Dan Donato to Siena - Day 3

Day three was the classic ride through the Chianti countryside. We rode through the main Chianti wine region and through the Monti di Chianti. The route went up the Passo Sugame which was a switchback climb up through some impressive forested hills. At the top we stopped for refreshments and dodged the hordes of horse flies that would plague us on several of the rides over the next couple of days. These suckers are tough and fast, and when they bite you'd think their mouths had flames attached. For the fun of it Brian and I were able to track them up to 28km per hour on the bikes before they began to fall off. Made it a bugger when climbing the slow steep roads. We descended into Greve for cappuccinos and then climbed up to the village of Panzano. Lots of great views of vineyards and forests. We then climbed up to the Castellina in Chianti and took an extra loop to Radda. The climb to Panzano was hot and buggy but what a great view when we got to look up at the town on the mountain. I took pictures of the riders below. For whatever reason I felt good this day and had broken away to climb ahead and snap shots of the other riders. We climbed up into the town to a beautiful church and lunch under a big fig tree and great views of the valley below. And then it was on to Siena!