Miles from Home - 5499.3 miles
Firsts / Highlights - Good dose of Tuscan Sun. Meat and cheese sampler platter.
Miles Ridden - 51.00 miles
Vertical Feet - 4,167 ft
Route - View Today's Route Here.
People - Just me
This post is from May 26, 2009.
After getting lost again walking home from dinner last night, I am finally doing a little better finding my way around Siena. I managed to plan and execute a course more-or-less without incident today. The meanderings you can see on the GPS track upon return to Siena were mostly intentional exploration.
In spite of the relatively high dose of rest I have had (I believe it has been 3 of the last 7 days off the bike), I did not feel particularly comfortable in the saddle today. The route was very good considering that I just made it up by looking at paper and GPS maps, but I seemed to want to be standing up and getting off the bike more than normal for a 50 miler. Not really sure why.
I needed a long night’s sleep last night, so by the time I was ready to ride, it was getting too late for my planned train-assist route. Instead, I headed south from the hotel. I did, however, build the train-assist route for the GPS that I hope to do tomorrow.
When I got back to Siena after my ride, I was making my way through the crowded pedestrian street. In front of a specialty meat and cheese shop, I saw a nice looking sampler platter with slices of 3 different types of meat and as many cheeses. A young boy was standing behind the platter and seemed to be tending to it. I tried a piece of cheese, which was excellent. The boy was too young to work in the U.S., but I figured this was a family-run shop. He said something to me, which I assumed was an explanation for the type of cheese I was eating. “Cow’s milk?”, I asked, since I thought I heard a word that sounded like “Cow”. No luck. I then tried one of the pieces of meat. No comment from the boy.
I decided to go into the shop. Although I cannot really buy meats and cheeses while staying in a hotel, I saw some baked goods that looked like good road food for tomorrow. I was nervous about leaving my bike outside for more than a few seconds, and I was unsuccessful getting anyone to help me, so I left the shop. I decided to grab one more piece of cheese before getting back onto The Machine. This time, the boy’s father was there and said, “No…No”. It suddenly dawned on me what had happened. I asked, “Privato?”, and he said, “Si”. Fortunately, “I’m sorry” is one of the few phrases I know in Italian, and I got to use it. I was really embarrassed, but he had good taste in cheese.
I thought about this at dinner tonight from the kid's perspective. "I'm watching our things, just like dad asked. This guy walks up wearing lycra and a helmet and starts eating our food. I ask him to stop, but he just smiles and takes more. Being little sucks. What am I going to do? Kick him in the chins?".
Firsts / Highlights - Good dose of Tuscan Sun. Meat and cheese sampler platter.
Miles Ridden - 51.00 miles
Vertical Feet - 4,167 ft
Route - View Today's Route Here.
People - Just me
This post is from May 26, 2009.
After getting lost again walking home from dinner last night, I am finally doing a little better finding my way around Siena. I managed to plan and execute a course more-or-less without incident today. The meanderings you can see on the GPS track upon return to Siena were mostly intentional exploration.
In spite of the relatively high dose of rest I have had (I believe it has been 3 of the last 7 days off the bike), I did not feel particularly comfortable in the saddle today. The route was very good considering that I just made it up by looking at paper and GPS maps, but I seemed to want to be standing up and getting off the bike more than normal for a 50 miler. Not really sure why.I needed a long night’s sleep last night, so by the time I was ready to ride, it was getting too late for my planned train-assist route. Instead, I headed south from the hotel. I did, however, build the train-assist route for the GPS that I hope to do tomorrow.
When I got back to Siena after my ride, I was making my way through the crowded pedestrian street. In front of a specialty meat and cheese shop, I saw a nice looking sampler platter with slices of 3 different types of meat and as many cheeses. A young boy was standing behind the platter and seemed to be tending to it. I tried a piece of cheese, which was excellent. The boy was too young to work in the U.S., but I figured this was a family-run shop. He said something to me, which I assumed was an explanation for the type of cheese I was eating. “Cow’s milk?”, I asked, since I thought I heard a word that sounded like “Cow”. No luck. I then tried one of the pieces of meat. No comment from the boy.
I decided to go into the shop. Although I cannot really buy meats and cheeses while staying in a hotel, I saw some baked goods that looked like good road food for tomorrow. I was nervous about leaving my bike outside for more than a few seconds, and I was unsuccessful getting anyone to help me, so I left the shop. I decided to grab one more piece of cheese before getting back onto The Machine. This time, the boy’s father was there and said, “No…No”. It suddenly dawned on me what had happened. I asked, “Privato?”, and he said, “Si”. Fortunately, “I’m sorry” is one of the few phrases I know in Italian, and I got to use it. I was really embarrassed, but he had good taste in cheese.
I thought about this at dinner tonight from the kid's perspective. "I'm watching our things, just like dad asked. This guy walks up wearing lycra and a helmet and starts eating our food. I ask him to stop, but he just smiles and takes more. Being little sucks. What am I going to do? Kick him in the chins?".
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Grande americano muto!
ReplyDeleteClassic, Randy!
ReplyDelete