Siena to San Gimignano — Two Nerds

Our third day of riding, from Siena to San Gimignano, was supposed to be our first "PG-13" day (in the parlance of our guidebook), but after our first two days of "PG" riding, neither of us felt inclined to take on a more difficult ride. Fortunately, we found an alternate route that was much more manageable, with only one major climb.

Getting out of Siena was tricky -- cars, hills, traffic circles -- but soon enough we were back out in open country.

A few hours riding brought us to Monteriggioni, a castle/town dating back a thousand years. Climbing the city walls yielded great views of the surrounding area, and it was neat to learn a little bit about the history of the place -- there's such a rich backstory to everything in this part of the world, which we just don't get in the states.

After a quick bite, we set out for San Gimignano. The ride included one of the standout decents of the trip. Imagine 20 minutes of tight switchback turns, like a roller coaster you control.

But, as we're quickly learning, what goes down must go back up, much more slowly. The climb up to San Gimignano was one of the toughest of the trip. We were lucky that clouds and even a few raindrops rolled in as we started our ascent, but this one was rough.

In our own time, we made it to the top. San Gimignano is a cool town, similar in feel to Siena but much smaller. After we got checked into our BnB, we took some time to explore the town. We had drinks in the main square, then watched the sunset from the city walls.

Bike Route: 27 miles // 2,054 ft of elevation gain. https://www.strava.com/activities/987662637