Greve in Chianti

September 16, 2019

Distance 70 Km  Elevation 1,416 m  Time 3:16

The day of five climbs.

Day 3 of our Tuscany tour was our toughest day.  Five hills at category 2 to 3 sure tested our legs.

Another spectacular sunny morning for our second full day ride of the tour.  Breakfast was just as delicious as day 1 with so much choice I didn’t even eat the same as the previous day.  Plenty of food and coffee is what we would need for this ride which was billed as the toughest ride of the tour.  No A’qto kit required today and once again we headed off around 9:30am.

A bit of a change from yesterday’s cruisy start with a 6.5km, 5% climb to warm us up. Not that we needed warming up as the temperature was a sunny 25C at the start of the ride and the temperature would only increase as the day progressed.   

After a lovely 7km downhill we started up the toughest hill of the tour, an 8km category 2 climb with some reasonably long 11-13% sections which really tested us, especially as the day was really starting to heat up.  Any time we stopped to re-group we were seeking out the shade of any tree we could find.  Luckily at the top, we had a planned stop to refuel and rehydrate.

Refreshed and ready to go we enjoyed a nice, fast 5km descent before a short 3.5km uphill and then a nice 6km downhill into Greve in Chianti where we stopped for lunch.

Surrounded by hills and vineyards Greve in Chianti is a small village that initially lacks some of the charm of some of the other Tuscan towns we visited.  However, the Piazza Matteotti, where we stopped for lunch, was teaming with people enjoying all the lovely cafés and restaurants.  We tucked into a delicious porchetta panini at Antica Macelleria Falorni, artisans of cured meats with a delicatessen display to make your mouth water.

After a heart-starting doppio espresso, we were back on the road and heading straight up our fourth climb for the day.  It was a hot and exposed climb that really strung out the group, but we all made it up the penultimate hill.

Following a short, fast descent we all got into a nice tempo for the final hill, a gradual climb for 10km before the highlight of the day, a 7km fast chase downhill back into Gaiole.  This really was a fun downhill.  The road surface was smooth and was pretty much traffic-free. The gradient wasn’t too steep so you could pedal pretty much the whole way down.  I tucked in behind David and we managed to catch all the front runners who had started the descent before us.  It was quick and it was exhilarating.

Back at the accommodation we all went for a dip in the pool before heading out for a wine tour and tasting at Rocca di Castagnoli.  The tour was good but none of us really liked the Chianti Classico wines on offer which was strange because we had had nothing but good-tasting wines since we arrived in Italy.  So as not to be rude to our vineyard guest we bought some grappa.