Italian cities are really quite beautiful. Everywhere you turn there is another plaza with tables set out and people enjoying coffee, drinks or meals. Amazing buildings, attractive small streets, and public art everywhere. Very pleasant to simply walk around and stare at everything.
Most of the riders do a little sight seeing but the main agenda is rest and laundry. Our hotel does not do laundry on weekends so I found a laundromat this morning and got all my clothes washed. That will get me to Innsbruck which is our next rest day.
We are losing two of our riders today. Mark and Jeanne are headed back to Seattle. Mark works at Boeing and is starting a new job there this coming week. We will lose two more riders in Munich so the group keeps dwindling.
The next four days will be tough. I know I keep saying that about each new day but it is true. This is a tough tour until we get to Munich. Over the next four days we will cover 267 miles and climb almost 20,000 feet as we go over the Alps. At breakfast people were already talking about not being able to make it and taking the van. I hope I can make it. After this it starts getting easier.
I did some sightseeing this morning but will probably just take it easy for the rest of the day. I am still tired from the last several days of riding.
