Treviso

May 25, 2025

Treviso bound

There’s an expression in the endurance world that goes something like this, “Your body can handle more than your mind believes – trust the training”. I have done the training but it’s the first day of riding for this tour and after loading all the panniers and getting ready for the first pedal-stroke, my mind is saying something a little different, “I hope I can do this”.

We have done this often enough that I know I can trust the training but it doesn’t prevent those feelings of doubt on the first day. After all, riding a bike loaded with 30 extra pounds of gear is a different animal to an unloaded one. Inevitably though, the doubt is quickly erased as the familiarity of the loaded bike gliding along the country road settles in amidst the early morning sun’s rays that are spreading light and warmth across the farmers’ fields. It’s an idyllic cycle touring day today.

We started out with another delicious breakfast in the Hare’s Room, a spacious light-filled breakfast/dining space housed in a separate building at the Agriturismo. Outside seating is available, but it feels just a tad cool for that so we chose the 15’ long, 5” thick natural pine indoor dining table. Breakfast is no longer just fruit, cereal, yogurt and coffee. It’s also juice, fresh cantaloupe, croissant, ham, cheese, prosciutto and a slice of strawberry cheesecake, which we shared. I just couldn’t bare the thought of disappointing the chef.

So long, Venicegreen. See you five weeks.

After transferring all our gear from our carry-on bags into our panniers and leaving our suitcases with reception, we were ready to roll. Our route was one I developed using the cycle.travel app. It’s a very circuitous one that winds along the small farm roads of the Veneto plain, passing under freeways and over various rivers and creeks on its way to Treviso. I made this choice over the gravel path along the length of the Sile river as we prefer tarmac over gravel on our Bike Fridays.

It’s a perfect cycle touring morning, good roads, no traffic, nice temps and easy, flat terrain.

I also have a confession to make: it’s the first time I have attempted to follow a route on a GPS. I have always preferred looking at a map of the route every so often and and remembering its turns and shapes, and maybe some street or highway names. This time, I have a Wahoo Element Roam with a nice, large screen that’s fairly easy to read at a glance. It’s a transition for sure, but for all the benefits, I think it’s worthwhile. And given the multitude of roads and trails in this region, the GPS did a great job of making it a continuous ride without much backtracking to speak of.

Church bells chimed us in as we joined the cycleway along the banks of the Sile.

The river’s surface is smooth and glassy, yet it’s flowing rapidly.

Lots of coots and coot kids in the river today.

Two large swans oversaw this stretch of the Sile

Today, being Sunday, we were accompanied by quite a number of local cyclists. Some were out for a speedy workout but most were out in leisurely jaunts with friends or partners, some with children. Seeing these folks out riding gave me a sense that I’d chosen the right route today.

We followed the Sile all the way into Treviso, then made our way to the Piazza del Signori. It was fairly simple to find our way, having spent time watching the Giro here, yesterday.

Beautiful scenes keep popping up as we meander through the old city of Treviso

We arrived at the B&B at 12:50, not bad timing, since I had arranged to meet Luca at 1pm at his B&B. It’s a beautiful suite in a 4-storey plus rooftop deck, just steps away from the Piazza del Signori. Luca gave us an orientation to his city and told us the entire place was ours until breakfast tomorrow morning.

Piazza del Signori. Our rooftop deck looks directly at the top of its tower.

By now, we were both ready for lunch, so we did a quick gaze around and found a nice place with an outdoor patio. We ordered and enjoyed polishing off a platter of meats and cheeses, plus the complementary open faced sanwiches.

Open faced sandwich with roasted veggies, meat and cheese.

After lunch, we strolled the city streets to see some of its sights. Residents and tourists were out and about, walking, biking and enjoying the small cafes and bars. It’s hard to know how many of each there are, but judging from languages spoken, our guess was that many were locals. Along the way, we discovered a brocante street market that stretched for blocks. I just love the energy of a street market. There were collections of old radios, lp’s, tea sets, hats, brass pots, china, bric-a-brac, old books galore, retro furniture and clothing, ornamental glass and you name it, it was on offer.

We stepped in to the historic gothic Church of St. Nicola, with its carved wooden ceiling, paintings and frescoes, many of which have been restored. We also visited one the three protective city gates, from the 17th century, Porta Santi Quartana.

These canals are incredibly shallow. They lend a sense of calm to the city.

We stopped in at the B&B for a short nap, then headed to the piazza for a shared salad and pizza to top off an amazing day of cycle touring. It feels so good to be back and I couldn’t feel more grateful for the privilege. We rode some gorgeous countryside, met the nicest people, strolled a small, historic Italian city and ate some delicious food. Tomorrow, we head to the historic city of Vittorio Veneto.

Heart

Comment

Link

Today's ride: 39 km (24 miles)
Total: 39 km (24 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	14
Comment on this entry	Comment	6

Mike AylingKeep looking at real maps otherwise you will become like a lot of posters here who complain about their devices leading them astray!
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago

Anne MathersTo Mike AylingI hear you, Mike. I will always be a map lover and prefer to think of this device as expanding my options. I’m looking forward to its Climb! feature where it automatically displays all the graphics for the climb and tells you to Climb! As for getting drawn into the weeds and ditches, I’m praying the cycle.travel algorithm is as good as I hope it is. Yesterday, it came through with flying colours.
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago

Anne AnastasiouWhat a lovely day. Beautiful pics. Glad the weather was nice. Like us, the mornings are cool but perfect for getting out and moving.
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago

Kirsten KaarsooTo Anne MathersLyle and I use an app called pocket earth. It is a map that is created using the OSM info. We just import the gpx track into it. We then just have a electronic topo with our route on it. You can display it in what ever colour you fancy. Then there is a ‘you are here’ dot that you can follow if you like. We really like it as it doesn’t talk to you and if you don’t like the original road you can easily see any other options.
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago

Anne MathersTo Kirsten KaarsooI will have a look at pocket earth. Thanks for the tip.
Reply to this comment
2 weeks ago

Jacquie GaudetWe load OSM Cycle maps on our Garmins for the region we’ll be visiting, along with all the routes (and options) I created at home. Each day, we activate the planned route and adjust the settings so it shows as a line on the map. I hardly ever turn on navigation, just follow the line—or not. I can always see where I am with respect to the planned course. Al turns his navigation on and off because, with our generation of Garmin Edge devices, ClimbPro only works when navigating.
Reply to this comment
1 week ago