June 3, 2024
Day 8 - Peschiera to Trento
Get me out of Italy!
You’re not going to believe this, but I had sunshine today! No really. I saw a big glowing orb in the sky all day. Including that part of the day where it briefly rained for 5 minutes or so, because of course it did. My record of rain every single day is still intact (it sprinkled a bit the day I rode up the Reschen Pass. I forgot to mention that in the entry for Saturday.)
I started my day by walking the Urban into the Altstadt of Peschiera for a little photo shoot. That place is so crammed full of people, that I figured it was better to walk the bike than ride it. It was a good decision. I did get some nice pictures that will be used for promotional purposes. I also had an extended chat with a couple guys from Germany who were quite curious about my velomobile. They found it hard to believe I rode it all the way there from Germany.
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I took a different route back to the Etsch river. This route also involved some climbing, but not as bad as yesterday and, most importantly, I did not get lost following a “bike path” through any woods. I also ended up riding on the east side of the Etsch instead of the west side for the first several miles. This was much better riding than the west side yesterday, partly because it was not raining, and also because the scenery is much nicer. All proof of this is on my camera, so you’ll have to take my word until I get home and edit all those hours of footage. A portion of the path runs right up along the cliffs and is very scenic. Unfortunately, part of that path was closed for unknown reasons. There was no warning about the closure and no signed detour. To add insult to injury, I had to get out and turn around drenched in sweat (remember it’s actually sunny today) in front of a group of school kids that looked to be preparing to go whitewater rafting. The only options were to backtrack several miles, or ride on the main road. I chose the main road. I am pleased to report that the traffic was light and polite this time. I was able to rejoin the path a couple miles down the road.
Not much farther down the path I encountered a guy with one of those massive mowing machines. He politely pulled to the side to let me by. Then right around the next corner I encountered this unannounced barricade:
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As I was navigating around the barricade, the mower guy caught up with me and motioned for me to wait. I was fully expecting him to yell at me for going around the barricade, but no. He just wanted a picture. He spoke Italian, and given that my knowledge of Italian is predominantly musical terms, we didn’t have much of a conversation, but I did understand enough to gather that he wanted video of me riding away. I politely obliged.
The next obstacle I encountered was a tree down over the path. Clearly it had been down for awhile because there was a bypass of this next to the grape vines. The only thing is, with all the recent rain, the bypass was a giant mud hole. Nothing to do but get out and push. As I was struggling to push my bike through the heavy mud, a farmer who was spraying his vines hopped out of his truck and came to help me push. He also was on the phone shortly before that and I wonder if maybe he was phoning the local authorities to tell them about the obstruction. With his help I was able to get the bike through the mud much more quickly. Thanks guy in truck spraying your vines for rescuing me!
After this, there was some nice unobstructed riding through the bikes with the occasional steep pitch in gradient. After the exertions at the end of the ride yesterday, I really didn’t appreciate this. It also didn’t help that the path was still damp in wooded areas thanks to the rain yesterday and continued high humidity today. The rear tire on a velomobile is not that heavily weighted. In cases where the path is wet and the gradient is steel enough, you lose traction. This proved troubled some in two places, not all that far apart. First was this tunnel. The floor of the tunnel was smooth rocks which were quite wet. I nearly made it, but got stuck right near the end when it just got too wet.
As if the tunnel wasn’t bad enough, I was next greeted by a 20% gradient, also in the woods with wet pavement. I tried. How at I did. I thought the sign at the bottom said 10%. As I was trying to ride up it, I thought “boy these Italians sure have a weird interpretation of 10%.” After having to get up and push the rest of the way when my tire just Cohen to grip anymore, I turned around and saw this sign::
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After that, things did get generally better, mostly because I got tired of riding up steep short hills through vineyards and bailed to the road. There are three main roads in the area: the autobahn, the main road, and a secondary road. I went with the secondary road. This was a good idea. First, it did not dip and dive through the vineyards, and second, it was an important enough road to have acceptable pavement. I stuck with this until Sabbionara, and probably should have stayed with it even farther. I have no photos of this area because, well, I was kind of busy riding my bike.
The Radweg beyond this point was ok. There were still spots that were better than others, but frankly it’s all better today when it’s not raining and cold. I passed under the bridge where I took a nap yesterday and then later under the bridge where I ate lunch watching the weather move in. Those two points were further apart than I thought. Once past Rovereto, as I recalled, the path became a nice flat relatively well-paved autobahn for bikes. A few miles outside Trento a roadie zipped onto the trail and gave me a tantalizing carrot to follow. He was a fast one, doing over 20mph. I followed him closely for a long time before his more nimble and quick to accelerate bike left me behind after turning onto and off of a bridge. With fresh legs and my Bülk MK1 sitting in the garage at home, I would have distanced him long ago, but not today. Not after 184 miles and a mountain pass in two days plus the 50 miles already in my legs today. It was fun while it lasted.
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I had estimated I could reach Trento by 5pm, and that is exactly when I pulled into the hostel. This time I took the path along the river in Trento instead of the road I got stuck in yesterday. It was fine, except rather slow, and I nearly got hit by two clueless girls walking dead center in the path. I yelled out to them to wane them of my presence, but they were so clueless they didn’t these me until I was nearly behind them. Then when I called out, they came to a dead stop and turned around right in front of me, nearly causing a collision.
My accommodations are right off the bike path near the city center. It’s quite a convenient spot. Trento is a strange place though. There is all this really old architecture, but right around the edges of the city center it looks like the seedier parts of chicago and Detroit. Kind of low-class slummy. And there are a lot of police milling around. It’s got a weird vibe. A lot of young people (it’s a university town), not as many tourists as I expected, and a lot of dudes in da hood. It’s a very culturally diverse looking population. I didn’t spend that long walking around town, but I did take some photos:
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5 months ago
Tomorrow I head further north towards Brixen, my next stop on the way to the Brenner pass. It’s theoretically uphill, but it’s such a gentle gradient that it shouldn’t be very noticeable. I know this section well. It is good smooth cruising, and beyond Bozen is spectacular. Fingers crossed the weather doesn’t turn nasty again.
Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 459 miles (739 km)
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5 months ago