The dinner last night at the agriturismo “il Fiordaliso” was spectacular. The theme of the evening was set after I asked Piera, the owner, for a Coke after we arrived and she replied that no, they only have natural and homemade food and beverages. Indeed, we had bread made from flour from their own wheat fields, salami made by an old man in the village, goat cheese made by another neighbor, rabbit from their farm, and wonderful homemade agnolottis, a stuffed pasta (made, of course from flour from their farm). Our half-board deal for 130€ included wine (!) and we shared a bottle of Barbera d’Asti (we rode through Asti yesterday), but, responsibly, also each had a full liter of water (getting my water tally to 5.5l on this hot day).
Today promised similarly hot weather, but a shorter ride of just 70km (43.5 miles). The bicitalia-created route took us past lots of farmland on small, nice roads. Most notably, we rode past many, many Hazelnut bushes. Piedmontese hazelnuts must be special, because I do remember that Sprüngli back home uses them for their delicious chocolate bars.
While it was a bit hillier than yesterday, the gradients remained reasonable or the climbs where short, so that we made very good progress toward lunch in Predosa. We both had pasta at the Bar Roma, with Fanta and Coke to get the sugar levels back up. With the coffee for me, the bill came to 15€. The owners were super nice and gave us two pastries for snacks later and ice for our water bottles (so, so nice if it is hot outside).
We then gradually climbed through lots and lots of vineyards toward San Cristoforo, where we got stopped by a traffic guard securing the route of the Giro Rosa, the Giro d’Italia for women. We were just in time to see the last four racers fly past us.
After a short descent, we got to Gavi, just 5km from our destination, and therefore the place to stop for gelato. We did so at the Bar di Matteo. I had stracciatella and pistache, and Liz went for fragola and limone. The perfect cycling snack.
With the sugar levels back up, we soon reached our hotel for the night in Carrosio. From the looks of the oven, we’ll have to try their pizza. Tomorrow, we will ride a bit over 90km (56 miles) with more climbing, but then we are at the Mediterranean and at a hotel right at the beach where we booked for four nights – time for a proper rest!
Total distance/elevation to date: 3281km/24’331m
Rest days: 10
Route and Stats
Relive Video
The 1948 Tour 
Leave a comment