Thanks Electrons!

In the past few days I’ve had a lot of biking experiences – mountain biking in Rwanda, e-biking in Kigali, gravel riding in Kenya, and today, e-mountain-biking in Tuscany. We had an absolutely lovely day out.

We rented bikes from Noleggio Chianti 500, a shop in Castellina which rents all kinds of bicycles, classic Fiat 500s, Vespas, 3 wheel Piaggio’s and much more. They have a really impressive inventory – they must be supplying bikes for all kinds of tour operators, as their shop was full of vans being loaded up. We didn’t really have a plan for the day, but fortunately they had a “suggested route” and the guy we were working with annotated it with some recommendations.

The loop was around 50km (31 miles) with a mix of tarmac and gravel roads, winding through the hills and villages of Chianti. It was a perfect day for riding – a little cool, with blue skies and very little wind. We got comfortable with the bikes and had great pace, stopping only to grab a few photos.

After about 15km of riding, we spotted a brown sign for a “Parco Sculture”. We know from past experience that the brown signs often point to the fun surprises. It was a 6km detour, but we followed the gravel road up to the sculpture park and were rewarded with a magic experience. The park consists of a 1 mile loop through a hill forest area, with a series of sculptures at sites selected by each artist. The artists are from around the world and use a wide array of media for the sculptures. The setting was really magical – quiet, peaceful, with cool sculpture blending into the forest surrounding.

Back on our bikes, we covered more ground (with a coffee stop) until we made it to our lunch stop at Bar Ucci in Volpia. We’d had multiple recommendations for Bar Ucci and we weren’t disappointed – the staff, including the owner Paola, were lovely. The food was great, and the village dog came to stay hi. Our only regret is that we couldn’t have dessert – getting back on the bikes with a belly full of custard sounded a little unpleasant.

With our detour, the ride ended up being around 39 miles, with 4400 feet of climbing. Even with the e-assist, we definitely had to work for some of the hills. It was a gorgeous, leisurely day. We rewarded ourselves with some gelato after returning the bikes.

We ended the day with a visit to Steph and the family, then a grocery stop at the Coop and a picnic at the Airbnb. Italy continues to be a pretty wonderful place.