Our last day in Italy began with heavy pelting rain on our tent overnight, but a decent break in the rain as we pulled up stakes before the rain began again. It was an echo of sorts our first full day in Italy, ~22 days ago, when we rode from Menton, France, to Albenga, Italy, on Easter Saturday, with a mid-day drenching. Good memory, that, especially all the families out together, walking along the coast (even in the rain!).
The morning started with a very steep and somewhat long climb up above the town of sun Valentino to reach the cycle trail.
The Adige
A group of early-morning day riders
Today's memories will be good too! We made a stop at a local bike shop before leaving Merano to pick up a new rear tire for me... mine was pretty worn from being the original basic tire, but also from all the weight of my rear panniers. Paul made the switch (in the rain) and then we left town to continue following the fast flow of the Adige. More and more orchards surrounded us and the awesome riverside bike trail. We saw our first (and only, so far) trailside "honor" farm stand. Not the season for fresh fruit, of course, but they offered a variety of jams, so we put in our 3 euors and selected a berry type.
And, as usual, the day's rain let up for us as we gradually (and sometimes steeply!) climbed up toward the mountains near the edge of the Swiss National Park... Somewhere out there.
Finding a public toilet sometimes been quite a challenge, but we were lucky this morning.
Loving the orchards!
Loving the cows!
We had planned to find a campground on the far/north end Sluderno/Schluderns, but the riding was going along so well that we didn't want to leave the trail. We did have a slight setback when, soon after deciding to keep cycling, my rear deraileur cable snapped. Paul was able to rig it so I could stay in a pedal-able gear for the flats and climbs until we got to a town that had, happily, a bike shop--open, and supplied with a cable! Paul made the switch and after some adjusting, I was ready for the steep (and, it turns out, laborious, ciruitious, and ultimately unsuccssfull) climb in and through and back down from the littel town of Burgusio/Burgeis, riddled with road work. I can't believe how many turns and climbs we took trying to get to the top of town, only to have to go back down. We ended up on the highway for a stretch, as a result.... And, off-highway as we try to cut out a switchback or two. But the way it was pretty rough.
84 km later we reached St. Valentino, where we had noted there was a campground that was supposedly open year-round. We first stopped at a little market still open, and I had a good time speaking German-ish with the old guy at the counter. Ich bin ... I couldn't remember "tired." But we were, what with all the climbing, some headwind, and increasing cold.
Anyway, we left the man and his wife shaking their heads at us in humor, and rode on to the campground. We couldn't find a soul there, though, nor a toilet (had we found one, we'd have pitched and figured things out in the morning). So, we rode back out to the street, really pretty cold now, and a threat of rain. A woman came out from a building and asked us... in essence "schlaffen?" "essen?" She pointed some distance back from where we'd cycled, intimating that nothing else was open further on. So, we broached our first Tyrol-like pension (often places do not look open) and decided to take the warmth of indoor shelter to dry our tent while picnicking on our goods from the little market. It was a good decision, too, as it rained most of the night. The owners of the pension were very kind to let us put our bikes in the not-yet-opened outdoor seating area, and they rolled out the awning to keep our things dry.
Breakfast the next morning was a hearty mix of Italian (sweet pastries and espresso) and German (the hearty bread/cheese type, and an actual pot of coffee). And a very good start for our continued riding and climbing toward the Alps.
