Day 8 of possibly 17 cycling days from Piacenza to Rome along the Via Francigena.

It was a day of incidents!

However we started off the day sightseeing in heavy rain. Lucca was crammed with tourists under umbrellas. There was paid entry to most sights. Even the beautiful cathedral was guided tours only and expensive. So we just pootled about on our bikes in the rain before setting off across the Tuscan hills.

The rain eased and having had a late start we stopped for morning coffee. However, as we arrived, Masoud’s left pedal fell off. Apparently on e-bikes, the torque can loose the pedal. Unfortunately as it had loosened it stripped the first two or three turns of the thread from the soft aluminium crank. This meant that it could not be re-threaded. This could have been the end of the road. However I have been here before. I managed to thread the pedal from the wrong side (facing inwards) and that process re-cut the thread. It took three attempts at this, on the roadside, before the pedal could be screwed in very gingerly and with finger-tips without it getting cross threaded. Phew. Morning coffee turned into early lunch. The town was gripped with Giro d’Italia fever and decorated all over with pink banners. It turns out that it is the start of one of the stages next week or so. The pasticceria was likewise decorated in pink (the Giro colour scheme).

Onwards. We needed to take a gravel track. However after the heavy rain, it was in poor condition and a stream had washed away the track leaving a steep bank down into the stream and up the other side. This was problematic. A few hundred metres later we had to repeat the manhandling to cross the stream again. The gravel track had developed deep narrow grooves which tended to capture the bike tyres and stop them from being able to turn right or left - essential for balance. Masoud fell over and rolled down the steep embankment. Ruth looked to see what was happening and she then fell over. Fortunately no injuries. But Masoud’s bike chain had come off and it required the destructive removal of the chain guard to get access to it and replace it. After quite a long while we collected ourselves in order to set off again.

Delayed but moderate progress and a steep climb we reached a hill top town. As Anna was turning sharply right down a steep cobbled street, the bike lurched and she fell over landing with a crash on her helmet. Fortunately apart from a stiff neck, she was OK.

Final stretch and a very steep climb, we made it to San Miniato - beautifully situated on top of a hill. After grateful aperitivi, Masoud had his final incident. A bungee had got loose on his pannier and got caught in his spokes and as he cycled to our B&B it wrapped itself around spokes and axle. It required destructive removal before the wheel could be moved.

For dinner, Tuscan menu options included multiple variations of raw beef tartare, truffle flavoured items, beef in a large variety of options. Not good for four hungry cyclists who don’t like beef, raw beef or truffle. And Anna is vegetarian. Four hungry cyclists also turned down a 7 course blind tasting menu of small courses. Eventually found an (expensive) upscale restaurant which offered cooked food other than beef (although plenty of raw beef also on the menu).

Finally we had a shock as we returned to our B&B to discover our bikes in the hallway had been taken. And then we realised that we had entered the wrong house. Late to bed at 23:40

We managed to collect three stamps in our VF passport during the day!