Just Before Lockdown…

I am now locked down. No visiting friends. No fun adventures outside my town’s boundaries. No dinners. No nothing much. Sigh.

BUT the day before we were cut off, I decided to explore the edges of this town. My town, the comune of Camaiore, is in the province of Lucca, which is in the region of Tuscany. Turns out my comune is the biggest one in Lucca province. Hooray! Gives me plenty of room to ride… Well, not so fast pardner! Quite a bit of the comune is high in the mountains far from any road. In terms of roads though, there was still plenty of scope. The back road to Lucca is mostly in Camaiore’s area. I looked on a map and found three small hill villages I’d never been to, so a plan was born.

I rode towards Lucca, on my usual road. Zig zag up to Montemagno, a quick coffee at the bar/cycling shop at the top of the hill (uhoh, bar closed!), then down down down along a chilly shady road out into the sunshine.

As I rode uphill, I passed a cemetary, with this angel watching over it.

 

Way down the road, a sharp left to Orbicciano. Then up to Fibbiano, then a quick down and up to Stignano and Anticiana.

   

I had brought a sandwich and really needed it once I topped out at Fibbiano. Nowhere special to sit, but an amazing view. Prosciutto, panino, chips, a sweet roll. Good lunch. I was hungry!

From where I sat, I could see this ramshackle garage/shed. Loved the colors and lines.

 

Headed downhill, passed a group of men riding their bikes up towards Fibbiano. The roads were almost exactly perfect: challenging enough to make me work, but more long than steep. Moderate hilliness and a nice loop. Some older estates along the way. Here’s a shot of the old and new “iron work” side by side and a nice old, probably decommissioned, church I passed.

The villages themselves weren’t much, but I think there are many “second homes” here: Not too far from Lucca, houses nicely elegantly fixed up, and Mercedes cars in the driveway.

I had to put on both jackets even going uphill on my way back uphill. The sun was setting as I started down to Camaiore, and home.

I made a slight detour into Camaiore on my way home. There’s an old Romanesque church (the Badia) and convent just on the edge of town.  Lovely evening light.