September 15, 2023
Day 9: Cellai to Firenze, train to Bologna
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I telegraph my better half
By Morse or by Marconi;
But if the need arise for speed,
I send an abalone.
You can say "bo-lo-nyuh" 'till you're blue in the face, but I will still think of the lunch meat and the above ditty (one verse of many) when I see the name of the town we're in. Unfortunately, due to tomorrow being Saturday, we won't get a chance to explore the city at all. The campground we're staying at is booked up, as are most accommodations nearby. So we're going to make a beeline for Lago di Garda instead.
Our train wasn't due to arrive until 1:30, so we took our time breaking camp. It was delightful being lazy, drinking instant coffee and eating store-bought ciambella. The only drawback was how strong the sun had become by the time we left the campground at 9:30. We had a big hill yet to climb, and it wasn't going to be fun.
I carefully punched in road cycling routing, and got... this??
There's just no winning with Komoot. Or maybe there is, because we completely avoided having to climb the killer climb with traffic. Instead we climbed it with rocks and sand, which, you know what? I'll take it! We rejoined the main road just in time to see the celebration bar we used as inspiration for today's ride. Other cyclists also use this as a pit stop. We felt right at home. Rather than our standard macchiato, we opted for a Gatorade knockoff.
From here, it was the kind of descent that had me applying the brakes, but never really feeling out of control.
It leveled out and we started mentally preparing for city riding.
We made it to the Firenze Rifredi train station with plenty of time to spare. There was no elevator, so we had to do the bike and baggage scramble to get to the platform. The only bench was occupied, so we sat on the concrete and waited in the shade. It was still pretty hot, though.
Announcements were coming fast and furious. They were becoming quite irritating. Finally, our train arrived, and we heaved our bikes up the steps into the carriage. Three other bikers also boarded. It seems they hadn't reserved space for their bikes, because we now had a total of 8 bikes on board, and only 6 hooks. Luckily there was room nearby for the other 2 bikes.
The train was quite fast for an intercity. It easily navigated the Appenines by passing through one very long tunnel and several short ones. If it were possible for us to do likewise, we would've ridden it for sure.
There was an elevator at Bologna Centrale! It was very popular among the baggage-toting crowd. Lucky our bikes each fit in quite easily.
It was a fairly easy 5km of city riding to our campground for the evening.
We're on the verge of giving up camping while traveling in Europe. Its a lot of extra weight and bulk to carry. I know there was a discussion of this topic on the Cycleblaze forum recently. The camping gear is a security blanket for us, a ticket out of trouble in times of need. But we're getting better at finding non-camping places to stay. Camping here doesn't have the same backwoods charm as in the States, but it does have a wacky cast of foreign travelers. It's our tribe, and that's very comforting. We're going to camp as much as we can on this tour. We'll re-evaluate our feelings towards it for the next hop over the pond.
We're looking forward to seeing what the flatlands are like. Join us again for tomorrow's adventure!
Today's ride: 28 km (17 miles)
Total: 454 km (282 miles)
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