Ahhh Asciano. Such a rest stop for a weary rider. Tempted by every possible food and drink one can imagine. My brain dull-ly recalled that somewhere after this a large-ish hill loomed. None the wiser, apparently, I still opted to stuff my face with everything on hand.

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Like the bean soup...

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And some excellent espresso served up by this gentleman:

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And saying hello to the local ladies:

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But, not to linger TOO long. I seemed to recall something about...a hill.
Yep, just like last year (although the stop was in a slightly different place) the biggest damn hill o' the day came right smack after the best chow. This monster slope just goes on forever. I have no idea just how long, but I do know there are a couple of sections that top 25%. In fact these were the only 2 short pitches I had to walk the whole day, and only a hundred yards or so at that. Many walked, but a few did make it up clean, pedaling for their worth the whole way.

This section I actually made it up this year:
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but in this course there's no shame in walking. This hill was LONG.

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And I happily met this guy, Paolo, who I ended up riding with for the next 60+ km right to the gritty finish. More on that later though.

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