We leave Ferrara for the last time a bit before 9. We’re getting an early start today because we want to be sure to arrive in Bologna in time for lunch, since restaurants will be closed this evening, as they are everywhere in Italy - and also now in Germany, which announced its own tightened restrictions today. Things are feeling untenable everywhere all of a sudden. It really is a good thing that we’re heading home.
It’s cool when we start out, not much above 50F. We don’t mind the chill though - there’s little wind, and it’s not foggy. The weather will improve all day, and by the time we reach Bologna it’s sunny and in the low sixties. Near perfect conditions, really.
Today’s ride is nearly as flat as everywhere we’ve ridden for the past ten days, ever since dropping into the southern margin of the Po delta back in Rimini. In the past 10 days we’ve ridden about 450 miles but climbed a total of only 3,000 feet, almost certainly the most prolonged stretch of flat riding we’ve ever done together. It’s funny - for decades now Rachael and I have joked about saving the flat lands for when we got too old for the mountains. We were thinking of Denmark and the Netherlands, but never pictured that it could be like this, here in the Mediterranean climate, terrain and culture that we’ve come to love so much.
It’s a lovely ride today, quite diverse in comparison to recent days. We know we’re doing the right thing in heading home now - no other choice is at all reasonable under the circumstances, really - but we cycle with slightly subdued feelings: not of sadness or unhappiness exactly, but of mild regret. Conditions are so fine and beautiful now, ideal cycling weather. The music Rachael found for today’s video captures the mood perfectly.
Video sound track: Adagio, by Lara Fabian (an original composition based on Albonini’s Adagio in G Minor.
Leaving La Scarana for the last time, for now. If we ever make it back to Ferrara, we’d definitely stay here again. One of our top two or three stays of the tour.
Leaving Gallo, crossing the Reno River. One of THESE bridges again! Fortunately this is much shorter than the one crossing the Po north of Ferrara, so we elected to just walk.
South of Gallo we leave the paved network for about five miles, following well surfaced trails through the woods and a wetland refuge. The most atmospheric miles of the day.
We were both taken by this evocative bronze sculpture Of twelve cyclists, in front of the hospice center at Bentivoglio. It’s not obvious what the subject is - maybe a memorial of some kind?
The work is titled Le Mondine. These are rice field workers. Typically low-income women, they spent their days wading in the paddies, pulling weeds to facilitate the young rice sprouts.
In Bologna. Mission accomplished! we arrive in time for lunch, and wheel up to a sidewalk trattoria for a midday feast to celebrate the end of the tour. A mixed salad with cod; raviolini with bolognese sauce; gnocchi with walnuts and pesto sauce; and a half bottle of valpolicella.
