Today was the last cycling day of my tour in Italy – it had been a wonderful circuit and one that I would be happy to revisit. My original plan for today was to cycle to Trento and take the train to Bologna tomorrow. However, Scott Anderson suggested I might consider taking a train from San Cristoforo into Trento, thereby avoid the poorly marked route over the narrow pass that drops down in Trento. He and Rachael managed to navigate the route a few years ago - though not without several missteps - and Scott had posted a “cleaned up” version of their route. I dutifully downloaded the route but, given the heat and the extra miles from my start in Spera, I was leaning to taking the train.
I lingered a bit long at check-out, waiting for another customer who was visiting the Valsugana with his parents. It turns out his father is a keen cyclist and had to not only recount stories of his epic rides but also show me pictures of himself and his cohort of cycling companions. It was almost 9:30 by the time I’d loaded up and began my descent to the river. And what a descent it was, dropping over 500 ft in less than a mile on a narrow twisty lane, reaching a maximum of 23%. I walked about half of it, and was not really comfortable until back amongst the vineyards and weaving my way through the streets of Borga Valsugana.
Looks like a beautiful day for a bike ride in the Valsugana
Finally down in the vineyards. I have no pictures of actually going down the hill as I did not want to move my hands away from the brake levers, even whle walking!!
Some ungulates and the Castel Telvana - once a strategic control point on the old Roman road, Via Claudia Augusta. The castle is now privately owned and can only be admired from afar
It was a pleasant ride through the Valsugana and I was just one of many rolling along under alpine peaks, past vineyards and orchards, on a warm but not sweltering summer day. I stopped briefly at a Bici Café for a cold fanta and a small piece of pie and then was soon rounding Lake Caldonazzo. I thought about stopping to dip my feet in the cool, clear water, but instead kept pedaling, thinking I might make the 12:33 train to Trento. In fact, I arrived at the station at 12:10, in plenty of time to purchase the tickets on the Trentalia app - €2.20 for me and €2.00 for Vivien George. It was a two-car train and the conductor was a little prickly, checking to make sure I had bought a bike ticket and insisting I put Vivien George on the hook for the 33 minute trip to Trento. But he wasn’t all bad – he helped me hoist her up when asked.
I was able to get an early check-in at the Grand Hotel Trento, a surprisingly nice hotel given its proximity to the train station. I secured Vivien George in the vast bicycle parking area of the garage and retreated to my air conditioned room for the afternoon. I’d been looking forward to another meal at Osteria Il Cappello, but they were closed for the week so I settled for the well-reviewed hotel restaurant. The food was pretty good but the service was inexplicably slow, so slow that they gave me a reduction on the price of the meal.
This is just one section of the bike parking facilities at Grand Hotel Trento, complete with outlets for charging eBikes
Patrick O'HaraWe stayed there too in 2022. Thanks for re-freshing our memories of Bassano and Borgo Valsugana. Sorry you didn't get to Asolo. Reply to this comment 4 months ago
