A Hard Day's Ride

It’s really not right that the last day of biking should be the hardest.

This morning we bike to Pescaia, a medium sized town by the coast. It is famous for some old stuff, Etruscan castles and things like that, and a fabulous view over the ocean. But it also has good pizza, and it’s that thought that keeps up going.

In town we do a little shopping. Everyone is playing the two euro game, where we have to buy something and learn the Italian word for it before giving it away to someone else in the group. Because of this, Adam and I end up helping Pam shop for underwear in the “Everything’s A Euro” store.

Of course, buying a cheap pink thong undergarment is easy. Naming it is the hard part. Oddly, my dictionary was no help. We had to ask the guy behind the counter several times before he told us how to say it, although he might really have been saying, “Get out of my store you pervs.”

After a pizzeria lunch some of the smarter people decide to swim in the ocean. Adam goes in his bike shorts, stopping to change on the sidewalk in front of the bank. Eventually, the rest of us head back to the bikes for the ride to the hotel.

You’d think the road would be just as long on the way back. It wasn’t. It was twice as long, uphill and into the wind the whole way. We should have been in shape after the week, but it was tough to make it back.

I could write about that evening, when we exchanged gifts, and about how Nick won the thong, and about how he put it on and danced, and I could even post a photo of the event, but that would be gratuitous and wrong. Plus, it would get this blog site blocked by WebSense, and Adam wouldn’t be able to show his friends.

Instead, I'll just say I spent most of the night waiting up for my son, who was hanging around playing cards with the Washington girls until 2 a.m. The Italian guides were very proud.