I Need To Go On Another Bicycle Maintenance Class.

Cycling east from Aosta to St Vincent on the Dora Baltea River cycle route, except where I missed the signs or the signs disappeared – nice easy cycling, apart from one wee gravelly uphill. Where I missed my turn I could have gone back a short way and then continued on the correct route; gone through a busy tunnel that I didn’t fancy or go on the old road that skirted right of the tunnel and this seemed to best alternative except that it was closed for maintenance – closed but the metal barrier was open so I decided to take my chances – the road was a bit pot holed but in terms of work going on when I went past there wasn’t too much going on and no heavy machinary and by pure chance when I got to the other end of the works a workman was opening the barrier so that he could drive in and I just cycled past – if anyone was bothered by me cycling through they never said.

At St Vincent the river takes a right turn and both my route and the river heads south south east towards Ivrea – a bit more undulating and scenery more interesting as we travel through a steep sided valley – on nearly every raised area there seems to be a tower or small fort or cross to mark it.

Bard with it’s fortress looked particularly interesting.

At Ivrea I stopped to watch the Kayak Slalom and had a quick wander around the town.

Conscious of time though and trying to cover as much distance on the mostly flat terrain I carried on to Camping Del Sole on Lake Viverone where I was going to spend the night.

As usual the last bit seemed to take longer and the sun was starting to dip and I was getting tired – the map indicated the campsite wasn’t far away but I stopped a man and his son who were cycling the other way to confirm that I was going the right way – I think I mumbled a mix of French and English with an attempt of an Italian accent “is the campsite nearby” – turned out that “Struan” and his Dad were from Scotland but had been living in the area for about 18 months but didn’t know where the campsite was.

Campsite wasn’t far away at all though and I got shown the area for tents or alternatively camping under the long carport as it may rain overnight – one other cyclist already had his tent pitched there and seemed confident we were in for a downpour so I opted to do the same.

Nice campsite with a wee bar and I enjoyed a wee white wine before going to bed – still dry at this point but at some point after 11pm the heavens opened and thunder and lightening storm overhead. The carport seemed to be doing the job initially but at some point the rain started coming through and landing on the tent.

Up early the next morning as keen to get more miles under my belt. Tent all good on the inside but very wet on the outside – my fellow cyclist’s tent seemed to be bone dry though – what did he know that I didn’t or did he just get lucky?

Good first 22 miles or so – rain had come on but still pleasant for cycling in. Quiet roads initially and busier towns but there were cycle paths – nothing like the infrastructure in France and Belgium though. In the town of Vercelli on a shared pavement was where I got my first puncture – hopefully last but don’t want to tempt fate – it was starting to get busy with pedestrians and having a shared pavement wasn’t ideal for either cyclists or pedestrians and I was about to use the road when my rear end (of the bike) went all sluggish – puncture – and this coincided with the rain getting much heavier. I pushed Phil to the end of the road where there was kind of a square, took everything off the bike; up ended Phil; rear wheel came off relatively easily – I hate taking the rear wheel on and off; tyre off and found the cause of the puncture pretty quickly; pressed the inside of the tyre against the metal electrical box that I was next to so that I could push the sharp object back to the outside of the tyre and remove it – again surprised at how easy I got it out and it turned out to be a bit of glass; inflated the inner tube to patch the hole but it was deflating so quickly I couldn’t locate the hole and it was now pouring with rain so went for the easier option of using a new inner tube; at some point during this realised that I’d cut my thumb on the glass and there was blood on me, the inner tube, pavement, etc and I’m now trying to put everything back together with my thumb wrapped in a sweaty-snotty-when did I last wash it hanky – this combined with rain water and a manky tyre all probably a good case for an infection but writing this a good few days later all seems good except for a sizable scar on my thumb – yes I should have used tweezers to remove the glass from the tyre but went for the quicker option. Inner tube and tyre back on but then I have a fight getting the wheel back into place – I’ve done this a number of times over the years and been shown what to do countless times and I still struggle with it – occasionally I get it to slot in nice and easy but this time make a complete pigs breakfast of it and somehow I’ve managed to jam the wheel half in half out and I can’t budge it! Transpires that there is a bike shop only a couple of minutes away but seems like ages away when I firstly carry my panniers and tent and leave them at the shop and then go back for an abandoned upside down Phil. Carrying the bike isn’t easy but a nice fellow stops to help, thinking it’s just the chain that’s slipped – his hands are now covered in my bike oil but luckily doesn’t seem to have got any on his nice white sweat shirt – he translates to the bike shop what the problem is, makes use of the shop’s sink to wash his hands and goes on his way. It doesn’t take long to get bike fixed but I really must get better at doing this myself as there is not always going to be someone nearby to help me – need to get booked onto a bike maintenance course when I get home!

While waiting for my bicycle to be fixed I got speaking to another customer who suggested going to Lucca via Genoa – I’d already considered this and it ticked a lot of boxes – shorter route (but only about 18 miles); I would see more of the coast and Genoa has the tallest lighthouse on the Mediterranean – HOWEVER – there would be significantly more uphill which would take me much longer (and also the lighthouse wouldn’t be open) so I decided to stick to my plan of continuing east before heading south to the coast.

By the time I left the bicycle shop the rain had stopped and it stayed dry for the rest of the time. I continued through the town and spotted my my white sweatered helper from earlier and he spotted me – turns out his name was Angelo, which translates to “angel”. We chatted for a while and everything I said he told me how to say the key words in Italian – it was a shame I couldn’t spend longer with him as he was so friendly and helpful and I know I would have picked up more of the language.

It was a beautiful afternoon and evening and the terrain was easy going so pushed on still trying to cover as much ground as possible. Later on though I was cycling towards ominously threatening clouds – this combined with the next campsite being quite a distance away I booked myself into a wee hotel – I feel as if turned into a lightweight but it was a definitely a good move – it was at the end of the road, just outside the town of Calendasco, on the Po river. After not getting much sleep in the tent with the thunder and lightening and the noisy hotel the night before that this hotel was perfect – no noise at all and I got a much need good night’s sleep – I also missed the rain – judging by the water on the road it had been heavy in places but I missed it all.

The Po area is Italy’s rice growing area – the biggest rice growing area in Europe – unfortunately this also means an increase in biting beasties – I’ve had very little problems with insects until dropping down into Italy but now I’m sure they are all out to get me!

As well as insects I’m seeing different birds and seen a few flocks of what I think are black headed ibis – please tell me if anyone thinks different.

Going from France to Belgium and then Belgium to Luxembourg and back to France and then France to Switzerland there were definite differences in terms of architecture and scenery but this was more gradual, whereas going to Italy it was a much more obvious change and probably because there was a much more obvious boundary and this is particularly noticeable with the cars – both in types of cars and the driving styles. France and Belgium had a similar mix of vehicles to back home in terms of make and types of cars – Luxembourg and Switzerland everything seemed bigger and flashier and I don’t think I ever saw an unclean or dented or scratched car – in Italy there is everything from the wee 3 wheeled APE vans and lots of really old Fiat Pandas (in various states of repair) to flash Porches and everything in between and there is a lot of bashed and scratched cars about.

Up the next morning breakfast was included – I haven’t been eating a lot – not sure why but not been very hungry – but thought that getting some proten in me would be a good and assumed it would be a European breakfast with cold meat and cheese and if I’m lucky boiled eggs – however lots of sweet stuff was on offer and I started off the day with a croissant and Nutella and a generous slice of lemon pie – don’t know if this is typical of an Italian breakfast?? And it was back on the road again – 2 more sleeps and 2 and a bit more days cycling until I make it to Lucca.