Viva Italia!

[swee'pea99]

Currently a week into our Italian adventure.

As the blog I've set up has it, "As Jake might very well have said to Elwood: "We have two bikes, four panniers, three and a half lungs, one ceramic hip and enough years between us to get back to Queen Victoria. It's a thousand k's to Naples give or take - hit it!"

There's some practical stuff in there for anyone similarly-minded, but mostly it's just sheer self-indulgence.

It's dog-rough, and one or two techie bits will need sorting when I get back but in the meantime, if you're interested, come along for the ride, at https://geriackpackers.com/

 

[Cathryn]

Fantastic pictures! Really enjoying your trip! Intrigued that you feel safer on Italian roads…we felt quite unsafe in the summer!

 

[Emanresu]

Looking forward to more of your adventures. Are you going south of Rome this time?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Intrigued that you feel safer on Italian roads…we felt quite unsafe in the summer!

I recall venturing off dedicated cycling paths in Italy (September time) and being incredibly frustrated by Italian drivers and feeling very unsafe - until I realised that their constant beeping was actually a friendly warning. I adjusted to the roads but the towns were another matter! I felt like I had a target on my back.

I also wonder if timing has something to do with it and the proportion of tourists around. Certainly, my most unpleasant experiences in Spain all involve peak tourism time. Tired, stressed drivers unfamiliar with the roads (and possibly what they are driving) can all combine to make us feel vulnerable and uncomfortable. The most dangerous part of my commute (in NL) was across a junction that led to an amusement park. For most of the summer I needed to be extra vigilant for British registered cars who didn't understand that I had the right of way.

Fear is a funny thing, though. I've always felt hyper sensitive when riding with a partner and have often thought "I'd hate to be riding here with someone because of dogs, traffic, whatever", yet when I talk to couples who travel together it hardly features in their thinking.

 

[swee'pea99]

Fantastic pictures! Really enjoying your trip! Intrigued that you feel safer on Italian roads…we felt quite unsafe in the summer!

Thanks - glad you like them! I've just posted another dozen or so, not least to see if I could use the gallery function. It worked!

Have to say there have been times in recent days my earlier confidence in Italian driving has taken a bit of a hit. Yesterday ended with a truly horrible climb out of the city of La Spezia on a narrow concrete-barricaded road with heavy goods traffic thundering past within inches. To be fair it was hard to see what alternative they had: busy road, long uphill, can't really expect busy city traffic to slow to a crawl for ten minutes just for a couple of hapless tourists. Still, not nice.

Looking forward to more of your adventures. Are you going south of Rome this time?

Plan A is still to end up in Naples, but we have three weeks, or more, or less, so who knows? Watch this space!

I recall venturing off dedicated cycling paths in Italy (September time) and being incredibly frustrated by Italian drivers and feeling very unsafe - until I realised that their constant beeping was actually a friendly warning. I adjusted to the roads but the towns were another matter! I felt like I had a target on my back.

I also wonder if timing has something to do with it and the proportion of tourists around. Certainly, my most unpleasant experiences in Spain all involve peak tourism time. Tired, stressed drivers unfamiliar with the roads (and possibly what they are driving) can all combine to make us feel vulnerable and uncomfortable. The most dangerous part of my commute (in NL) was across a junction that led to an amusement park. For most of the summer I needed to be extra vigilant for British registered cars who didn't understand that I had the right of way.

Fear is a funny thing, though. I've always felt hyper sensitive when riding with a partner and have often thought "I'd hate to be riding here with someone because of dogs, traffic, whatever", yet when I talk to couples who travel together it hardly features in their thinking.

Yes, I think it certainly helps being out of season. Don't think I'd want to be here in August. And you're right - thinking about it I don't think I'd want to do it with my wife. I'm not worried about Jens - he's 100% Viking and more than capable of looking out for himself!

Pic from earlier today - we've left the coast for the hills of Tuscany. Just bonkers beautiful.

 

[Cathryn]

The hills of Tuscany destroyed me!!! Don’t be ashamed to walk! 😂

 

[swee'pea99]

The hills of Tuscany destroyed me!!! Don’t be ashamed to walk! 😂

Much walking has occurred, lots more to come I have absolutely no doubt!

 

[Emanresu]

Did you go over the Cisa Pass? The hills kill you on the way up - but the downhill sections are worth the pain.

 

[swee'pea99]

Did you go over the Cisa Pass? The hills kill you on the way up - but the downhill sections are worth the pain.

Jens, though a Viking, is a sensitive soul, and actively wanted to avoid all the marble quarries that are ripping chunks out of the landscape, so we took 'the scenic route'. Which also, as luck would have it, doesn't go quite so high. 😀

 

[Emanresu]

If you are now in Lucca, you've got the best bits of Italy to come - San Miniato; San Gimignano; Siena; Montalcino; Bolsena. Great views at the top of the hill climbs. Much better on a sunny day so hope the weather improves.

 

[swee'pea99]

If you are now in Lucca, you've got the best bits of Italy to come - San Miniato; San Gimignano; Siena; Montalcino; Bolsena. Great views at the top of the hill climbs. Much better on a sunny day so hope the weather improves.

We actually came through San Miniato today, but to be honest I barely noticed. It was a toughie. The weather's been - I have to say mercifully - overcast all day. Full sun added to 80+ k's and two and a half of elevation and I think I would have keeled over and given up the ghost.

We're by-passing Sienna, along with all the other cities. The traffic makes them challenging, to say the least, and the accommodation beats our budget. It's a shame, but you can't have everything.

Heading for the east coast. Looking forward to another swim in the sea!

These Italians will do anything to keep their bike safe. 😉

 

[swee'pea99]

Much better on a sunny day so hope the weather improves

You're right, it do scrub up nice with a touch of sunshine!

 

[Emanresu]

Excellent pics on your blog. And thanks on the heads up on Capua. Will be changing our 2024 route to avoid it though Caserta will be a definite stop.

 

[swee'pea99]

Excellent pics on your blog. And thanks on the heads up on Capua. Will be changing our 2024 route to avoid it though Caserta will be a definite stop.

Thanks - glad you like 'em. Yes, I can't unrecommend Capua strongly enough - it's a genuinely nasty experience. As I said to Jens, "The kind of place that makes you glad you're not on foot." Though it does have one of the more remarkable pieces of public statuary I've ever come across. We decided it was probably a marrow, tho' we weren't hanging around to find out.

 

[swee'pea99]

@Cathryn, @Emanresu and others who were kind enough to compliment my Italy pics might be interested to know that I've at last managed to get them all into something like the shape originally intended, along with a whole bunch from our (on foot) SE Asian odyssey last winter. Eight months well spent, I'm sure you'll agree .