September 12, 2022
Day 9 - Bolzano to Trento
Back to the car to finish
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Our last day of riding! A little sad, actually.
The hotel breakfast at the Stadt Hotel Città was amazing. We’ve had a ton of great breakfast buffets on this trip but this one might have been the best yet. We detected a lot of American English in the breakfast room, which was new for us on this trip.
We checked out and the same helpful young man took Rich down to the basement to retrieve the tandem. It’s so much easier carrying it upstairs with help!
As we were setting up the bike outside the hotel, we realized that the Americans we had seen at breakfast were part of several large groups of bicycle tourists who were headed the same direction as us. This section of then Adige river bike path must be the most popular of them all.
We rolled out of Bolzano on beautifully maintained bike paths that wound along the riverside park. Lots of bike commuters coming the other way. This is how bike paths should be done!
Once out of town, we turned downriver and basically followed a pristine bike path through stunning scenery for 60 kilometers. It was so easy! And fun!
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 1 | Link |
1 year ago
Right at the 40k mark, we came to the “bicigrill”, right along the bike path. We stopped and split a sandwich and had a great conversation with some other American bike tourists. They were on rental e-bikes and were riding from the Brenner Pass to Lake Garda.
The food was really good, too!
Refreshed, we continued along down the valley. The changing terrain and valley walls kept us engaged, and the perfect bike path meant that we didn’t have to worry about anything except keeping the pedals spinning.
Gradually, then suddenly, we were back in the city. And there was the AutoSilo where we had left the car! It seemed too soon, but within a couple of minutes we were putting the bike into the car.
Bike trips always seem to end so abruptly. One minute you’re rolling along with the usual bike touring thoughts, and the next you’re driving away in the car. It’s very weird to us every time it happens.
We didn’t stay in Trento for the night. Rich had reserved a hotel in Riva del Garda, so we drove the hour or so over to Lake Garda. It was amazingly busy for a Monday afternoon in September! Bikes and pedestrians were everywhere.
We navigated the scrum to find our hotel, the Villa Miravalle. After cleaning up, we went out for a walk down to the lake and had dinner.
After dinner, we celebrated the end of another amazing bike tour with some exceptional gelatos.
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1 year ago
I’ll add some closing comments once we’re back home. But the riding part of this journal is complete. We’re so grateful for all the beauty we’ve ridden through, the amazing people we’ve met, and our incredible good fortune in keeping the tandem running.
We are very lucky people. Thanks for reading!
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 428 km (266 miles)
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1 year ago