Bardolino to Riva di Garda: It doesn't get any better than this
What a day. 1298 metres of climbing (4258 feet) and this on a day when I innocently said to the CN over breakfast "Will we have much climbing today?". No, he said, and I really think he believed it at the time. Well, climb we did, and it was one of the most awesome days ever. Unbelievable really. The scenery, the quality of the bike path, the weather, everything. I hardly know where to begin.
Well, breakfast obviously. The full ten jammer. The usual lingering over coffee. A long last look at our fabulous hotel. Then off we went, straight up. Yup. The climb started immediately, just to make us feel better about all the breakfast we just ate.
This was a great place to stay. View of the lake from our room and great staff.
We slogged it out up hill for quite awhile. There was navigating involved, meaning we both had a chance to catch our breath. The surface varied from fantastic to French gravel. At one point we were back hugging wind turbines again. Our legs were fresh though and suddenly we were dropping down the other side.
Then we were on the Claudia Augusta route. It was amazing. We are doing it uphill instead of down, but neither of us noticed the gradual gain in elevation. The valley is stunning, the route is astonishingly well marked and we just had a blast. On top of the amazing weather (would you believe 28 degrees) we had a tailwind. It was as good as it gets.
We just flew along until the fork in the road. We spent a few minutes deciding, on to Trento, or a side trip to Riva del Garda. We decided on the unknown and off we went towards Riva del Garda. We anticipated a downhill run to the lake, but it turned out to be a ride up to a pass, which was very manageable, followed by a precipitous drop down to the lake. Totally unexpected.
We stopped at a fabulous hotel just above the 'caution 10% grade' sign and checked in. Then down we swooped to the lake, explored the two towns, Torbole and Riva del Garda and headed back up the hill.
Our hotel has a view that doesn't quit, we are in a beautiful room and we have just had another great dinner with plentiful Italian wine. Life is good.
There is so much to see here and we are so lucky with the weather. The views from the bike path are fantastic.
We saw several spots that cater to bike tourists and day trippers. We had lunch at a bike cafe. We came across this one mid afternoon. We love the colours in the signage.
We swung left off of the Claudia Augusta and headed towards Arco. The ride was a real surprise. We thought it would be a gradual downhill to the lake, but it was a climb and then a precipitous downhill to the lake.
We stopped at a wide spot in the road thinking about what a killer climb it was going to be in the morning when I noticed the four star hotel next to us and the always brilliant CN suggested we check in, dump the bags and carry on. We were having complementary tea and pastries on the deck when the tour bus pulled up. Our room and view are over the top.
This is a real Mecca of sports for outdoor enthusiasts. Arco is renowned for its climbing, Trobole for windsurfing, there is sailing, hiking, mountain biking. The list goes on and on.
