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March 31 Friday Bicycle touring Italy from the outskirts of Siena Italy to near Florence Italy Frosty fly!! Had our coldest night, last night, of our entire trip. Sharon had on all her clothes, plus my rain pants, and she was still cold. This morning, my water bottle was frozen completely solid. Sharon had left a pair of cycling shorts in a plastic bag after washing them and they were as solid as a pair of Bart Simpson's gym shorts. Ah well, we survived, and the sun is out in a clear blue sky this morning. It appears as if all is right in the world -- the brave little flowers look a tad worse for wear, however. Tina and Markus said they had come to Siena because they were on a ski holiday and the weather was too awful to go spring skiing in the Alps. It was lightly snowing in Siena; it was blizzarding in the Alps. Too much snow to go skiing, imagine that. The storms and cold weather is all over Europe. An immense cold front extends right into North Africa. We pack up our cycling gear and hit the road. It is windy. The wind is more direct though, and it isn't tossing me around like some days have been when it gusts from the side. Ah, the joys of bicycle touring in the spring. Spring bike riding -- good for kite flying. We pulled our bikes to a halt and ate an apple by a little bridge at the edge of a farmer's field. Even in the sun it was chilly with the wind. Warming our hearts though, there were lots of colourfully attired cyclists out training. We are twenty kilometres from Florence. Lots of old guys are out cycling -- or, in Italian I guess that'd be they're not "primavera galinas" -- spring chickens. We ran out of hot chocolate. I just paid an extortionist fee for a small container. See what addictions will do? Spotted what we thought was a thick forest tract, but when we got there it was by an apartment complex. We cycle back up a hill after finding nothing suitable; neither flat, large enough, or hidden enough. Nearby, Sharon found another road. It lead to some great patches for our little cycling touring tent. |
