To Viareggio

October 25, 2021

After yesterday’s challenging ride we don’t mind that today’s figures to be the opposite - a flat, almost effortless cruise south down the lungomare (seafront) from Massa to Viareggio. the challenge for the day all comes in getting from Arenzano to Massa by train.

First though, breakfast - where the good if not quite grand Grand Hotel Arenzano partially redeems itself by presenting us with a terrific breakfast spread. This, plus the fact that their WiFi was perfectly serviceable in the lobby where I stayed after dinner last night and enjoyed a complementary americano while I uploaded the day’s photos has caused us to significantly upgrade the establishment. Really, it was fine - although I did advise them when we checked out that the water in the shower in our room drained exceedingly slowly.

As we always knew we would once we decided to add the Piemonte to our itinerary, we’re taking the train east from here past Genoa and beyond the mountains north of La Spezia. It’s too far to bike in the time we have remaining, biking across interminably broad Genoa is unpleasant at best (as we know from experience, because we biked west from central Genoa three years ago); and cycling through the rugged terrain above Cinque Terre wouldn’t be our choice even if there was time.

Our plan is to take the train from here to Massa Centro and bike south from there. Massa Centro because it’s the only reasonable intermediate stop we can reach with only one transfer. Otherwise I’d favor taking the train a shorter distance to Sarzana and biking the 35 miles to Viareggio from there; but only regional trains stop there, and a second transfer would be required. Not worth it. Instead, we’ll arrive in Massa at about 1 after about a three hour journey; bike the short distance to Viareggio; and then Rachael will take the hike she has loaded to her Garmin while I explore the town.

It’s chilly and very windy still when we leave this morning for the Arenzano train station, about a mile away. Claudio told us at breakfast that it is often very windy in Arenzano, at the cusp in the arc of the coastline. He said it’s typically the windiest spot on the northern Italian coast.

Leaving Arenzano. We have a different sky this morning, and I think there was a bit of rain earlier. Same strong wind though.

Plans change when we reach the station though and I go to the window to order tickets for ourselves and the bikes. There are two concerns. First, the bikes. The regional express from Genoa to Massa Centro does not accept bicycles, unless they are foldable. Ours are of course, so that’s solvable but an inconvenience.

The second concern is us - we aren’t registered in the EU Covid system, don’t have presentable QR code’s from it, and our vaccination cards are not an acceptable substitute if we want to travel on an Express or higher class of train. We have to travel on the regional trains, which means that two transfers are required after all - once at Geneva Brignoles and a second at La Spezia. And, because the regional trains are slower and there are one hour layovers at both transfer points, it’s a much longer ride. We won’t arrive in Massa Centrale until 3:15. Out are plans for Rachael’s afternoon hike because we won’t reach Viareggio until an hour or two before dinner.

It’s a slow but easy journey to Massa. The first train arrives in Arenzano exactly on time and departs a minute later. It’s a modern train - meaning it’s very easy to just wheel your bike on and stash it - no steps involved, and just wheel your bike into a slot. If you have an eBike, you can even plug it in for a charge while you ride.

The newest Italian trains are a great upgrade, very bike friendly. You can even give your battery a charge while you ride.

And this is an especially nice new feature: an electronic board that shows your current position, upcoming stations, on time status, and even the outdoor temperatures along the route. Much easier than craning your neck to look out the window at arriving stations to see where you are and whether it’s about time to disembark.

The second stage isn’t quite as easy to negotiate. The station has elevators, but they’re small and clearly marked to indicate that bicycles are forbidden; so we have to unload and carry them down the stairs from our arrival platform and up the departure one, after laying over for an hour in a KFC in the sottopassagio to keep warm. The train, when it arrives, is old style - steep stairs to lift your bikes up; hooks on the ceiling. But otherwise it’s fine.

The train from La Spezia is somewhere in between. The elevators at La Spezia station are larger and allow bikes. Good, obviously. The train is intermediate - newer, but not newest. No stairs to lift your bikes up when you board, but hooks from the ceiling to lift the bikes to and from.

We arrive in Massa a minute or two late, so we know it will be a very brief stop and are prepared for a hasty exit. At the last minute, a mishap: Rachael slips when coming down the stairs from the upper level we’ve been riding on. I’d gone ahead to start pulling bikes down from the ceiling while she came behind carrying all four panniers. It’s probably not a best practice to walk down the stairs on a moving train while both your hands are tied up carrying bulky luggage. She doesn’t fall down the stairs fortunately, but she does land hard on her butt and will likely have a bruise to show for it (but we won’t show it).

The view to the famous marble quarries east of Carrara.

The ride though is just as expected - an effortless cruise south, flat all the way, and once we reach the coastline we’re on a bike path for the next twelve miles. There’s very little wind, and it’s mostly overcast but quite comfortable - maybe the mid-sixties. After a few miles I catch up to Rachael and tell her to be careful not to miss her turn. She’s puzzled, because she doesn’t see a turn coming up - so I elaborate and say I mean the one another 8 miles ahead when we’ll leave the bike path to cross the street to the door of our hotel.

At Massa Marina, a monument to the mountain of marble that has been extracted from the quarries east of here.

South of Massa we’re on bike paths for the next twelve miles, all the way to the door of our hotel in Viareggio. It looks like this with variations most of the way - flat, pine trees and palms, beach villas and resort hotels.

We get a few clear views to the sea as we cross the mouth of a few small rivers.

Another channel to the sea. The sky is getting more colorful as we move south and the day latens.

We seem to be on a bike path, from the look of the signs. As we near Viareggio the cycling requires more attention. More walkers, rollerblazers, inattentive cyclists riding two abreast and clogging up the path.

It’s after five when we arrive at our room, where we dawdle around for about an hour looking at restaurants and otherwise just relaxing, when I look out the window to the sea. Sunset! I hustle Rachael away from what she’s doing and we walk outside and across the street to the beach just in time to catch the finest sunset of the tour.

Looking back feom the beach across Viareggio to the mountains.

The view west. For about ten minutes we stared in amazement along with everyone else on the beach, and then turned back when it began to fade.

Viale Carducci, the waterfront promenade through Viareggio.

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Ride stats today: 15 miles, 100’; for the tour: 2,405 miles, 85,200‘

Today's ride: 15 miles (24 km)
Total: 2,405 miles (3,870 km)

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