To Glurns, Italy

July 13, 2025

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I floated the idea of leaving by 9 AM, given that we had more climbing, and I'd told our airbnb host we would arrive by 3 PM. This means we would have to wake up earlier. That was met with resistance. I gave up. Jacinto moves at his pace, it's glacial in the morning. Coffee is necessary to get his burners going. This was a make you own coffee sort of place. That means he could have as much as he wanted. The croissants have definitely been getting less flaky the further we get from France. Now they are brioches, and almost always have filling. Whoever thought I'd develop a croissant addiction?

We were outside by 9:20. It took two trips each, because the bicycles were in the room. We could feel drops of rain as we loaded up and took off. It was just a few days ago that we were roasting. I thought this morning that I could have worn tights. It was 64 degrees when we left.

We got right back on the bike path. Half of the team was happy about that. Jacinto says bike path riding is too boring. He needs to look around more, instead of just looking ahead of him for a hill to climb.

The path went all the way to Glurns. Komoot routed us off in two places. I don't know why. One of them Jacinto fixed, under protest. He pointed out (rightfully) that often bike paths through the city are difficult to follow and often change sides of the road, making cycling difficult. We had just that experience in Merano.

We had one good climb of almost three miles. The bike path had switchbacks that weren't too generously sized. I met a couple coming down, they cut the switchback tight. I was swinging my big bike wide. I ended up stopping quickly, and had to walk around the corner to get going again. Besides that, I rode all of the 10-12% climbing of the day. The rest of the day was all up, but had only short, not too difficult of climbing sections.

These past three days have been the most consecutively beautiful days in my cycling career. I believe there's more to come. Pinch me.

Jacinto got ahead of me, and I was watching the clock. I was supposed to send our host a whatsup message when we got close. I called Jacinto and asked if he wanted to go ahead and get into the apartment. Look at me offer to navigate into town by myself. He took me up on the offer. It rather backfired. Yes, he got there first, but then they needed passports. Jacinto had photos on his phone, but no actual passports. I wasn't far behind, except we hadn't routed right to the airbnb. I rode into Glurns through the city gate (so cool), and out another city gate (love it!). But then I was on the wrong road. Jacinto told me to get on google maps and look for the grocery store. I did, but it wasn't the right one. He ended up cycling back to the city center to collect me. The host was still waiting for our passports. Eeeks.

Our bikes went in a locked garden shed. We are on the second floor of a very chic apartment building. Pinch me - what a great place for a layover.

Expect more Glurns photos to come.

We walked to dinner in the rain, to the closest place, which was pizza. I'm all done in with pizza. The menu was in German, and the spoken language around us was German. Yet, we were eating pizza. Pasta was also a choice.

By the time we ate, the sun was out. Jacinto is watching the weather, hoping for a chance to ride Stelvio either Monday or Tuesday. I had asked for an extra day off in a row somewhere during this trip. Here's my location. I told Jacinto he really, really needs to climb Stelvio. Maybe then he will quit whining about not enough climbing!

Tomorrow I'm not setting an alarm.

We are on different sides of the river. This time I was correct. That seldom happens.

More underpass artwork. I think Flocki has crossed the rainbow bridge. What a nice memorial.

We had a couple of covered bridges today.

We have been riding through apple orchards for days.

Every so often there was a castle to wake me up.

I think this looks like a Moroccan influence. Someone else suggested Russia.

The living area and deck. I was most excited about the washer. Laundry is already finished.

Making orange juice in the morning. It takes three oranges to make one cup of juice.

Apple orchards have been prominent the past three days. Almost always they are covered with nets.

Here’s a different gate in Gluens. The bus barely made it through.

Jacinto has those day off vibes going already.

I have never seen such a pizza! It’s creative, but there wasn’t much in the way of toppings. This was from Levico Terme - the not recommended pizza place close to the hotel.

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Scott Anderson"These past three days have been the most consecutively beautiful days in my cycling career. I believe there's more to come. Pinch me."

I can't tell you how much it warms my heart to read this, Kelly. Enjoy the your day off - Glurns is one of those places I've long wanted to get to - and good luck to Jacinto. I hope he gets to have his shot at Stelvio.
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