June 21, 2025
Levico Terme
Today, the downhill of the past few days ran out and we moved on from the Val di Non to the Rotaliano Plain of the Val d’Adige (Etsch). This valley floor sits at the confluence of the Noce and the Adige rivers, slightly north of Trento. Our destination would take us west from Trento to Levico Terme.
We had a warm night last night, after a very warm day yesterday. The night time low was around 18 degrees, and it was humid. So, we made sure we didn’t dawdle too long at breakfast. We have a climb to do out of Trento and want the be there before the searing heat hits around 2pm. We enjoyed a full breakfast at our B&B, then said fairwell to Manuel as we stashed a couple of golden delicious apples in our panniers.
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The view across the valley was not so great this morning due to the humidity and who knows what other pollutants. We are close to Lake Garda and even 28 years ago when we were here, the air quality was very poor. The high mountains are a big barrier to air movement, so all the nasties stack up here with nowhere to dissipate. As I mentioned previously, it’s only through the thunderstorms that the air clears.
Shortly after leaving the B&B, we came across this unusual statue. It looked out of place and to us, maybe a missionary and a young native American child, so of course I had to look it up. There’s a unique story and of more importance than most would know.
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3 weeks ago
The statue is of Eusebio Chini, born in 1645 in nearby Segno. He was a Jesuit missionary, explorer, and cartographer who emigrated in 1681 to New Spain for his missionary work. Over the course of his lifetime, he founded 24 missions in what is now Sonora, Mexico and Arizona. Aside from his mission work, he distinguished himself as an intrepid explorer. His 50 expeditions included a discovery of land passage to California, correcting the misconception of the time that the Baja was an island. He mapped over 50,000 square miles of Arizona and Sonora and contributed significantly to the understanding of the geography of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. He died in Mexico in 1711. I’ve since seen references to his name on street signs and hotel names.
How Low Can We Go?
We enjoyed a fantastic descent through the apple orchards along the steep western slope of the valley and gradually, the valley narrowed to a deep gorge.
The highways converged where our bike path appeared to end and they turned into a tangled knot, leaving us wondering where to turn. At that point, two road bikers sailed past and disappeared into the forest. We followed them and found ourselves on a beautiful bike path to Trento. It was like winning the lottery. When the trail exited the forest, we were in the midst of the vineyards between the massive looming rock faces of the mountains on either side of this fertile plain.
This entire area was marshland until the inhabitants of the day re-routed the waterways, mainly the Noce river, and began establishing the agricultural zone we see today. Every inch of land that could grow grapes, is growing grapes.
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The trail cross-crossed the valley and was seeing a fair bit of use today. As in, maybe 15 other cyclists were traversing the area at the same time. The headwinds started kicking up before noon, which helped to keep us cool but slowed us down a little.
Our trail avoided the city streets of Trento and took us directly to the base of the climb up to Pergine Valsugana. It started off with a few stiff pitches of 9 to 10%, which at this point in the tour, felt very much within my comfort level. We had about 300m to climb altogether. It was hot out by now and there was little shade to be had on the roadside so we found a pasticceria part way up the hill and stopped for an ice tea to cool down a little.
It’s not unusual for the traffic to be quite busy on this road and so cyclists on the Via Claudia Augusta cycle way are encouraged to take the train or shuttle to traverse this bit of the route. We did spend some time investigating this possibility only to learn the trains is out of commission and the bus substitute does not take bicycles. It seemed a bit of overkill to hype the alternate transport up this hill when the majority of riders here, who might balk at a hill, are riding e-bikes. In any case, I do wonder how they will handle the influx when cycling season gets going here.
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We rolled in to Pergine, again looking for a cold drink, when we noticed a Saturday festival was underway. There were booths in the large piazza and all through the streets fanning out from there. This was very much a family event, the theme being cosplay. There were games galore for kids to play and people in costumes milling about. And, of course there were crafts and food and drink. We hadn’t had anything to eat so we shared the traditional sausage and sauerkraut bun with orange/pepper mayo and downed another 500mL of lemon ice tea. Who knew that orange spiked mayo would be so yummy with sausage? Not me!
The reward for riding up to Pergine was a nice cruise down to the beautiful Lake Caldonazzo where there is a cycle way along the edge of the lake. We didn’t take any photos here, because we were fading in the heat and the best way to stay cool is to keep moving. It is a gorgeous lake though, and at the west end is Levico Terme. We cruised along the bike path into Levico and began honing in on the location of our B&B. Up and up and up we went. It became so steep, we walked off and on until we finally arrived at B&B Tuttotondo. Right beside us was a bike hotel, where the Classens stayed in 2018.
We rang the buzzer and Anna greeted us with a big smile. Our throats were sticking together so the first words out of my mouth were “Hello Anna, it’s nice to meet you. Do you have water and beer?” How’s that for being direct? She told us we could have a seat under the grape harbour and she’d be out with the drinks. She came out shortly with a tray of drinks and snacks and we began glugging. It’s a wonder what cooling break can do and within 15 minutes we were ready to move again.
After settling in and a snooze, we were ready for dinner. Anna suggested a few places, but a restaurant that was at the bottom of the hill sounded like our best bet. And, was it ever! We made reservations for tomorrow night before we left.
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We didn’t think it was going to rain tonight so we didn’t think to bring our rain jackets, but part way through dinner it started to pour. That helped make the decision to have dessert. The rain came down hard but lightened up after about a half hour. Even with the rain, the temperature barely moves so it’s still warm afterwards. It’s utterly different than at home where we’d have to put on something warm and we’d be reluctant to go outside. We licked our plates (nah, that didn’t happen, but it would have at home) and strolled slow-ly back up the hill to cap off another full and amazing day.
Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 933 km (579 miles)
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3 weeks ago