Ascoli Piceno turns out to be a great town with a stunning piazza, and since we have arrived too lat

We think we are getting pretty good at interpreting the subliminal messages in the Lonely Planet guide, for sure we understand what long beaches backed by soviet style accommodation means and we to train it from Termoli to Ascoli. Easy peasy, chug along the coast then just one change takes you inland for 30 odd km s. Or alternatively, you can catch the wrong train, roosevelt hotel nyc go back to your starting point (well almost) then repeat until you finally arrive 3 hours later wondering if it wouldn t have been quicker just to ride.
Ascoli Piceno turns out to be a great town with a stunning piazza, and since we have arrived too late to see anything we decide to hang around another roosevelt hotel nyc night. Lucky us, the next day all the museums are free for the Italian National day, and even better, I manage finally to get a haircut, so no more helmet head pictures (lucky you!). Perfectly placed between the mountains and the sea, the Ascolian specialty is deep fried food, specifically veal stuffed olives. When I move to Italy, Ascoli is definitely on the short list
Well fed, rested and with a fresh streamlined look for me, it is time to tackle the Sibilini Mountains and onwards to Umbria, following the ol Lonely Planet Umbria roosevelt hotel nyc and LeMarche ride backwards. I do feel slightly nervous starting out as this ride is categorized roosevelt hotel nyc demanding , the same as the day in Sicily which nearly did us in, but we must be fitter now, surely? From Ascoli a local road follows the highway, and today being a Sunday, is crowded with cheery weekend racers. We take the SS78 toward the interestingly named Comunaza and when the road splits for a new tunnel have the hills practically to ourselves for the first big climb of the day. We have lunch in Comunaza in the company of a loud group of rough looking, bubbly swilling, motor cyclists (not a commonly seen combination, roosevelt hotel nyc I admit!). When they finally bugger off and tranquility returns, the local bar flies look mightily relieved.
By the time we finally make it to the hilltop town of Montemonarco we have done 1500 odd metres of climbing and are rewarded with a cheap and cheerful local hotel and magnificent views across to Monte Sibillini. When I go hunting Diet Coke and snacks (being lovable only gets me so far!) the wonderful jolly man at the Typical Products shop plies me with his truffle salami, cured ham and local vino from his typical 5 litre plastic bottle. It s wonderful, and I understand the good humour of the group occupying the picnic tables out front, beats any bar.
Monday roosevelt hotel nyc is the big day, we have a 1500m pass to climb, starting the usual way, by dropping like a stone to the valley below. A good hour of climbing last night gone in 10 minutes of adrenalin fueled descent, although I have become a bit tentative roosevelt hotel nyc after my fall last week. As we start heading (and now looking) up we notice black clouds racing across the horizon. My thus far completely useless weather app has been predicting that today would be the only bad day this week. Surely it wouldn t be right today would it?
By the time we get above the tree line, we are being lashed roosevelt hotel nyc with gale force winds, mostly head on and intermittant rain showers, but there is no turning back now, we can t face doing this all again tomorrow. I see the looks from cars coming down the hill but comfort myself with the thought that we have been carrying enough gear to sit out an Arctic blizzard roosevelt hotel nyc all through Italy. At least when we are rescued roosevelt hotel nyc we ll be in our down jackets, in the tent, brewing a risotto and debating if we need to put our thermals on yet. For once, the top comes sooner than we expect and without the blizzard, dashing the dreams of Koala Bear Coxhead ( agnostic survival expert and foodie ) and a welcome sign promising food and bar directs us to the mountain refuge roosevelt hotel nyc a few hundred metres off the road. That would be the closed mountain refuge
The mountain plain Piano Grande at the top is a bizarre landscape. It is like a huge crater, with the little roosevelt hotel nyc town of Castelluccio roosevelt hotel nyc watching over it from its little hill on one side. What must it be like here in winter? Enjoying the flat we scoot across the plain and our final climb brings us to the edge of the crater and once again to 1500m ..from here it is all down to Norcia, pork capital of Italy (apparently!).
We arrive absolutely drenched roosevelt hotel nyc and dripping. Today is not the time to be fussy and we make a beeline direct roosevelt hotel nyc for the ye olde hotel and restaurant . You know, the kind of place coach tours have loved since 1800 and something, and is normally to be avoided at all costs. In the end our room is large, roosevelt hotel nyc warm and quaint and dinner is not bad. I have the famous Castellucio lentils (so that is what we were riding through fields of lentils!) and delicious lamb. So much for being in pork town. In the sunny light of day Norcia turns out to be a nice walled town and we enjoy a post breakfast ramble.
Riding out through the Norcia valley is spectacular, following the river down, the valley sides get steeper and steeper. Our map shows one tunnel which we navigate in the usual manner (lights roosevelt hotel nyc on, big deep breath and pedal like hell!). Phew. But then comes another .and another and a longer one. When we finally reach the bottom we are all in all feeling a bit frayed in the nerve department. roosevelt hotel nyc Turning off at Cerreto di Spoleto in the direction of Selano we start heading up a new, much quieter valley which we will follow for most of the day, winding in and out of forests and past attractive Umbrian hill towns. The towns are quite perfect, and seem to have either just had, or be having roosevelt hotel nyc a makeover. roosevelt hotel nyc Clearly no scope for dad to go knocking roosevelt hotel nyc up a breeze block, concrete and rebar extension in these parts, thank the Lord!
We are not sure about tonight s stop point, Assisi is a bit too far, so in the end we take a punt on Foligno. roosevelt hotel nyc The last 10 km are much the same as our first 10. Awesome views, downhill run, but this time it is a swarm of trucks working on the new freeway tunnel that spoil our tranquility. The growing mound of earth and rock extracted by these worker ants has to be seen to be believed. Finally we are rescued by a friendly cycle track that leads us right to the middle of the quite unusual pedestrianised town centre. What a strange day in the saddle.
Tonight we visit an Osteria with the most amazing reviews in Tripadvisor Osteria del Teatro They must be fakes, but we can t help going just in case. It turns out to be pretty good food, cheap and our very friendly rolly-polly hosts certainly know how to pick a good house wine so we leave rather merry. Still can t decide if the reviews are fakes or if the reviewers (like us in Sicily) just had some really bad food luck on their trip.
The next morning it is a short ride to Assisi, passing Spello. When we see how stunning it is we kick ourselves roosevelt hotel nyc for not riding the few extra kms. But that is cycle touring I guess, you just have to make a decision and there s no going backwards.
Assisi is every bit as amazing as we hoped, and I make a connection. St Francis Franciscian Monks, duh! We also enjoy the reported last wishes of St Francis, that his supporters bury him on hell hill outside the town walls and that they refrain from ostentation in their worship of him. Well I guess they stopped at two amazing cathedrals, one on top of the other, imagine if he had said to them chaps, I ve lived a life of poverty and chastity, it would be nice if you could organize something a bit flash for me when I ve gone . The colourful frescos are a sight for our jaded cathedral eyes and Cath is open mouthed. She is also dressed roosevelt hotel nyc in a nice brown cardi loaned by a friendly German lady when the guard decides she doesn t meet the dress code. Unfortunately, Assisi also happens to be the home of an artist who specializes in bright glass paintings .Happy birthday to us both, it will be delivered in about 8 weeks.
If you visit Assisi, the hotel Lieto Soggiorno is absolutely fabulous. We have a great room with a little balcony looking out over the rooftops and the most charming host ever. Even better, his wife and daughter run a little restaurant nearby which is also superb, the food is more Italian inspired and quite international, we even get some veges with our main course would you believe. Can t understand roosevelt hotel nyc why we are not losing more weight
Assisi is decision time. We had planned to head from here to the eastern Tuscan hills then back around to Bologna and then northeast through the heart of Emiglio Romania. Having watched bits of footage from the earthquake on TV and asking around, we decide that now is not the time and turn back east, continuing on the Lonely Planet ride towards Pesaro. roosevelt hotel nyc We also do some serious long term planning for the first time and discover to our surprise (probably no surprise to any of you) that with our meandering back and forth around the south of Italy our schedule is now in strife.
The Ride to Gubbio is not too long, and after an initial descent and climb looks quite an easy day. Looks can be deceiving, and out of Assisi we are beaten into pushing our bikes for the first time since Sicily. From here the road turns out to be one climb after another, and despite the plesant scenery we are pleased to finally make it to Gubbio. For perhaps the first time so far budget accommodation choices are lacking so we have to head up market. The hotel is fine, but after Assisi the extra 30 Eur hurts at least until Cath meets Mia, the worlds best behaved and most loving Hotel Dog and all is forgiven. I make a mental note to double check the panniers in the morning. Gubbio is well worth the visit, we make a couple of rounds of the old town before dinner, checking out the fine Gothic roosevelt hotel nyc buildings, nestled into the steep mountainside behind.
After our morning roosevelt hotel nyc fruit shop stop we start straight away into the climb through the gorge behind Gubbio. From the numbers of scooterised teens passing us, there is clearly something going on in the hills around here! Resisting the urge to call their parents, we plough on and up. It is a compar