Thursday, November 24, 2011

One scenic pic-nic and 100 goats.

Joe Schwartz and I were guiding a road cycling trip for our sister company Cycleventures in Tuscany, Italy in mid-September a few years ago. That's right, scenic rolling hills of golden earth, cypress lined roads, quintessential hilltop towns and perfect roads for road cycling - bella Toscana. And, yes, the same Joe Schwartz from Rampage and NWD films and all-round mtb shredding. Joe's not afraid. One day we decided to treat our group to an epic Italian lunch in a random field along a remote road south of Pienza. Sounded like a good idea we thought. That morning at map session, we gave them a rough idea of the location of said spread, and sent them on their way down the hill behind town. Next stop was the local mercato to pick up the ingredients: fresh tomatoes, bocconcini cheese, bresaola dried beef, balsamic reduction, fresh basil, a few melons, some prosciutto, some fruit, bread, other cheeses, and drinks. Done. We headed out and found a seemingly perfect grassy field just off the road in the middle of nowhere and began to chop and prepare the feast before the first cyclists arrived. Then we heard a strange whistling and some random calls in the distance. What the? Next thing we knew a heard of sheep emerged to our little sanctuary and they began taking over our perfect plan...
Joe and the impressive spread.

Some crazy sheeps where running, seemingly oblivious of the bounty ahead.

Schwartzy, casually guarding the bocconcini.

Catastrophe averted.

Good living.

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