Day 10: Trieste-Ljubljana (101 km, 1206 ↑)

The weather forecast for today predicted quite a lot of rain. But when I left the hotel in the morning to check out the weather (our room didn’t have any real windows), it was grey and the road was wet, but it was not raining. So we left the hotel, grabbed some ciabattas and cheese at the closest supermarket and started cycling.

The beginning of the stage was tough. We left Trieste at sea level and had to climb up to 700 metres during the first thirty kilometres. And especially in the beginning, it was steep. But we made it slowly and steadily up to that level.

We crossed the border to Slovenia after a bit more than one hour. The landscape in Slovenia and the villages were very nice. During one stop, we met another cyclist from Korea, Jong. We saw him a couple of times again during the day and finished the stage with him, including one beer when we reached Ljubljana.

Since we didn’t know beforehand if we would get so far today, we hadn’t booked any accommodation. So when we arrived, we checked what was available and booked a room at booking.com which is basic, but will work for two nights and one workday.

For dinner, we went into a traditional restaurant. I had a mixed grill plate with Ćevapčići and as a digestif a Slivovic. I can say now that I have officially arrived at the Balkan.

Day 7: Venezia-Lignano Sabbiadore (91 km, 170 ↑)

After one more night in Venice, I continued eastwards this morning.

The first twenty-something kilometres were on a very busy road. Then, the route went through an area that was agricultural, but also pretty swampy. There were drainage channels everywhere, and there were myriads of insects in the air for hours today. I tried as best I could to breathe with my mouth shut, but it was pretty annoying to hear the constant impact of insects on my helmet and glasses and have my face, arms and legs covered with them all the time. I wished I had my insect net from my Greenland trip with me that you can wear above your head – would have come handy today.

On the positive side, I saw two beaver families on a meadow near the road. First, I didn’t understand what kind of animals they were, but coming closer, I realised they were beavers. Seemed to enjoy their breakfast there. Two large ones and many small ones. And then one hundred meters further, there was another family. Cute little creatures.

Around three o’clock, I reached my destination. Lignano Sabbiadore seems to be a typical tourist beach destination, with kilometres of beaches, thousands of umbrellas and sun-beds, but not many tourists at this time of year.

The tourists who are here, seem predominantly German and Austrian. Not really a cozy town, I must say. But I had a decent dinner and look forward to Trieste tomorrow.

Day 6: Padua-Venice (36 km, 70 m ↑)

Yesterday was planned as a half cycling and half sightseeing day. The distance from Padua to Venice was so short that it took me only two hours. I had also left quite early, so I reached Mestre (one of the parts of Venice that is on the mainland, not in the lagoon) already around 11 o’clock. My Airbnb was not ready by then, so I stopped at a café, enjoyed a cappuccino (yes, ordered before 11) and opened my laptop.

Since I wanted to spend the afternoon sightseeing and could not carry my luggage around all the time, I had asked my host whether I could check in early or leave my luggage there. And surprisingly, I got a message at twelve already that the flat was ready to move in. So I took a quick shower and then boarded the bus across the bridge to the centro storico, the historical centre of Venice.

The weather forecast was, unfortunately, not too good. And sure enough it started raining shortly after I began my stroll through the alleys of the old town, alongside thousands and thousands of other tourists.

After visiting Piazza San Marco and some of the main attractions, I was a bit indecisive how to spend the rest of the day. The restaurants seemed very expensive. But eventually, I found a pretty spot right at the Canal Grande, and despite the “Norwegian” price of the beer, I told myself that you don’t often get to enjoy a drink with such a great view and sat down.

Sitting there and watching all the boats passing by, I started wondering if I shouldn’t get on one of the boats as well. And after some googling, I decided to buy a ticket for one of the vaporetti, the waterbusses that connect the different islands. The ticket was valid for 75 minutes. So I could take one vaporetto through the whole Canal Grande and then another one along the other side of town back to the bus station. And that trip was well worth the 10 Euros ticket price.

Today I had a workday and then explored Mestre a bit after work. After another workday tomorrow, I will continue towards Lignano Sabbiadoro at the Adriatic coast on Friday. I’m hoping for sunny weather so that I might put on my swimming shorts.

Day 5: Maderno-Peschiera del Garda (100 km, 687 m elev. gain)

Today was my second day at Lago di Garda, and what a day it was!

The breakfast in my little hotel opened at 8 o’clock, and I was there at five past eight because I was awake already and wanted to leave early.

At half past nine, I was ready to leave. It was sunny, but it had been windy all night, and it was still very windy. The wind was coming from northeast, and my first forty kilometres were along the west side of the lake towards northeast. So I had headwinds. But then again, I was going around the lake, so my last sixty kilometres would head towards southwest, so I was counting on tailwinds on the east side.

There were two things that were slightly annoying today. One thing was that there was a lot of traffic. But I guess that’s what you have to expect in a tourist hotspot. The other thing was that half of the distance on the west coast, the road goes through tunnels or galleries. The galleries are fine, because they slip in sunlight from one side. But the tunnels were annoying. Some of them did not have lights either. So I put on my reflective vest as an extra safety measure.

Apart from that, the ride was very nice. The scenery was spectacular. The highlight was a pedestrian and cycle path that was built hanging over the lake.

After two and a half hours ami reached the northern tip of the lake at Riva del Garda. Here I had a short lunch break consisting of ciabatta, banana and a lemonade.

Then I continued down the east side of the lake. There were fewer tunnels, but similarly great views.

After 55 kilometres, I stopped at a supermarket to refuel water. Then, after 75 I was planning the next break, but decided to continue for five more kilometres to reach the town of Garda. On this stretch, my blood sugar got really low, so I really needed that break and looked out for a gelateria directly. I was feeling a bit dizzy already, so the dottore prescribed one scoop of amarena and one scoop of stracciatella for my recovery. It worked.

At four o’clock I reached my destination, Peschiera del Garda. I have a small, nice, modern room here. I spent one hour in the sun at the lake and just had a delicious dinner consisting of fish & chips accompanied by an insalata mista and a rosé wine.

Tomorrow, my journey continues to Padua leaving the great Italian lakes behind.

Day 4: Lovere-Toscolano Maderno (93 km, 360 m uphill)

After two workdays in Lovere at Lago d’Iseo, I have to say that this was not the best place to stay for three nights because (a) west bank and surrounded by high mountains means that the sun is gone quite early, and (b) it’s September and all the tourists are gone. So the place was quite dead in the evenings. I did find an alright pizza restaurant though where I had dinner the last two nights.

Today, I continued cycling. This was my longest day so far with 93 kilometres. First I circled Lago d’Iseo, and then I went via Brescia towards Lago di Garda.

In Brescia, I stopped for a lunch break in an idyllic Lidl parking lot. Descending towards Lago di Garda was very nice. I’m staying here for one night in Toscolano Maderno in a very nice hotel.

Tomorrow, I’m going to go around the whole lake and stay in Peschiera in the southeast corner before I continue towards Padua on Sunday.

Day 3: Bergamo-Lovere (55 km, 280 m uphill)

It was raining all night in Bergamo, but the weather report said that it should stop raining in the morning and get sunny later today. After a rest day/work day yesterday (I work every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and cycle the remaining days), I had to check out of my apartment in Bergamo at 10:30. When I left, it was still raining slightly. I put my rain jacket on for a bit, men packed it away soon after because there was really only slight rain and a bit too warm under the jacket.

At 12 o’clock, I reached Lago d’Iseo and took a short break for a ciabatta and some water. Then, I continued along the west bank of the lake. Unfortunately, it started raining quite heavily after a while. But since I only had around one hour left at that point, I did not care too much.

Here in Lovere, I have an apartment again, which was a bit difficult to find. But after ringing my host who does not speak any English, and after some messaging on WhatsApp, we figured out that I was indeed standing in front of his house. After I took a warm shower and changed to dry clothes, the sun did actually come out again.

Today, I’ll have a pasta dinner at home and save some money. I did buy a Sicilian Nero d’Avola though to accompany the dinner.

The next two days will be work days. Then from Friday to Sunday, I have three days in a row with distances between ninety and one-hundred kilometres. So I will find out whether I am well not trained or not (which I sincerely doubt).

Day 2: Como-Bergamo (63,7 km, 671 m uphill)

Yesterday, I left Como around 11 o’clock, took a small detour to the lake and then started my way towards Bergamo. The first part was a steep climb I knew from last year, but thanks to the croissant and coffee from breakfast, it was not too much of a challenge. When I arrived at the top, I took a short break at a bus stop to drink water. I also took of my helmet, and when I did that, I saw something small and white fall down and disappeared under the rear wall of the bus stop. Behind it was a pretty steep hill. I first wondered what it could have been, but didn’t come up with an answer. So, I told myself, probably it wasn’t anything important, and a few minutes later I continued my ride. After one minute though, the light of truth suddenly struck me: It was my AirPod that I have in my ear for navigation. That was quite essential and expensive. So, I turned around. Now, the Airpod seemed to be on this steep hill behind the bus stop. And around the bus stop, separating the hill from the road, was a thick, thorny hedge. But I needed my AirPod back. So I put on some jeans, climbed over/through the hedge and found it indeed where I expected it. I came back a bit scratchy and itchy, but it was worth it.

From there, I continued Lago Pusiano and Lago di Annone. At one point, I was directed towards a motorway, but according to the sign, there was a parallel road that cyclists could take. Unfortunately though, this road was a construction site and blocked with a fence. There were already four other cyclists, an Italian and a German or Swiss couple, standing in front of it with question marks above their heads. Finally, the Italian guy said: Well, there is a small hole in the fence, so we can try. And we all agreed that it would be better than the motorway in any case. So, we lifted our bikes and me also the luggage through this small whole and climbed through. The road was partly a rideable gravel road, and partly, we had to wheel or carry the bike. Parts of this road were also flooded, so even though this part was not long, it took us quite a while. But eventually, we reached the end of this road construction and could continue.

Now, my trip was supposed to be a bit more than 60 kilometres. After 45 kilometres already, I started to get cramps in my thighs. I had to take a lot of stretching breaks and take it very slowly, but I finally reached Bergamo. I even found a Decathlon store here which was open on Sundays. Now I have a new phone mount for my bike – the previous one was damaged when I reassembled my bike at the airport.

In Bergamo, I will stay for two nights. Today is a working day. Tomorrow, I will continue towards Lago d’Iseo.