The Big Payout

To Bastia Mondovi -- 43.9 miles, 13.5 mph, 1075 ft (up, 3150 down)

Today the biking gods were smiling, and it was an absolutely glorious day. Three thousand feet of down with nary a cloud in the sky. There were beautiful, lush, green mountains; towering cliffs; a rushing river, and idyllic small towns, farms, and meadows along the way. It could hardly have been better.

We headed down to the dining room at 8:30, and the sweet older woman in a white apron offered us eggs and bacon. Dex was stoked; Mr. "Egg Man" normally has scrambled eggs every morning back home and has been without for weeks. They brought us a second dishful when they saw us polish off the first. Meg ordered coffee too since I’ve often wanted a second of the typical micro servings. Today they brought us each a small china pitcher of coffee and another with hot milk.

As we were preparing to go, we learned that our dear proprietor, who reminded us of the kid’s Uncle Marco, was, in fact, named Marco. In his broken English he told us of his upcoming three week trip to California -- San Diego, San Francisco, Carmel, Yosemite, Death Valley...

As we brought the bags down to the lobby, Marco had already brought the bikes up to the patio from the garage. Then, before pushing off, the cleaning woman handed Meg a bag full of fruit-filled croissants and some small sweets..."for the bambinos." We felt very fortunate to have stumbled upon this place. For an exceptional dinner, night’s stay, and breakfast, the total tally was 228 euros ($256). Sounds like a bargain. (Meg's Note: It was heaven on earth and I will never forget the feeling of stepping out of the shower and looking out the windows to see the clouds, which had been building and gray all afternoon, finally open up. It was chilly and pouring down rain, and we were snug as bugs, clean and toasty. I will return again to the wonderful San Lorenzina.)

The days route followed the Fiume Tanaro all the way from the summit to our final destination, the Agriturismo i Calanchi in Bastia Mondovi. As we neared the farm house, turned hotel, lightning was flashing in the sky and drops were beginning to fall. Our new host, Bruno, took us around to the covered patio and explained that the building was built in the 16th century and showed us rocks with Napoleonic bullets embedded into the surface.

Dex and Kylie did homework and ran around outside. Once again we had an incredible multi-course meal with more than we could eat. The bread, appetizer (fresh greens with some scrumptious meat/cheese mystery slices), first course (asparagus mousse with yummy cheese sauce), and second course (meat ravioli and risotto) would have been enough. We hardly touched the meat course (steak or pork with home fries and sautéed zucchini). But, fear not, we didn't let that keep us from eating dessert (strawberry mousse with chocolate sauce and fresh apricot crumble) or finishing a bottle of local red wine. Full tummies tonight!