To Udine

July 20, 2023

You're probably thinking, when does the cycling begin? This is a cycling travel journal after all, and all it's been is planes, trains, and automobiles so far!

But, you'll just have to be patient and suffer through one more entry without any real cycling-related adventures. But, on second thought, that's not entirely true. We did cycle to the Mestre train station this morning; which was a whole six blocks away. So, chalk the total cycling completed thus far to 0.5 kms. We're on a roll.

Getting ready for that six block ride to Mestre train station.

But, before all that, I must remind myself that I arose at the ungodly hour of 2:30am this morning; ready to spring out of bed and get on with the day. Ah, jetlag. I would have done so too, except for the fact that there's nothing to do in Mestre at 2:30am, unless you're young and you want to find some trouble; which I tend to avoid these days. I thought about working on the blog. But, that would require me to stir around, and wake up Sue. I also thought about eating Sue's leftover pizza from last night. Both of those ideas were quickly dashed for good reason. Sometimes eating someone else's mid-night snack and stirring in the middle of the night are just plain bad ideas if you want to keep yourself in good standing with your touring buddy.

So, I lay there until I felt it was a good time to get up. At 6am, I got myself dressed and slinked out the door in search of coffee. To my surprise, just down the block, a café was just opening. Italians usually like to have a sweet pastry of some kind along with their coffee for breakfast, so I indulged in a chocolate croissant, and two cappuccinos.

I returned, worked on the journal for a bit and poked Sue to encourage her to get going. I blame the caffeine for this.

Since we're returning to the same hotel in Mestre at the end of our trip, they were kind enough to keep our bike boxes. The sign basically says we're returning on Aug 9th so please do not discard the boxes. Thank you Google Translate.

At Mestre train station. I'm not sure what Sue is so happy about, but she sure seems excited to get going.

Heading down to the Passaggio that leads to Track number 4. I know there are many fellow CycleBlazers that can relate to this image.

It seems relatively calm and quiet on the platform, but in another 30 minutes, it was packed.

Train travel with a bike consistently creates a bit of anxiety for the touring cyclist. Although we consider ourselves to have a lot of experience with travelling by train with a bicycle, there is always a certain level of stress that accompanies this. For those of you who are new to this, here are some things you might want to think of (and for those of you out there who have tips to add, please do, and I will include them)

1. What kind of train is it? In a perfect world, a train with a level floor that is even with the platform where you can easily roll your bikes onto the train is ideal. But, there are trains that also have stairs. This requires you to hoist your bike up an on to the train.

2. Where is the bike car? You'll often see experienced cyclists scanning the side of the train cars as the train approaches looking for the bicycle symbol indicating which car is for bikes. If you're lucky the bike car will stop right in front of you on the platform. But, more often than not, a 100 meter dash is required.

3. How long does the train stop for? In a worst case scenario, you may have only a minute to find the bike car, rip the panniers off your bike, hoist the bikes on to the train, as well as load your panniers onto the train before the whistle blows and the train is off again. These are always memorable experiences.

4. Buying tickets. Negotiating automatic ticket purchase machines should seem relatively simple, but often they're not. Plus, you have to think about whether you have to validate your tickets in another ticket-punch machine before boarding.

5. Parking space? If all goes well, and you're lucky, you'll have a place on the train to park your bike. But, oftentimes trains are jammed and there is not a spot to be found. This is when the cycling tourist goes rogue, and must stand holding their bike for the duration of the trip.

6. Are there elevators? In many stations, elevators are too small to accommodate a bike, or in most cases not working at all. This requires you to do the maneuver that Susanna is demonstrating above.

7. Cooperation or Competition? In many instances, you are not the only cyclist competing for that coveted spot on the train. So, you're always eyeing other cyclists. Who was first? Are you standing in the right spot for the bike car? Will there be enough room for all of us? Today, for example, it was like an Olympic event. The 100 meter dash with bikes in tow as soon as the train comes to a halt. But, in all seriousness, cyclists more often than not have a kinship towards one another, and I was happy to help another touring couple hoist there panniers on to the train to Udine.

We'll be following the Alpe Adria for the next few days as we head north from Udine.

Loggia del Lionello. The old Gothic Venetian Town Hall of Udine. First constructed in the 14th Century. Later destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in the 1500's

When we arrived at the train station in Udine, we crossed the street and began to bring up Google Maps to find our hotel. We really didn't need Google's services. All we had to do was look up and there it was, right in front of us. We're right across from the train station, in a lively neighbourhood which is way more interesting than the old town center. After some wandering around in 34 degree heat, we returned to our neighbourhood, found a nice place to sit, have a beer and scarf down a kebab! Life is good.

Looking from inside the Loggia del Lionello towards the Loggia of San Giovanni.

Looking west up the Via Mercatovecchio from the Loggio del Lionello. A medieval street where the city market was held and the ancient shops surrounded its course.

So, we're actually beginning the cycling part of our trip tomorrow. We're headed north to the town of Venzone. It's a short day, only about 45 kms along the Alpe Adria cycle route. Thanks for joining us.

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