Going Our Separate Ways - Castelluccio to Montefortino

​So we woke up to the bluest of skies, crisp cool mountain air and the stunning backdrop of mountains, cultivated valleys and grazing sheep.  


We had our last breakfast together at the agriturismo we stayed at and then departed aft saying arrivederci to our host, Rudolfo, traveling the first couple of kilometers together.  



Then at the first junction, Doug and Shawn turn towards Norcia and Jim and I head back to Le Marche.  We are sorry to see our friends leave.  It was fun sharing the adventure and I think we did things together that we would not have necessarily done if we were by ourselves. Arrivederci, dear friends!



So we had to backtrack over some of the same territory to get on our route again.  We had to climb over the mountain again that we nearly got blown off of yesterday.  It was stunning to see it in beautiful weather.  




Then remember those little blue butterflies I took the bad photos of yesterday before we entered the wind torture tunnel?  Here they are on a gorgeous windless day from the view of Jim’s phone 


So we continued on soon in new territory back in Le Marche.  It was a lovely ride and we ended up in the middle of a large mountain bike event as we approached Montemonaco.  It was funny. I think people thought we were participants even though we were riding fully loaded bikes.   


We stopped to eat in the town right under the finish line. 



Then onward towards our final destination of Montefortino.  It was a really nice secondary road that had the mountains on one side, beautifully cultivated valleys on the other side and views of the Adriatic beyond. 



We arrived a little early to check-in so what better thing to do then get a aperitivo at a local bar.  Soon we will head out on the food quest and to do some exploring.   

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