Climber's Delight

On Sunday, October 13th, Carol and Roger set out to explore a town we’d never been to....Campiglia d’Orcia.  Little did we know what we were in for.  On our map of the province, Campiglia showed as a hilltop town, but then so did most of the other towns in the area.  As we approached, the town didn’t even look that high.  The surrounding hills towered above it, primarily Mt Amiata, the highest mountain in Tuscany.

We turned off the highway onto the road that approached the town.  The first two kilometers climbed gently.  Then we turned a corner, and bang!...the road pitched up to an 8% grade (remember in the USA, a federal highway can’t exceed a 6% grade).  In the next 6 kilometers, we climbed 467 meters (1,530 feet).  As the road approached the number 2 on the map (where the squiggly line is) the grade hit 13%, then 14%...and stayed that way for a full kilometer.

Carol...just a few hundred meters from the top of the climb

Turns out, this was a Cat 2 climb.  (For the non-cyclists among the readers,  climbs are rated by their length and pitch...with Cat 4 being the least challenging---though usually a knee-breaker---and Cat 1 the most...for professional cyclists, not amateurs in their late-60’s. 

We took no photos in Campiglia d’Orcia.  We were too exhausted.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat in a local bar and set out for the 40 km we still had to go to get home.  Several years ago, Roger had cycled to the town of Castiglone D’Orcia and thought it the hardest climb he had ever done.  As we pedaled out of Campiglia, we realized we would be going downhill to reach Castiglone, mostly riding along a ridge with 360 degree views, should either of us decide to actually stop and look.

The ride along the ridge-line was beautiful regardless.  As we approached Castiglone, we could see the old fortress dominating the horizon.

This fortress was built in the mid-13th century by the Picolomini family, after they were run out of Siena.  It was the same family that founded Pienza.  The original fortress is a ruin, since replaced by a “new” fortezza in the 16th century.  The same Sensesi who went to Radicofani for self-defense (last blog) also came here for protection.

Carol at the "new" fortezza

With a final push, we got home...63 km later, having climbed 1324 meters (3822 ft for you non-metric types).  Actually, we felt great when we got back to Pienza.  It was a good ride, even if we were not quite in shape for it yet.  Plus, our post-ride gelato was fabulous!  Three scoops each for our efforts and for the three climbs of the day,including the climb into Pienza.

As if that weren’t enough, we decided the next day to find a new route to Monte Oliveto Maggiorre, a lovely monastery famous for its series of 13 Signorelli frescos.  We were trying to avoid the hill into Trequanda...that climbs at an 18% grade.  (Greg and Ruth, remember that one?)

Again, we found a beautifully scenic route that was new to us.  If you look at the map above, you’ll see it has six---count ‘em, six!---Cat 4 climbs.  There was one climb of 15%, two of 14%, two of 13%, and one of “only” 12%.  

You’d think we would have learned our lesson the day before.  It did feel really good to get off our bikes back in Pienza, although Carol needed a wall for support after getting off,  entertaining two well-dressed tourists.  Even though our usual gelato shop was closed today, we found another and had wonderful tubs-o-gelato .  It's a wonder the gelato shop would let us in wearing clothes that were so puzzolenti (smelly!!!!)