Biodola to Massa Marittima

Yesterday we did virtually nothing.  After making our way to the Hotel Casa Rosa, in the village of Biodola , on the Isle of Elba,  we kind of collapsed.  The climb was difficult,  the descent a little scary and no matter how we sliced it,  a loop ride that included over 1200 m of climbing,  was not an easy ride.  So we took a rest day. Slept a little longer,  lingered over breakfast,  walked on the beach, had a nap,  a lovely day. We even had the hotel do a load of laundry for us.  The clean clothes were very much appreciated!  ( the 20€ charge,  not so much,  but let’s forget that part! )

This was an absolutely lovely place to hang out for the day.

Today started out in the best possible way.  One of the employees of the hotel gave us a ride up the hill. There was only one seat in the front,  I sat beside the driver, Ken got to ride in the back.  I did learn that the population of the village of Biodola, in the wintertime is 10. Not a typo,  10!

Hunkered down in the back of the truck, sure beats starting the day with a climb!

The ferry ride back to the mainland was the usual miserable time for me,  I forgot my gravol,  but managed to get back on the mainland without either throwing up our even feeling too terribly ill.  Good thing, too, as we had something over 50 km to pedal. 

I managed to take a “not too bad selfie” of the 2 of us, before the ferry left port.

The ride to our destination was very nice,  just what we were hoping for on this adventure.  After negotiating our way through the city, we were on very quiet roads,  vineyards,  olive groves,  manageable hills and gentler down grades. 

So pretty!

Until the end.  In the last 2 km,  we climbed almost 200 m. By my calculations that’s a 2 km hill with a 10% grade.  

Do you see the town in the distance? It’s 5 km away and up high!

We made it and spent a couple of hours exploring another medieval town.