Day 123
Italy polices its borders and I find it quite hard to get across. The sign on the slip road says it’s a motorway and the other roads don’t cross the border, but then the sign on the actual road says “motorway ends”. There’s no other way so this must be it, I join the lorries as we get funnelled to a single lane to pass the soldiers on the border. I get pulled over and asked for papers. It’s not banned to cycle there, they just didn’t like the look of me.
From here it’s down to sea level then flat, flat, flat. The Italian towns here are all very similar: a large church, big buildings painted various shades of terracotta and peeling, sometimes a café in the centre with cheap plastic chairs. They are very pretty but most are like ghost towns. Unless they are quite big there are no shops at all, not even groceries.
I pass through many towns with cycling heritage. A couple of them are running cycling events today – it’s a Thursday in September, not sure why. Treviso has more going on, it’s quite touristy, then I pick up the Treviso-Ostiglia cycle path out of town.
Day 124
I spend most of the day on the Treviso-Ostiglia cycle path. This is another ex-railway line conversion, and it has numerous abandoned stations and signal boxes, some of which are currently being renovated, but mostly the route has very little on it. Much of it is a very recent conversion, it may get more populated as time goes on. I meet quite a few cycle tourists using it for the Milan-Treviso stretch.
The path suddenly ceases, so back to zig-zagging across the Lombardy countryside. I find a beautiful old farmhouse to stay at.
Day 125
Pretty much more of the same, flat but pretty Lombardy countryside. The towns are still much the same, though most now have a castle or at least a tower. I pass through Cremona and Piacenza, stopping briefly for some sightseeing.
Minor panic when my accommodation cancels my booking at 16:00. I try a couple of air-bnbs and they also claim to be full. This whole area is very populated and there’s no real prospect of wild camping. I’ve ended up in a huge motel, not for the first time I’m the only guest. It’s expensive but the cancelling place has had to give a large kickback to cover.
Day 126
For a while, more Lombardy towns, another bike event, much the same as yesterday and all very flat. A lot of the big old farmhouses are empty, quite a few with for sale signs on them. They are lovely to stay at when passing through but realistically there’s nothing to actually do out here.
Then at last, there are some hills! Some small ones at first, then a big climb over to Genoa/Genova. This is a great route to ride north to south, it’s very easy up through the towns on the north side, following the river. The road is quiet as most traffic takes the motorway with its numerous tunnels, I’m variously above and below the motorway and the train track. This is followed by a huge descent, a great road with tight hairpins. It’s Sunday afternoon and there are hundreds of motorbikes, dozens of cyclists.
Day 127
Italians tend to eat a very light breakfast, as far as I have observed. I’m staying at a lovely place in central Aranzano run by the slightly crazy Davide. He’s a bit of an artist and has a strong hand in designing the rooms he lets, they are delightful. I get up early, and as promised there is a box with breakfast outside my room. It’s a little minimal: two croissants, two donuts, two tiny apple juices. I scoff the lot and have two tiny coffees from the machine, then it dawns on me that the box said “Genießen Sie Ihr Frühstück” on it, the one with “Enjoy your breakfast” was next to the other people’s room and only has one croissant, etc. Ooops.
Out from Arezano there’s another of these repurposed railway tracks which is fairly good for a while, and then it comes to a rather bizarre end:
From there the coast road goes up through the rocks, classic Grand Tour style from a million films, then descends to a picturesque Italian town, with or without a Cento Istorico. And again. And again.
On one of the big climbs I meet Fabian and Christina from Germany, they are doing a loop from Milan, over the Apennines to the coast, then back over the mountains via Turin.
From Imperia there is the most fantastic cycle path. Honestly, this is a masterclass in how to make a perfect cycle path. The surface is perfect, it’s wide, mostly wider than the road, there are very few crossing points. And it goes on and on. “Build it and they will come”, it’s certainly true here: there are thousands of people using this. There are tourists on electric or non-electric bikes, old ladies doing their shopping, head-down time-trialists, long distance tourers, scooters, 6-up contraptions from the numerous hire places. It’s wide enough that there’s never contention between all the different speeds. And of course there’s lots of places to stop for rest or refreshment.
The tunnels, of which there are many, are not only brightly lit, they also play ambient music and there are SOS points every 500 metres or so.
