Proposed Route: Alba-Asti-Piacenza
Estimated Mileage: 100 miles/160 km
Actual Route: Alessandria-Piacenza-Cremona
Mileage Covered: 88 miles/145 km
Average cycling speed: 15.4 mph
Maximum speed: 28.6 mph
Cycling time: 5 hours 43 minutes.
Terrain: Mainly flat with some very hilly stretches.
Weather: Sunny with some cloud; hot. Wind Force 3-4 mainly on the nose.
Degree of Difficulty:
Narrative:
What a wonderful means of transportation a bicycle is! We have now travelled
on two wheels nearly 1000 miles and, as we sit by the banks of the wide, lazy
Po River this evening enjoying a glass of La Versa metodo classico sparkling
wine produced from grapes grown in vineyards we cycled through today, we can
sit back and consider that we our now less than 150 miles from our destination,
Venice.
Our bikes have indeed served us well: they
have enabled us at times to ride extremely fast, at other times to climb high,
steep mountains, sometimes simply to sit on them and peddle for very long and
dreary periods of time over less than exciting terrain, mainly in some degree
of comfort, or at least with minimal discomfort. We have alternated between
our touring bicycles and our racing bicycles about fifty/fifty. The Mercian
and Bob Jackson are both classic English touring machines and they have been
comfortable indeed to ride on long days especially: their main advantage, we
have found, is not the extra gears that come with a triple chainring on front,
but rather the wider tires and more robust wheels which have allowed us to soak
up the bumps and poor road surfaces; that and the slightly more relaxed and
forgiving geometry of the frame which undoubtedly makes a really long day more
bearable. Our Orbits, on the other hand, are racing bikes, lightweight, with
thin tires and wheels, and a more demanding set of gears, though the ratios
we have have certainly allowed us to cope with just about everything, including
Mont Cenis. The frames are stiffer and the riding position is tighter and lower,
less upright. These bikes are truly a joy to ride, for their lightness, responsiveness,
and simply for the sheer turn of speed that they can produce when you really
put your foot down.
Today's ride was never going to be our most
interesting. We were approaching the wide, flat and rather dull Po plain, and
I anticipated a long, hot and steamy day in the saddle. In that respect, I was
not wrong. But it actually turned out to be a very amusing and diverting ride
all the same, as we found ways to make the miles go by. When another keen-looking
cyclist came alongside us, as per yesterday, we anticipated perhaps another
little tussle for abit of fun. Instead, we got talking and immediately struck
up a friendship of the road. Roberto -- that was his name, from Voghera -- suggested
that we get off the main road for abit and find an alternative route through
the wine hills of the Oltrepo Pavese, and we eagerly agreed: sure, the hills
were steep and many compared to the ease of the main Via Emilia, the old Roman
road that runs the length of Emilia-Romagna; but the chance to escape the traffic,
discover some more interesting terrain and in a classic wine region to boot
was an opportunity certainly too good to miss. We thus enjoyed a diversion that
was at once challenging as well as beautiful, passing through the vineyards
as well as through the town of Montebello La Battaglia, so named because Napoleon
won a famous victory here over the Austrians. We then returned to the main road
in time to meet our agreed rendezvous with Ugo and Harry, and our new friend
Roberto joined us for lunch, panini made with excellent mortadella
di Bologna and English tea, a new experience for our Italian cycling mate.
Roberto was certainly no mean cyclist: he
is a hill demon, and had climbed most of the high alpine passes, including Mont
Cenis, many times. After our brief break, we settled down to some serious riding
as there were still many miles before us. The three of us took it in turns sharing
the lead and cutting the brisk 25 mph headwind, cycling fast and sweating hard
in the 32 degree heat. There was no conversation -- we had already covered most
topics during our more liesurely pre-prandial ride through the hills -- but
the sense of teamwork and camaraderie that this silent, hard peddle invoked
was most satisfying. As we appoached Piacenza, we got caught in some traffic,
in particular a long line of trucks and lorries. As the vehicles moved off,
Roberto set off like a madman, staying right behind the back of a lorry, drafting
at about 35 mph. We sprinted in vain effort to keep up, managed to do so for
just a little while, but as the vehicle pulled away and we lost any advantage
of the drafting, we quickly dropped back. He pulled up after a mile or so, and
we had a good laugh about it: he was indeed both a powerful as well as a wily
cyclist, and it was an excellent -- if crazy -- trick.
In cycling, as in many other activities, there
is a instant bond of the road, a fraternity that is immediately created through
the sharing of a passion. The act of riding separate machines together at times
as if almost a single unit helps to cement this bond, which transcends nationality,
culture, even language. What a wonderful sport, what a wonderful activity cycling
is. And what a wonderful creation: the bicycle.
Today we crossed from Piedmont into Lombardy,
then into Emilia Romagna, and now back into Lombardy, the region where Nello
grew up in. So tonight he decided to cook one of his favourite regional dishes:
costolette di vitello alla milanese veal chops breaded and fried together
with a delicious salad made from rucola, followed by some fresh goat's milk
cheese. After today's long and rather hard three-banana ride, we attacked this
meal like we attacked today's hills: with considerable gusto and enjoyment.
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