Day 17: Chioggia to Comacchio

September 23, 2023

Time keeps on slipping into the future*

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After swearing we'd never camp again, we decided to camp again. It all came about as the result of a chance glance across the street from a supermarket we visited. I saw what is apparently known by Italians as a "casalinghi cinese", or Chinese home goods shop. They had the fuel canister! It actually seems that they have a little of everything under the sun. It was pretty cool.

We also felt a need to dry our footprint and rainfly. More on that later.

Today was pretty average with distance, but short with time. It was flat and paved all the way. About a third of it was along a busy highway with a narrow shoulder. It was perfectly rideable. Only intersections felt dangerous, and then only somewhat. Before the fuel canister find, I considered riding the 110km to Ravenna today, and we absolutely could have done so without killing ourselves.

The hotel room in Chioggia was just what the doctor ordered for our rest and morale. Breakfast at the bar next door was included with our stay. The staff there were super nice. We packed leisurely and had plenty of space to mount the panniers. What a luxury!

Once again, we spent a lot of time along canals. There was one stretch parallel to the main highway that kept threatening to peter out, but thankfully it never did. It would've been a long way to backtrack!

We stayed on or near that highway in order to cross the big outflows of the Po River that fanned out along the delta. There are levy trails galore in this area. Our route, though not terribly scenic, cut out the meandering meanderingness of the established EV8 route. Besides, we're just about all levied out by now.

We think this ferry was undergoing repairs. It's a long way from home regardless.

Bridges kept a shoulder to ride on, but it still felt less safe than the open road.

Our lunch spot was a derelict bike pit stop at the southernmost edge of the delta park. I don't know what happened for the government to neglect it so badly. The picnic table was still intact, so it served our purpose just fine.

The cracks in this information panel look like map detail. Pity the poor rider who tries to decipher this.

Eventually the ride transformed from this:

...to this:

Things went from delta-y to lagoon-y. Flamingos replaced cormorants as the bird of choice. Sea pines started to reappear.

It was also around this time that the Warmshowers host in Lagosanto I contacted 5 DAYS AGO replied to my message. I told him we were already at the coast and had made plans to camp. I appreciate him getting back to me regardless. I'm hoping we'll find a couple more hosts to hang out with before the tour is done. On the Adriatic coast, however, they're in very short supply. Maybe when we start heading inland again.

Back to our ride. The first seaside town we reached seemed pretty desolate, then people and better-maintained houses and shops started to appear. We passed a couple of resorts that I think were bungalows-only, then we reached our destination. This campground is very much still open, and it's very big. I still worry I'm going to get lost every time I leave the tent.

There aren't so many mosquitos here. There is shade, and the temperature and humidity are quite reasonable. The only thing that might put a damper (he he) on our stay is this storm system approaching:

We're trying to look on the bright side: if it rains, at least it'll wash the last remnants of bird droppings from our rainfly!

Tomorrow is Ravenna and a hotel and a whole lotta mosaics. If you've read my previous journals, you know how crazy I am about mosaics. I'm excited.

* Not one of my favorite songs, nor one if my favorite bands, nor one of my favorite sentiments. Whenever someone says that life is too short, I shrug. I've never felt that way. Sometimes I feel like life is very long. I mean, imagine if you were a fly. Just a month to live, right? To the fly it probably seems pretty close to an eternity. Anyway, the song popped into my head as I realized we're reaching the halfway point of the tour. It's a good feeling, though. We're pedaling into the future!

Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 881 km (547 miles)

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