To Rosignano Solvay

October 26, 2021

Once again we awake to a sky promising excellent cycling conditions. Enjoy it while we can - in a few days it looks like everything will change, and we’re contemplating how we’ll feel about biking south into the rain and a 20 mph headwind after that.

The view north this morning from our balcony at the Eden Hotel.

The ride gets off to a rough start. After a mile we leave the streets of Viareggio, spend about a mile biking over tree routes on an unpaved path through the large park to the south, emerge from it to enjoy a pleasant few miles on the old SS1; and then merge onto the modern SS1, the country-long coastal road that we also spent some time on west of Genoa. We’re on the SS1 for seven miles, experiencing a gripping ride - as in, we’re tensely gripping onto our handlebars the whole way, hoping we can come out the other end of this in one piece each. Narrow, no shoulder, significant traffic. Awful. No photos, unless Rachael happened to capture some of this on the video. (Note: nope, she didn’t. The roar of the traffic was too loud for her to communicate with her voice activated GoPro.)

Don’t come this way. It would be worth a significant detour inland or seven more miles of bouncing over tree routes in the park to avoid this stretch.

The seaward view along the canal at the south end of Viareggio. Behind us, the side of the canal is lined with fishing boats and stands selling fresh fish they’re unloading from their boats.

In the long park south of the city. Rough riding but beautiful. We should have continued through it for another seven miles and avoid SS1.

An interesting shack along the old SS1 that looks like it’s been welcoming bikers for a long time - the dirty, ugly and tattooed kind. Not quite our crowd, but I qualify for two out of three criteria so maybe they’d welcome me too.

Thanks, but we’ll make do with our cheese, figs and trail mix today.

We enjoyed a peaceful, colorful few miles along the old SS1.

Finally, after seven miles on this awful road at the outskirts of Pisa we reach a turnoff and leave the highway. We’ve been stopping at every one for the last few miles to recheck the map to see if it leads anywhere useful, and at last we’ve come to one. After a mile of quiet residential streets we cross the Arno on a quiet bridge and soon join a blessedly peaceful bike path that carries us back toward the sea. A few miles later, after passing a few miles of private resorts, we finally find a tiny lane giving access to the beach and slip down it to have lunch and collect a pile of sand in our shoes.

This photo is way more exciting than it looks. We’re alive! No cars!

Lunch on the beach, looking north to Marina di Pisa at the mouth of the Arno. In the distance you can see the outline of the Alpi Apuane, the coastal range east of Massa that we biked along yesterday.

Lightening our load before returning to the streets.

The quality of the ride so far has been mixed, to say the least. I wasn’t really looking forward to the miles ahead either, with seven miles crossing Livorno and another unavoidable two miles on the fearsome SS1 again before we’d finally leave it for good. It was a pleasant surprise though. Livorno in particular was a revelation. It was far more interesting and comfortable to bike through than I’d expected of this major port city. I’d considered biking inland to try to avoid it as much as possible, but to my surprise there’s a well marked, safe bike route along the shore that carries you past a surprising collection of old fortifications, monuments, and other attractions. It’s a busy, gritty port city with all of the industrial activity you’d expect; but it looks like it could make an interesting spot to stay over for a day or two.

Interested only in getting across it as efficiently and safely as possible, so I had invested exactly zero minutes researching the attractions in Livorno. If I had, I would have been aware of and watching for The Monument of the Four Moors, a riveting construction that is Livorno’s most important work of art. It was purely by chance that our route took us past it.

It’s a somber, emotion-invoking work that I completely misinterpreted when we first came to it. With its four realistically portrayed naked chained figures in obvious agony at the base and a triumphant figure in white marble above, I read it as a modern work commenting on the history of the slave trade. In fact, it’s a Renaissance work from the early 1600’s celebrating the capture of pirates who terrorized this part of the Italian coastline.

Beyond Livorno, our two miles on the SS1 were a pleasant surprise, in that the traffic load was lighter and less fearsome than expected and there was enough of a shoulder to give some comfort and a sense of security. And the views in spots were awesome as the mountains come down to the sea here.

Two miles later we leave the highway and enjoy a pleasant ride the rest of the way to Rosignano Solvay, passing many recreational cyclists along the way. Once you get past the highway this looks like fine cycling country. When we arrive in town at about five we pull up at the first gelateria we came to to and then check in to our hotel.

You won’t find anything about Rosignano Solvay in the tour guides. There’s not much here for tourists, and few restaurants are open this late in the year - but it does have an attractive small port and waterfront promenade to enjoy another fine sunset from; and we’ve been waiting for a chance to have a simple meal at a pizzeria anyway.

On the SS1. The coastal pines and live oaks make a beautiful canopy along this part of the coast.

Video sound track: Pensa, by Fabrizia Moro

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Ride stats today: 48 miles, 900’; for the tour: 2,453 miles, 86,100‘

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 2,453 miles (3,948 km)

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Jacquie GaudetWhat a ride! I had to check my planned route through that area after reading your account but it seems I didn't put us on the scary bit. We will turn inland at Marina di Pisa and stay inland until we hit the coast again near Massa (wiping sweat off brow).
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jacquie GaudetYes, going inland is the way to go, I’m sure - at least as far as Lucca, which you wouldn’t want to miss anyway. This caused me to go back and look at your scribble again though. Ambitious!
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2 years ago

Jacquie GaudetAmbitious? Yeah. I'm trying to make up for lost time and Al feels two months is more than enough time away. It wasn't that long ago that he refused to go for more than 3 weeks. I had to convince him that, now he was retired, there was no reason to rush home. Maybe after 5 weeks in Spain and two months in Italy, he'll change his tune.
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2 years ago