July 5, 2025
To Mantua, Italy
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I've been watching the weather obsessively for several days, trying to second guess what is ahead of us. I suggested to Jacinto that we give up our day off, to ride one more dry day. Our apartment was prepaid, plus we really did like the amenities of having a W/D, and a kitchen. Good AC, and wifi. We stayed put. We had another homemade meal - a scramble of veggies and eggs. There was extra, so we spooned it into a ziplock bag to go. Food presentation at its finest.
Even with fixing breakfast, we were out the door by 9 AM. We had followed all of the exiting instructions, and dropped the keys in the mailbox. We locked the apartment door AND the courtyard door behind us. Only then did Jacinto realized he had left his prescription sunglasses and Camelbak inside. The camelbak maybe he could do without, but the sunglasses are necessary. I tried to call our host. No answer. Just as we were debating what to do, someone went in the courtyard door. Aha! We were that far. Jacinto said if only we had a hook, maybe we could snag the keys. There was a slot at the top of the mailbox. I got a bungee cord, and he was able to fish the keys out. The entire enterprise took perhaps 15 minutes. Emergency averted.
Exiting Cremona went smoothly, and we were in the country. We rode chunks of bike path now and then throughout the day, mostly on the outskirts of towns. Today felt like a country ride.
Piadena was a memorable town. We rode the bike path into town, and then past 3-4 blocks of large, impressive residences. They looked old and well cared for to me. Jacinto didn't notice them at all. He was busy navigating. I would have photoed a couple of the houses, but didn't want to fall behind and have to navigate myself.
At about mile 25 for the day, I looked behind me and realized the sky had turned dark blue. Up to that point, we had an annoying headwind that was forcing me to work fairly hard to maintain a 10 mph speed. The wind shifted to the side. That was difficult for both of us. I have a lot of bicycle to catch in a side wind, Jacinto has a lot of weight on his bike to handle. Soon the wind shifted again. We had an enjoyable tailwind. I was going 17 mph with little effort. Unfortunately, that brought the storm to us. We had hail, and then rain, to go with the wind. The wind lessened, and we had only rain to deal with. There was one wave of rain. I thought perhaps we rode fast enough to get ahead of it. Then there was a second wave of rain that was much stronger. Remember my makeshift fenders I made at the beginning of the trip? They are still installed and did a fairly good job. I sit on a folded towel. It stayed dry until the second wave of rain. I didn't get any splashback from the front fender.
Jacinto has been telling me for days that it doesn't matter if we get wet, because the rain will be warm. I was believing him. Until reality hit. Komoot tracks the temperature over the course of a ride. We started out at 85 degrees, dropped down to 65 degrees, and then went back up to 85 degrees. I was soaked enough that I felt cold, even at 85. We didn't bother with getting our raincoats out.
As we rode into town, we saw both Burger King and McDonalds. Both of those fast food places have been a daily sighting in northern Italy. I'm not s I saw either of those in France. Jacinto is still traumatized by his ice free soda pop at Burger King. We noticed both establishments, but kept going.
We are at the Hotel Brolette. Their reception is closed between 1-2 PM. We were going to arrive shortly after 1 PM. We agreed to look for a food spot. As we approached the old city, no cars were allowed. Pedestrians and bicycles only. I like those cities! We stopped at a random cafe close to our hotel. You can share my disgust described in the photos below.
Our hotel was right around the corner. We had to rearrange the furniture in the reception area to fit my bicycle. Jacinto's went on the landing half a floor up. Jacinto was worried about the AC being cold enough and I was freezing! I got right in a warm shower.
Mantua is an attractive city. I checked the map to see what can we see. All sorts of things! How many palaces can fit in one city? There are three palaces close to our hotel. The Palace Te is known for its erotic frescos. Oh, my. We went to the nearby firefighter museum instead!
Jacinto declared we weren't buying dinner at all, and risking another bon ton meal. Instead we ate the leftover scrambled eggs, and apples with peanut butter. Breakfast here sounds filling, with all of the sweet and savory components. We should be fine for food.
I think we can stay mostly dry tomorrow if we time our ride appropriately. The day into Venice . . . well . . . wish us luck. We have two ferries that day. I really, really don't want to be waiting in the cold rain for a ferry. Jacinto assures me it won't be cold. It's an adventure.
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3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
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Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 1,041 miles (1,675 km)
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And I have to say Kelly, this is turning into one fine journal. It's like you've found a ventriloquist to speak through you in a new voice, and a photographer with a different eye to work with. Good luck tomorrow.
3 weeks ago