Day 29 - Trento to Peschiera del Garda - 9 1/2 Weeks - Copenhagen to Lecce 2019

October 17, 2019

Day 29 - Trento to Peschiera del Garda

Gone Fishin' in Peschiera

Today we rode out of the Alps. We like mountains and I think they like us. Since entering the Alps 8 days ago at Fussen, we have had spectacular weather, scenery and riding conditions. Some of the days have been lung busters, some have been full day creamy descents. They have all been wonderful and today put a perfect end to that.

We were a little bit later out of the gate, but were once again riding along perfect bike paths along the Adige river just after 9. We continued south along the Adige for about 30 km and then just south of Roverto we climbed out of the Adige valley, over a small pass, and descended to the Northern tip of Lake Garda at Riva del Garda

Wow. I'll let the pictures fill in their thousands of words.

We were both a little disappointed that we didn't ride through the southern Dolomites, but that was wiped away when we came onto Lake Garda. It would have been a shame to miss riding this!

We were also grateful that we are here in October. This is very close to the major population centres of northern Italy, and close enough to the big southern German cities that there is still a reasonably significant amount of tourist traffic even now. In August I think the magnificence of the area would be tarnished by the tourist influx. That's the polite way of saying, it would be hell on earth. But it's October, not August, and this is pretty close to Nirvana right now!

By the time we hit the bottom quarter of the lake, we were out of the mountains and riding into rolling hills with vineyards and olive groves. Very nice.

We pulled into Peschiera right around sun down and found the apartment of our WS host (Andrea who we knew from when he stayed with us a few years ago). We are going to leave our bikes here as we head back north by train to Munich for a few days, and then we'll continue our southward journey from here. A huge thank you to Andrea for accommodating us and helping us out for this 'mid term break'

Song of the Day, No Rest for the Wicked by Lykke Li

We didn't get much rest today. Beautiful cycling but a bit of a headwind. I don't think we're wicked though, 'cause we're getting a bit of a rest for the next few days. We won't be biking again until next Tuesday. Mid term break, train to Munich tomorrow as I have some work commitments there and the back on Monday. We will probably spend a few days around here with Andrea (our WS host) taking in the sights with a few local rides. That won't be a hardship!

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Setting off at a little past 9 under yet again brilliant blue sky!

Some of the same pics as last night but with morning rather than evening light

The cycle infrastructure just continues to impress, both with the technical quality and the beauty.There are A LOT of roadies on the trails. This is Italy!

... and then here come the motorhomes of the cycling world

At Rivoli Veronese we climbed out of the Adige Valley over a small pass to Lake Garda. This is the top of the pass just heading into the north end of Lake Garda

Just before the descent into lake Garda (remember that cliff like feature on the map elevation profile!) there was a bike focused restaurant overlooking the lake. It was also 1 pm ... so we stopped for lunch!

... and this was our view. Stunning! Lunch, a very quick descent to the lakeshore, and then 60 km of lake shore riding through resorts and postcard perfect villages to Peschiera del Garda, our stop for the night

well, some of the other riders ate something!

As we were descending into the Lake Garda basin, everything took on a mediterranean feel. The foliage changed, palm trees started to appear ... and oranges!

60 km of this riding south along the east shore of Lake Garda. No dedicated bike path for most of it (some though) but the road traffic was very light and there were a LOT of road bikes out

Image not found :( — Enjoying the day. Perfect temps and just a slight headwind

lots of castles along the way. Shooting this into to the sun so tried out B&W to get the contrast. Worked OK IMHO

We are staying with a WS host (Andrea) in Peschiera del Garda. Andrea stayed with us when he did the GDMBR in 2017. He's done a number of long distance tours, including a big one around the western US a few years ago. Some of his pic's from that were featured in a local exhibition. It's great to be able to connect with Andrea again!

Signing off from our WS Host's apartment in Peschiera del Garda. A wonderful day

Today's ride: 111 km (69 miles)
Total: 2,053 km (1,275 miles)

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