Sea Wheels

Our first long ride together as we follow the coast through Cecina and farther south. I'm used to biking alongside of rivers and the occasional cow. Last year around Siena we got glimpses of distant towns around the next hill, but nothing quite as beautiful as the ocean.

At times we are biking literally on the beach, pushing our bikes past people lying on blankets and towels. Saturday is a huge beach day here. The town is swarming with people. No one seems to mind a group of Americans in spandex.

Things are already shaking out in the group. Adam likes to go fast, and so does Bessie. At one point she takes off with Adam for some speed work, and it is all I can do to catch them. Together they were able to push each other, making them even faster. "Thought I'd beat the kid," she tells me later. "No way."

The other thing about Bessie is this: she likes to be upside down. She's good at it. She can do these inverted push-ups, and the whole time she can talk and everything. It's an impressive talent, and one of the many reasons we decide to hang around her.

After biking we hit the pool, and then there is a wine tasting for us at the hotel. The owner has been making his wine and oil for years, just the way his parents did before him. This respect for tradition seems so different than in America, where everyone wants to distance themselves from their family.

I become the worst father ever by taking Adam to a wine tasting. Someday when he is an unemployed homeless alcoholic he can look back to this experience as a turning point in his life. He has a sip or two, but mostly focuses on the food, including the best parmesan cheese we ever had. (From Parma, duh.)

Great dinner at the hotel, with a bit of conversation afterward, although no startling inappropriate personal confessions from the guides, thank God. After all, we are trusting these people with our lives.