Day 17 - Homeward Bound

Our route out of Verona to the airport turned out to be surprisingly pleasant as we left the city behind after a couple of miles and were then back out onto country roads which eventually turned into farm tracks.

  Just about half a mile from where we  expected the airport to be, a farmer coming out of a field on his tractor and trailer tooted at us and called us over.  At this point I expected to be told there was no through road, or to be told in Italian to "get off my land".  However, with much chattering in Italian, he reached into his trailer and grabbed handfuls of peaches to give to us, he was trying to get us to fill our panniers with them.  Eventually we persuaded him that one each was enough and he seemed delighted when we told him we were from Scotland, I think he thought we had cycled the whole way.

This wee incident was an absolutely brilliant way to finish off the trip and really highlighted the different experiences you get travelling by bike.

Ten minutes later we were at the departures area of the airport where we got into our now fairly well practiced routine of packaging up the bikes and panniers.  When we went to put the bikes through outsize baggage they wouldn't fit properly on the conveyor belt.  This is pretty standard and has never been a problem at any other airports, however, they insisted we take the front wheels off to make them fit. This involved a fair bit of unwrapping and, unfortunately we had used up all our parcel tape and the only tape we could get to re-wrap them was Elastoplast from the pharmacy.

Anyway it seemed to work and the bikes and all our other luggage arrived off the carousel at Edinburgh.  Our flight gave us a spectacular last look at the Alps as it flew almost directly over the Eiger and Aletsh Glacier

Our final wee drama occurred as we were trying to exit the car park at Edinburgh Airport, I put my pre paid car park ticket in the machine expecting to be on our way, however the barrier stayed firmly in place and the machine proclaimed even more firmly "amount to pay £590.00" !!!  Fortunately a quick word over the intercom sorted things out.

It has been another great trip, we are now back home to catch up on the highlights of the Tour de France and to plan next year's trip.

Today's miles 6

Total miles 562. (I'll work out the amount of climbing over the next few days)

Day 16 - Verona

When we got back up to the campsite last night it was really quiet and peacefull sitting amongst terraces which had been built in the time of the Roman Empire.  We met up with a Dutch couple who had set off cycle touring from Basel almost at the same time as us but who had taken a completely different route to Verona and it was amazing how similar our attitudes were to holidays.

The peace was occasionally interrupted by huge cheers from the city below but these petered out as Germany went on to beat Italy in penalties.

This morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the campsite than cycled across town to leave our luggage at the Hotel Fiera where we are spending our last night.

We then cycled back into town and had a look around the Roman Arena which was getting set up for tonight's performance of Aida, we did consider buying tickets but the thought of several hours of Italian opera was just a bit too much to cope with.

We had an excllent lunch at Ham Holy Burger, where even Manny would be impressed by the beer menu ( this is only half of it)

We then decided to return to our hotel, chill out and and watch the Tour de France.  After which we thought we would just eat at our hotel rather than cycle back into the city centre. Unfortunately we were informed that he restaurant was closed!  We had a wander round the local area which didn't look too promising, however we saw a sign pointing to the "Guapo" Argentinian restaurant, which again didn't look too promising.

But in fact it turned out to be absolutely excellent with great service and top notch steaks.

We also managed to find a roll of parcel tape to pack up our bikes and baggage tomorrow, now all we have to do is find the airport.

Today's miles about 6

Total miles 556

Day 15 - Garda to Verona

After spending ages last night working out a route to Verona we set off this morning from the campsite and   when we got to Garda about a mile later found a big sign pointing us back the way we had come saying Verona 33 km. So we turned around and followed the track along the lakeside for four or five kilometres to Bardolino where we totally lost the signs.  After a quick trip to the tourist information office we got a pretty good booklet showing local bike trails and this led us on some really nice roads through the vineyards until we eventually picked up the paths alongside the canal above the River Adige which took us right in to the heart of Verona.

After a bit of dithering about we found the campsite on a hill overlooking the city.

We had a brief look around this afternoon and it was awfy hot and pretty busy, but we did find a Big Band playing  in one of the main piazzas who were pretty good.

We are now melting slowly back at the campsite with a bottle of wine, listening to the crickets chirping away.  We didn't have the stamina to stay down in town for the Italy- Germany match, I suspect we might hear some cheers..

Today's miles 25

Total miles 550

https://www.strava.com/athletes/3886296

Day 15 Riva del Garda to Garda

Today we were heading for Garda at the south end of the lake but, as the road along the lakeside was really busy and narrow with no signs of any bike lanes, we decided to take the steep climb out of Torbole, back over to Mori and carry on down the cycle paths alongside the river Adige.

Within a couple of miles we were on to deserted roads through the vineyards, it was completely different from the thoosan's of folk stoating around the streets of Malcesine yesterday.

The cycle paths were much quieter than further up river near Trento but still of fantastic quality and really reminded you of just how bad our efforts are back home, especially that crappy strip of gravel alongside the A9 over Drumochter.

Mind you, the signs did all suggest they were funded by EU money!

It got really hot this afternoon, about 33 degrees, which we started to feel on the steep wee climb up to Rivoli Veronese where we hit our first navigational difficulties of the trip (we've been remarkably good so far this year) but after a bit of faffing around and a couple of extra miles we eventually found a really nice quiet track down to Garda for a well earned beer and a very much needed swim in the lake.

We noticed last night in Riva that some families have found the ideal way to go cycling with their kids, they just get big brother to tow wee sister.

Today's miles 47

Total miles 525

https://www.strava.com/activities/626614487

Day 14 Lake Garda

I just managed today persuade Sandra that we didn't have to go biking today so we had a chill out day taking the boat along the lake to Malcesine where Sandra drooled over all the shops selling Italian leather shoes and handbags. Fortunately  she was not prepared to carry extra baggage the rest of the way to Verona.  However I have been warned to pack my gear into as small a space as possible once we get to Verona.

On the way back to Torbole the wind had picked up, as it seems to do every afternoon here, and there were loads if dinghys and windsurfers flying around.

After a swim in the lake it was back in to Riva for dinner in preparation for a steep climb out of Torbole in the morning.

Today's miles- about 4

Total miles 478

Day 13 - Trento to Torbole, Lake Garda

A leisurely cycle today, for the first 19 miles we again followed the main cycle path along the Adige river as far as Rovereto. We then cut off west over a fairly low pass past Mori and over toTorbole at Lake Garda.

Today was a pretty short day again so we got booked into the campsite beside the lake, got our daily washing done and lazed about at the shore for the afternoon.

We then wandered into Riva del Gardo for dinner.  

We haven't really lost any time on this trip and still have a couple of spare days in hand so we plan to stay here for a couple of nights and will probably just have a potter about tomorrow.

Today's miles 30

Total miles 474

https://www.strava.com/activities/624433492

Day12 Lago di Caldaro to Trento

This morning we set off from the lakeside initially following quiet farm roads until we got to Aura.  After that we were on to the fantastic cycle path which follows the Adige River.

The cycle path has a great smooth surface, no cars and is used by all types of cyclists from tiny wee kids to pelotons of club racers.  It is also very well maintained, we came across this group trimming the verges. They even had a man with a hooter, just like you get with workers on British rail lines, who tooted whenever a cyclist was approaching (about every 30 seconds) and they all stopped their mowers and strimmers until the cyclists were past.

The cycle path even has trackside service stations purely for cyclists, eat your heart out Sustrans!

After a couple of coffee stops we arrived in the town of Trento at about one o'clock and decided that we would make that our destination for today.  It is a lovely old town with a really nice piazza around the cathedral

There are however no campsites nearby so we have decided that we will just make do with The Grand Hotel.

Cheers!!

Today's miles 35

Total miles 444

https://www.strava.com/activities/623372507

Day 11- Prato allo Stelvio to Lago di Caldaro

After yesterday's bonus loop it was time to get back on the road.  The first thirty miles followed the same route as we did three years ago following a great cycle path down alongside the Adige river through miles and miles of orchards to Merano.

We were delighted to see that the wee self service apple juice bar was still there.

When we got near Merano we took the quiet back roads above the the West Bank of the river and stopped for lunch at Marlengo. After about forty miles our route started to go up and down a bit and we started to flag slightly in the heat.  Tonight's camp site is not up to the excellent standards of the Sagemuhle where we have stayed for the last three nights, but it is on a beautiful location beside the lake.

We will probably try to have a shorter day tomorrow.

Today's miles 58

Total miles 409

https://www.strava.com/activities/621444851

Day 10 - The Stelvio Pass

When Sandra and I cycled through this area 3 years ago on our trip from Amsterdam to Venice we had hoped to take in a detour up the Stelvio Pass, but a combination of tired legs and lack of time meant that it never happened,  However the itch remained and that has been a significant factor in choosing our route for this year's trip.

So, after a day off yesterday, we were up bright and early this morning to give it a try, we were both quite nervous when we set off as we really had no idea how tough it might be.

Even before we had left the village we found ourselves in the middle of a huge cycle race with hundreds of cyclists heading up the pass.  By the time we reached the village of Trafoi most of the racers had passed us, however we did soon find ourselves amongst a gaggle of cyclists who were all generally going at a similar pace and encouraged each other as we passed and repassed one another repeatedly.

After Trafoi the hairpins started properly.  The gradient was quite steep the whole way, generally about 9% between bends, sometimes getting the up to 12 or 13%.

Again there were loads of motorbikes, supercars and occasional Old Timer going up the road.

After about 11 miles the view above opened out and we could see our final 5 miles and over 2000ft of climbing snaking ahead.

It looked quite intimidating but we knew that the gradient stayed much the same and, without our panniers and in cooler conditions, we were both feeling pretty comfortable just steadily climbing away, We certainly seemed far more comfortable than many of the road bikers who were going up at the same pace.

The last mile or so were really spectacular as we counted down the numbered hairpin bends from 48 down to zero and before long we were at the summit which was a great feeling of achievement.

Just after we got to the top the heavens opened so we took shelter for a well earned coffee, some food  and the obligatory souvenir cycling tops.

After a while it looked as though the weather was clearing so we set off on the descent back the way we had come.

However this turned out just to be a "suckers gap" and within minutes we were caught in a torrential hail shower and it was absolutely freezing. ( we were at nearly 9000ft).

 

Fortunately there was another restaurant about 4 or 5 miles down where we joined quite a few other cyclists who had taken refuge for a coffee and to thaw out.  After a while the weather improved again and we continued the rest of our descent, it was really only on the way down that we appreciated just what a huge climb we had undertaken.

Eventually we were back down in the valley having a well earned beer an feeling quite chuffed with ourselves, although it was tough we were both really pleased with how comfortable we felt on the climb.  It was a fantastic day.

Today's miles - 34

Total miles - 351

https://www.strava.com/activities/621444851

Day 9 - A day off.

No biking today, instead we had a relaxing day, swimming, reading, nice lunch at the pizzeria next door, sheltering from this afternoon's thunderstorm,....then we gate crashed the 4th annual Stilfserjoch Old Timer Traktor Tour http://stilfserjoch2016.blogspot.it/p/blog-page_41.html

And here's one of the old timers!

There were also Porsches

Lambourghinis

And a big man on a wee scooter with a beer trailer

It was a fairly surreal event with hundreds of Tyrolean farmers gathered in a sort of Wild West Coral, however the beer and food was great with a surprisingly good Tyrolean folk band playing. Another great day.

http://www.tirolerwind.com/