|
|
||||
| Date | Starting Place | Ending Place | Author | Last Update |
|
|
||||
| 04-29-15 |
Gravellona Toce, Piedmont, Italy |
Malpensa Airport, Lombardy, Italy |
ray | 07-01-15 11:31:27 |
|
|
||||
|
I was up about 7am and ate breakfast talking with my hostess in Italian. We both had phones, so some more sophisticated conversation was possible. She was born in Sardinia and came with her parents to Gravellona Toce. She asked where I was born, as well. We talked about family and work histories. It was a great way to start the last day of my tour. I was uncertain which of the two routes available to me I should take today. I could go down Lago Maggiore to Sesto Calende and then return to Malpensa via the route I started the tour with. Or, I could ride down Lago d'Orta, the lake just west of Lago Maggiore, which would be new territory. My hostess tried to convince me to ride down Lago Maggiore, which had the appeal of revisting the pleasant ride I'd had before. She said that the road down Lago d'Orta was busy and narrow. In the end, I opted for the Lago d'Orta path, for two reasons. First, I hadn't seen it and a new route is more appealing than one I've already been on. Second, riding down the length of a large lake is often not very interesting, especially if it is hazy. Also, I was concerned about heavy traffic along Lago Maggiore. I walked across the street and bought some bread and popcorn. I find the transition points on a tour worth noting. The moment I mount my bike to start my tour, I always make a mental bookmark. Other transitions are riding over the first or last pass and, of course, starting the last day's ride. I paused for a moment just before I left to try and soak in the fact that the entire experience would soon be over. I took this photo just before I left.  It is looking up the road I was traveling down. The B&B is the beige place on the left. The road is a wider version (4 lane, not 2) of the ones I'd be riding on most of the day. I rode out of Gravellona Toce on a busy, narrow road that had occasional bike lanes. I went through a couple towns though they seemed like one long urban strip to me. I was paralleling the Strona Creek, which would occasionally come into view.   As I was riding through Omegna, the town at the north end of Lago d'Orta, I saw this bit of street art.  I meandered through Omegna down to the lakeside for this view down the lake.  For the most part, my hostess was right that the lake road was busy, full of cars and trucks, narrow, and curvy. I had to ride looking in my rear view mirror all the time. All in all, not all that pleasant a ride. Also, the lake wasn't all that exciting, either. I mostly rode by homes, restaurants, and hotels. The views were of green hills across an expanse of water. Occasionally, a town would liven up the vista.  This is looking back at Omegna from about halfway down the lake  Toward the bottom of the lake, a thumb-like peninsula juts into the lake.  Once past the lake, I had a gentle climb to an urban corridor that was even less interesting than the lake ride. I now found myself riding in traffic along industrial corridors and big box outlets. I looked for side streets off this route but kept ending up on one-way streets going the wrong way  or on parallel roads then ended quickly and dumped me back onto the main highway. This continued for about 6 miles until the towns finally ran out and I got to farmland.  As you can see, the traffic hadn't died down much. With about 10 miles to go, I (finally) turned off the main road and into a maze of small lanes that went along farm fields, housing tracts, woods, and very hazy mountain views.  While there was now a headwind, the traffic had fallen to zero. I was constantly stopping to check the route on my phone as I was constantly passing intersecting roads. I stopped to eat something at this pleasant little stream flowing between the backyards of two houses.  One thing I didn't associate with Italy was lizards. Yet, I saw dozens everyday. They are skittish and I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to get a reasonable photo. While I was standing here, I saw several so I took out my camera and waited and was rewarded with this portrait.  The roads I was riding were constantly switching from paved to dirt, making it even harder to find the right turn.  The scenery was now completely rural.  I passed into the Parco Nationale Valle del Ticino when I went over this canal.  I was now in the forest.  I was almost done when I got to the river, itself,  and crossed it on a railroad trestle.  I got this view looking south down the river.  Once over the bridge, I found the entrance to the bike path where this tour started and rode along it to avoid the main road I'd ridden on when I started riding. I followed a side path up and away from the river and ended up approaching my hotel from the other direction, which would have been a much better way to start my ride. A quick dash down a side street, past the two barking dogs, and the ride was done.  Once back, I lazed on the bed and slowly ate the bag of popcorn almost floating in the afterglow. There was something in the repetition of reaching into the bag, pulling out a handful of kernels, and chewing them that was almost hypnotic. A great way to ease into the end of the tour! But, one more task remained: packing the bike into its travel case. I got some rags from the hotel and wiped down the bike. Then, I disassembled it,  wrapped the frame components in the inner-tube covers, and wrangled it all into its box.  Once that was done, I spent time trying to secure the side that had the latch torn off. I tried zip-tieing the remaining pieces shut, but it wouldn't stay on. I always carry stick-on Velcro in my touring kit so I stuck on a lot of Velcro, which would, at least, hold that end of the box shut, if the goons don't just rip it off tomorrow. Once all that was done, I went to dinner at the restaurant just next door. I'd eaten there the night before I left and I couldn't help but reflect on the three weeks that had passed between one meal and the next. I returned, packed up my clothes and and went to bed, listening to the rain and thunder. |
||||
|
|
||||