and wind were taking their toll and we bought water at any place we could find, which was very few and far between.  Had another short ride on the Autostrada until we could find a road (any road) to avoid the highway.  That of course, required more miles and a climb, but it wasn’t the highway.  One last stop for water, beer and rest in the shade before the end of our 5 hour, 59 mile ride…..we were ready!

It’s our last night in Tuscany, so we celebrated with traditional Tuscan fair: grilled vegetables, incredible steak (they really do beef right) and a delicious bottle of Toscana wine.