Wet...

The sadists amongst you will be pleased to know that on Thursday it rained... a lot. La Spezia proved to be a damp squib the previous night and even Digger played a joker (this is when a member of the group declines the evening's entertainment usually for some paltry reason like fatigue or a need for some 'personal space'... which usually means staying in to wash one's hair) so for once we were all reasonably fresh as proverbial daisies. Wet gear was donned from the off as Tuscany seemed determined to deposit huge quantities of the wet stuff upon us and what promised to be the best riding day of the trip initially seemed doomed. For those of you who have the sense to avoid motorcycles, riding in the wet isn't fun. Inevitably, we split up and discovered that there are at least half a dozen different ways of getting from the coast to Siena. But as with most who persevere, we were rewarded later in the day with better weather, so much so that for some of us the afternoon was spent making the most of the wonderful roads we first experienced last year. The road up to Volterra, and down again, is not only a fab biking road, it also boasts some of the best scenery you can imagine. Blooming marvellous.

Siena is a beautiful place and despite less than perfect weather the Piazza del Campo is still a spectacular setting. However, reverting to type, we later found ourselves in an Irish bar... Andy was helped into a taxi on his way to an early bath, George and Jo got lost walking home, the pub nearly ran out of Jager and Richard lost his phone but then the chamber maid found it under his bed the next morning. Just a normal Thursday night out.

It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions... well, the road to Rome is littered with them after today's ride. We tried really hard to leave and arrive together but turned up at the hotel on the Via Veneto in the usual dribs and drabs. All seemed to

take different routes into the Eternal City even including a detour round an Ikea car park. Earlier, lunch at Bolsena which is next to a very large formerly volcanic lake was pleasant if not a bit windy.

We are now encamped in Rome for two nights in order to let a few numb backsides recover from 1500 biking miles to date.

Carpet finds a more suitable bike

Brian takes a wee steadier

Men wait for library to open

George and Joey hear that there's free beer down Siena way