Day 4 - Shopping in the Rain
It was cold and raining when we woke up today. There were three rides planned and not one of them took place. There was the scenic ride for the folks who just arrived and finally received their bikes after a US airline mishap, there was a fast and hard ride with Leopoldo, the local bike shop owner, and finally there was the slow-no-crying ride for Kim and George. At 7;30am however the phone was ringing and we learned that Italians are fair weather riders and Leopoldo was off for the daily ride. All the rides were cancelled because George also does not ride in the rain and instead he suggested that we all go to a cycling clothing factory to shop instead. Kim was immediately game for shopping and we all hopped in the bus and headed to the clothing factory. We emerged from the factory with massive bags of clothes and left 380 Euros behind…which was fine because we had the chance to buy some warm weather clothing which we needed very much given the cold temperatures we have been experiencing.
In the afternoon we returned to the Center and had another great lunch. The food here is excellent so I am not sure that we will end up losing any weight on this trip despite cycling daily. After lunch the weather was better so a few of us decided to go for a short ride up to Asolo again as it was truly a beautiful place which included a small climb to a cobblestoned square that was littered with cafes and expensive boutiques. The ride today included a 3km climb with some very steep sections hitting 21 degree gradients (unlike the other climb to Asolo we did which was easier). It could have been more but I had to keep my eyes on the narrow road instead of staring endlessly at my new Garmin 705 computer. The Garmin is very cool to have to record these rides and to know how much gradient I am fighting when I climb these hills and mountains. So despite all the rain we managed a 36km ride today with some great climbs and beautiful scenery.
Check out the ride http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6059958
Descending Asolo
Kim shopping at the bike clothing factory...