Ride 168 - Cycling an Umbrian, Italy valley and learning you can't always get what you want.

Today is Tuesday, May 17, 2022 and this is day 3 of my 6 day cycling adventure in Umbria. As usual, we are starting this ride in the village of Lisciano Niccone where we are staying for the week at the beautiful Agriturismo le Fornaci, a hotel converted from an old farm house. In addition to Tim and Roberto from Inspired Italy, our group is comprised of David from LA, Bob from Florida, Oscar from Majorca, Robyn from Aberdeen, Scotland, and Leonard, Jatin and Calvin from various parts of England. On day 1, we cycled 75 kilometres in the hot sun to Citti di Castello for lunch and yesterday we rode 85 kms around Lake Trasimeno in up to 35 Celcius temperatures. I was expecting warm weather here but this has been unseasonably hot for Umbria and quite wearing on us. Our leader Tim had originally planned another long ride for today but, after yesterday, several members of our group pushed back and suggested a shorter recovery ride. So, rather than another 80 km ride with several climbs, Tim came up with a shorter alternative. When I went to sleep that night, I expected to a wake and enjoy a nice 21 km ride around the Niccone valley and prepare for day 4 and the killer day 5 ride Tim had planned. But, I really wasn’t surprised to learn over breakfast this morning that, thanks to some lobbying by David, Tim had changed the route and added in a nice long climb. I titled this ride “You can’t always get what you want“ and that’s based on the Rolling Stone song of the same name. I can’t say I have ever spent much time thinking about the lyrics of that song but, after todays ride, I gave it some thought. I wanted a nice relaxing ride but that was not what I got. Instead, I got a harder, painful slog through the hills. Yet, surprisingly, after finishing, I was quite content and realized that the revised route was much better than the originally planned course. We had come to Umbria to ride the Apennine hills, not to relaxingly pedal around a fairly flat valley floor. Tim obviously understood that. His revised route was challenging, fun and ultimately rewarding. That wasn’t the route that I wanted at the start but, as it turned out, I got exactly what I needed and I was quite satisfied with that. Now, time for a dip in the pool, some beer and lunch, and then to prepare for our wine tasting adventure at I Girasoli di Sant'Andrea – Cantina in Umbertiday, and then dinner at Ristaurante Simone Corsetti above the winery. That was excellent. Our table sampled 6 bottles of wine during the tasting, and two bottles of the excellent full bodied TU wine over dinner. Somehow I have to ride tomorrow. Inspired Italy - https://inspireditaly.com/ Agriturismo le Fornaci - https://www.le-fornaci.it/en/ I Girasoli di Sant'Andrea – Cantina - https://igirasolidisantandrea.it/ Ristaurante Girasoli Simone Corsetti - https://www.ristorantegirasoli.it/en/ Leonard Lee "The Bicycle Diaries" -    / leonardmlee