June 19 and 20
Pisa
84 kilometers
We really put the kilometers on our bikes today! We were up at about 0430 and left Florence by about 0630. It took us a while to get out of the city and we ended losing some time in the process, about an hour. We were taking the SS67 which ran through all the small towns betweenn Florence and Pisa the SBC was a large road which went around the towns. This was a little confusing at times as there was better signage for the SGC to Pisa than for SS67 which was our chosen route as it had less traffice and was more picturesque. The signs kept trying to direct us to the SGC and we really look for the SS67 signs as they were smaller and often followed after the SGC signs. At one point Jon commented that it was like forces were working against people using the SS67 route. The trip tooks through some very small towns, some even only a block long. The roads were mostly flat and winding (great for motorcycling, Jon says). Traffic was moderate but not really an issue. As we got closer to Pisa there was a man that flagged us down and had a camera, wanting to take our picture. He gave us the thumbs up as we slowed down for his shot. He was pretty excited and caused a little distraction causing us to miss our turn. But we still got to Pisa after a short trip to the Pam (the local Walmart equivalent but not as big).
We pulled into Pisa at mid afternoon after taking a dirt bike path instead of the road. The trailhead was marked with an elevated bike painted entirely white. I had read in one of our guidebooks that these bikes were an symbol of frequent deaths of bicycle riders in an area and marked an alternate, safer route to take - so we did.
We crossed the Arno River and rolled into the main part of the old town following the tourists knowing they would lead us to the tower. It seemed to appear out of no where. Jon's first reaction was a chuckly while I nearly guffawed. We both thought the site was totally anticlimactic. The best part about Pisa is the lawns where the Tower and it's adjoining buildings sit. I thought the tower was a lot shorter than I imagined it would be. It looked like it was being refinished and like so many other old buildings in Italy, it was surrounded by scaffolding starting at the third tier. Maybe some of the disappointment was from the fact that we had just left the duomo in Florence which would be a hard act to follow. All three buildings on the lawn were leaning - not just the tower. We took the obligatory pictures, sat on the lawn for a little while, people watched and paid thirty cents each to use the restroom which was a deal compared to the fifty cents in Assisi. As we entered the gates of the lawns we attracted quite a bit of attention - as usual.
The campsite was nearby and so we set up camp. Clean bathrooms, free showers, this was more exciting than seeing the tower - especially after a long day of riding.
I was in the mood for a beer and went to the market on the campground. As I was walking back to our site there was a man walking in the opposite direction: sandals, black socks, matching black speedo and straw fedora hat. His handlebar mustache was the finishing touch to this look or maybe it was his stomach that was spilling over the top of his speedo. He was video taping the campground and walking towards me at the same time. Let me tell you , it was a site to see and I was glad I had that beer in my hand!
There was a lot of biting bugs and I,apparently was on the menu that night. I'm still itching four days later as we write this journal.
June 21
Well, the alarm went off but we didn't get up rationalizing that we needed another day to recover from the previous days' long ride - so we slept in. We spent the afternoon in Pisa wandering around aimlessly. It wasn't where we wanted to be but we both agreed that we made the right decision as my knee had really started to bother me on the ride the day before. It also turned out to be a really hot day. We were lucky the day before as it was overcast and breezey all day. We were hoping for this kind of weather on Wednesday but were a little nervous as it was so hot on our second day in Pisa. The plan was to get up early once again. We knew we would make good time as the road out of town was about half a kilometer away - a straight shot. We expected another day of easy riding, flat roads, rolling hills. We were more than ready to leave Pisa.
