Bob and Ann in Italy 2011

We watched light rain falling as we ate breakfast this morning. Everyone was a little edgy because we had to ride to the next town. No out-and-back ride today and no hanging out at the hotel. By 8:30 the rain had stopped. I put on my waterproof booties over my riding sandals and tied my other rain gear under my saddle in case I needed it. The temperature was in the low 60s so I could get by with bare legs. My torso was covered with a nylon t-shirt and a cycling jersey. I also had on arm warmers.

View from the Road

We left the hotel shortly after 9:00. After escaping the city traffic at around 3km we started to climb. Sixteen km later, we had climbed over 2000 feet. We were on a narrow road with a few switchbacks and very little traffic. The views looking down were very scenic. Looking up, all we could see were clouds clinging to the mountain tops.

As the road leveled off and then became a descent, it became cool and I felt a few sprinkles. I stopped and put on my rain jacket. During the rest of the ride, I alternated with the jacket on and off. It was on at the end.

We had a nice descent which ended in Blaggio. Then we started to climb again initially in heavy traffic and then with hardly any traffic as the cars and trucks turned off of our route to get to the A1 autostrada. I was riding alone, now. I was going at my own pace for a couple of reasons – I didn’t want to overextend myself and I wanted to stop from time to time to take photos.

The road leveled off along Lago di Molveno, a beautiful alpine like with emerald green water. (That’s a photo of it at the top of this page). Then it kicked up again at the town of Molveno and stayed that way until I reached Andalo.

Andalo is an alpine resort town. It is nestled in a narrow valley with steep hills on each side. Skiing, mountain biking and hiking are popular here. We are here between seasons so there is not much activity and many shops are closed. The hotels and houses are more Tyrolian alpine than Italian. They have timbered facades, steep roofs (to let snow slide off) and lots of potted flowers under the windows and on the balconies.

Ann was at Hotel La Bussola when I pulled in. She had used Jack the GPS to get here on a slightly different route. After I cleaned up, we walked to a pizzeria where we each had a decent pizza. Other people from our group were already there. They stopped before going to the hotel. It was getting close to mid-day closing. Tom and Julie Leever arrived and shared a table with us. Henry Lam showed up a little later and we chatted with him.

At 4:30, Ann made a run to the COOP to replenish our snack supplies – bananas, peanuts, M&Ms, etc.

We had a group dinner at the hotel. Both Ann and I had lentil soup and spaghetti carbonara.

This was the day’s route.