June 11, 2023
To Bologna
The day begins with a disappointment. Janos and Suzanne are outside the door of our room, saying goodbye for now before biking off to pick up their car at the lot they’ve left it at for the last five plus weeks. Hugs are exchanged, they walk down the hall, and we return to our own room to pack up for our own departure. Too late to do anything about it, it finally occurs to me that I could have leaned out from our balcony for one last wave goodbye and a photo of them biking off. Frustrating. Suzanne would have thought to do that, I’ll bet!
Twenty minutes later we’re out the door ourselves, on the short ride to the Padua train station. Our tour is ending with a train ride to Bologna for our flight home the day after tomorrow. It’s a safe, simple ride to the station, most of the way on a bike path that skirts the border of the old city.
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It’s not quite a mile and a half to the station, but we’ve allowed ourselves plenty of time for it - enough for me to stop for some colorful chairs, though it makes Rachael anxious that we’ll miss the train because of it. We arrive with over twenty minutes to spare, which is plenty even with factoring in the work of toting bikes and baggage down one set of stairs and up another to reach our departure platform.
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The RV (Regionali veloci) train we’re booked on looks ideal when it pulls into the station. It’s sleek and modern, with wide roll-on doors (no stairs!) that let you just wheel the bike on without even removing the panniers. And the car with the bike logo stops immediately in front of us. What could be easier?
Well, it would be easier if the bike bays weren’t competely filled with suitcase mountains piled three or four deep when we step inside. It’s clear the bikes aren’t going there, so we lean them against the wall at the end of the car and secure them in place with our rack straps so they won’t roll away.
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Once we’re settled it’s a comfortable and fast ride to Bologna, with only a few stops on the way. Comfortable for me at least, seated but the window enjoying the views. A little less comfortable for Rachael, seated on th3 stairs next to the bikes, her foot wedged against a front wheel to ensure they’d stay in place. And for a nice change the windows are fairly clean so that you can enjoy the scenery - which isn’t all that scenic though since we’re riding across the flat Po basin the whole way.
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Arrival in Bologna is even simpler than departure from Padua, because the station comes with elevators - one descending from our arrival platform, and another at the other end. And in a really nice change, neither one of them is out of service.
The ride to our lodging, Hotel de Enzo, is much like the one in Padua: a mile and a half of bike lanes that skirt the center. We arrive at our hotel around 12:30, and finally I can announce that we’ve experienced a flat-free trip! Palermo to Bologna with no flat tires!! I’ve been tempted to mention this sooner but Rachael is superstitious and hates it when I crow too soon about good luck like this, fearing I’ll jinx us in doing so.
And, I can finally relax over whether my bike will limp to the finish line without a trip to the bike doctor. Besides the usual aging pains, it’s labored with two issues this time: my warped front rotor that I’ve been riding with ever since it was hammered back into semi-true shape before we left Ferrara a month ago, and a maladjusted front shifter that has left me riding on only my small chainring for the last two weeks.
Neither issue ended up as a real problem though, which is great because the bikes are going into the shop as soon as we get home anyway. I bike slowly enough most of the time but with a pretty high cadence so that riding only my small chainring doesn’t really hold me up. The big surprise though is the rotor, which has gradually gotten better over the last month and now is hardly warped at all. My theory here is that the succession of microshocks to the rotor from striking against the sides of the brakes tens of thousands of times has gradually straightened it out.
So there’s an interesting data point that someone might find useful someday (thinking specifically of that skeptic Mr. Mathers): as crude as the technique was, carefully tapping on the rotor with the handle of a hammer has ended up being a pretty effective emergency repair.
And more good news: our suitcases are here!
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We can’t check in to our room for almost three hours, but I have a plan for that. I’m given the use of an empty conference room, and for the next hour or so I break down and suitcase the bikes while Rachael has lunch and then heads out to the store. She returns with an IPA for me as a reward for my labors, and by the time I’ve dispensed with that our room is ready.
By the time we’re settled into our room and showered it’s after four. We’ll be here all day tomorrow, so we’re content to just stay in our room until it’s time to move on to the restaurant Rachael booked a table for us at when she was out earlier.
Our restaurant is on Via del Pratello, a fascinating street at the heart of Bologna’s bohemian district. Arcaded, essentially pedestrianized and lined on both sides with bars and restaurants, it’s a colorful, dynamic place great for people-watching and admiring the exceptional set of imaginative murals. It’s virtually a linear art museum that extends for perhaps a quarter mile.
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We walk the length of the street, stopping for one mural after another and looking for a candidate restaurant for tomorrow’s main meal before doubling back to Osteria Alla Due Porte to claim our outside table where we enjoy our meal and the adjacent parade.
Afterwards we walk the length of the street again to Piazza San Francisco - the location of the closest gelateria - and enjoy our desserts sitting on a wall of the piazza enjoying the scene and marveling at the endlessly swirling swifts above.
Today's ride: 3 miles (5 km)
Total: 1,870 miles (3,009 km)
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