The Maglia Rossa! - Sarnano to San Severino Marche

​We leave Casa Di Giulia. It was a nice bnb but I think they forgot about the second b because there was no breakfast.  We made do with a cup of espresso and got underway.  It was supposed to be another easy day and yes the distance was not long - only 43 k or so but there was a fair amount of bike pushing involved and much to our surprise we once again heftily exceeded the 100 to 1 mile ratio!   

However, the scenery was rather exceptional today and a lot of the roads were the best kind of rolling hills you can imagine.   


We had a few drops of rain but nothing too bad. We passed through San Ginesio where we stopped at a bar for the breakfast we didn’t have earlier. Like much of Central Italy , much earthquake damage is evident and it seems like things are being held together with scaffolding and iron bands.  



Onward through lovely small farms, rolling roads with no traffic.




We pass through a rather large city, Tolentino and it is lunch time so we begin a food quest wanting to sit down in a real restaurant.  



We strike out because the restaurants are few and they all seem to have required a reservation and we are turned away.  So I remember that I saw a small shop that had a sign out for porchetta paninis so we head back there.  The proprietor sees us outside the shop and comes out and says something like beautiful bikes and asks us where we are traveling and the usual questions - where from, where are you going etc. Then he says that he was a bike racer. He excitedly brings us into his shop and he shows us some of his awards.  Damn if one of them isn’t a maglia rossa (pink Jersey) indicating being the race leader in the giro d italia.  He also has other jerseys from National race wins and the ceiling is papered with articles about him.  





So we are honored to have our lunch made for us by this local hero, Giorgio Feliziani  and that he took time to be interested in us and our adventures.  Once again the best part of this trip has been the encounters with people both strange and wonderful.  



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