There is a fine line between a great ride and not-so-good ride .. I think we got close to that line today!
All was well until a mountain biker came up to us along the road to Tarugo and Pergola. He wanted us to know there were two very steep hills on the way to Perogla. It turns out he was right! After a time we started to hit some hills which seemed around 15% grade which is getting close to our limit for sustained climbing! We are starting to know what is almost impossible to climb and recognize the killer slope and know to walk it! We had two slopes above 15% which we decided to walk rather than pull a muscle today!
After peaking (long climb) we came down around the side of the valley and I kept wondering if he meant 2 slopes or mountains .. he meant mountains! Tarugo is the low point on the way to Pergola so we had to climb the 2nd monte before finally coming down into Pergola at the 40km mark. Time for a cupaccino! The rest of the day was great as we found a few quieter roads that eventually got us back on a rolling ridge into Senigallia and our great hotel on the beach!
.. But 7km to go Harold got a pinch-flat! Hit a pothole too hard! Harold had a nice quiet repose repairing the flat .. just the way I like it .. then we rolled into Senigallia around 3:45pm - 84km and guessing 1800m of climbing.
In my book, this passes as a great day .. but we are going to have to work on the return route as we can't keep doing these tough days and keep smiling!
Urbino was great! The ride in was fabulous ridge riding with views on both sides!
Tomorrow we head back inland after a quick swim in the sea!
