The South Tyrol, Part II

 Day Five: Pinzolo to Molveno (55 km, ~1000 ft. elevation gain)

So I woke up early, as usual, and noted out the window of our nice little place... sunshine?   This was unexpected, so I snatched up my phone (which had actually charged!  For some reason my charger has not been agreeing with the outlets here) and saw that the forecast, which looked pretty grim yesterday, had a very promising window in the rain in the a.m.  So out of bed, quick shower, pack up the stuff, explain the plan to a barely conscious Jen, and I was on the road.  Since Jen has a car for this part of the journey, and can go much faster than I can, we have this kind of flexibility- so why not use it if I have a good reason?

So I hit the glorious bike road at around 6 am, and aside from a longing for a cup of coffee-esque beverage, am immediately glad of my decision.  There are only a few puffy clouds in the sky, and some trailing morning mist rising off of the sodden fields and forests.  Whatever glorious souls that had put together this off-highway masterpiece of a greenbelt earned my highest praise as I joyfully cruised along the tumbling River Sacra di Val Genova.  Again, the asphault was new and smooth, artistic bridges spanned the river in several points, and there was hardly a human soul about to impede my progress a whit.  Occasionally, I would pass by some gentle horses or some fat cows, and of course the songbirds chirped merrily in the trees.   I could see some of the giant snow-capped spires I missed yesterday from around the thickly forested foothlls, still rosy from the early morning light.  

After about 20 km of this bike bliss, I again sadly left the trail to climb a pass, the first of two today, but these were patty-cakes in comparison with the previous two days.  But it was still pretty early, and the motorcycle enthusiasts, like the rest of the country, were not yet up, so I was able to toodle up the first pass in peace and security.  There were a couple long tunnels, but happily they left the abandoned old pre-tunnel road open for bikes and pedestrians, so I could avoid that unpleasantness and get increasingly amazing views down in the yawning chasm below me.   I came to a small town, and it being the crack of 8:30, a single cafe was just opening, so I felt secure enough in my weather window to grab a brioche and a cappuccino (which was pretty much the only thing on offer- but nice!).  Zero English in this part of Italy outside of tourist towns, BTW, but I knew "cappuccino" and "brioche", so good enough!



A swift road descent and then another, bigger pass, but again nothing on the scale of the earlier passes, and Phone routed me on more of the minor farm roads and again into the Swiss Forest Elf Trail Network: Family Fun Trail!  Even with the electric assist, this was a grind, but it sure was pretty.  After a few km of steep climb, the hill moderated, and I could make some time up the generally still-deserted highway.  Approaching Molveno, the goal for the day, I was routed on lovely car-free side road again, which I enjoyed until the last 5 km into town.  By this point it was about 10 am, and the sport bikes had woken up, but the ride was still quite nice along the shore of Molveno Lake.  

If you were dead-set on being cynical about it, the town of Molveno is kind of a tourist trap- but again it's a tourist trap for outdoorsy Swiss and Austrians.  It turns out there is a good deal of overlap on the Venn diagram of interests between me and outdoorsy central Europeans, however, so isn't really a bad thing.  It's also stunningly beautiful, with a glacially-fed turquoise lake lapping right up to the edge of town, and impossibly craggy and steep spires of the Dolomites towering thousands of feet above.   There apparently is a great mountain bike trail network here, amazing hiking, and even paragliding from the top of the gondola that runs right into town.  

We weren't really geared for that, but when Jen caught up to me shortly after my arrival, we took advantage of what we thought was left of the weather window and hiked along the lake to take in the view.  The weather seemed to be holding, so we went to the shore, and finding it affordable, rented a goofy little electric boat, powered by a concealed trolling motor, that took us out on the lake at a stately pace to go see some waterfalls, rock formations, and a sailing regatta of strange hydrofoil-boats that were ripping around the other end of the lake.  Upon our return to shore, the weather STILL holding, we saw a fun-looking mini-golf course, and had a good time doing that.   Lunch, and then it was a respectable time to check into the hotel- which was strangely named Hotel Lido- Green and Slow Life.

A quick note on some of the business names here- I think what is going on is that they use a phrase in Italian, translate it directly and literally into English, not really pausing to ask a native English speaker if the name sounds right, or even makes sense.  Most of the time, it's just amusingly off, such as "Super Pizza: Excellence in Consideration" or "Jubilant Memories Disco Pub"  or "Green and Slow Life."  

Anyway, we got what they were going for, and since the rain had not only not materialized, and it seemed to be clearing up, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the pleasant grounds of the resort hotel, which had lovely shade trees, a gazebo, a deck with a couple hot tubs, and of course a full bar.  We chose a nice summery white and lounged around in the shade reading and relaxing, then hit the hot tubs.  This got us over the daily time obstacle to make it to the 8 pm dinner time, and we had some very nice char from the lake.   

So apparently no need at all to get going so early, but it worked out quite nicely to give us some extra time to really enjoy the great little resort of Molveno.  It was absoutly a MUCH better day than expected, and, happy day, the forecast is looking splendid for the last 2 days of the tour.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even MORE spectacular scenery than today (don't threaten me with a good time), and the biking relatively easy.  Bring it on!



Day 6: Molveno to Trento (~55 km, ~400 vert ft climb, then down down down)

The Lonely Planet cycling book, written by wry British cycling enthusiasts, does not often gush in its descriptions of the stages of the ride.  Today's, it does.   Though techincally it has us going all the way back to Bolzano, not to the extra day in Trento, it's very similar in elevation and the general vibe of the ride.  The day starts with a rather startling climb up and out of the Molveno Lake valley, with the consolation being you get pretty outstanding views very soon into the ride looking down on the fun little Swiss chalet village and the azure lake immediately adjacent, as well as the improbable spires of the Dolomites towering above all.   

I got going a little before 8, because I liked the vibe of no motorcycles and peaceful chirping birds and the cool morning air (but the alpine start of yesterday was kinda early, even for me).  I was a little disappointed that the tippy tops of the jagged Dolomites were shrouded in little clouds, but the forecast of brilliant sunshine and warm temps for most of the day made me feel a little churlish for that.   So up past a ski resort, which this time of year is better known for its lift-served mountain biking, and soon I was in a charming mountain town munching on a brioche and sipping a cappuccino (having skipped breakfast to get the early start).   I could see down into the verdant valley far below that housed both the day's destination of Trento and the loop's end in Bolzano- far below.  The humidity was making everything a bit hazy, but it was still an outstanding view.

Then began a rip-roaring descent down and down through many switchbacks, with the vertical faces of the bluffs around me rising and rising to impossible heights.   I was a little frustrated at the lack of "Punto Panoramico"s that had been so conveniently placed roadside in Tuscany, but was able to snap a few shots of the surreal landscape I might describe as "Yosemite, but bigger, with grapes."   What do you think?


The road finally gave up the last of its hard-won elevation and dumped me down in the lovely valley, but by this time all of the Fiat Pandas and Ducati Enthusiasts had woken up and were crowding me on the zero-shoulder road.  Phone informed me that I would be much better off to beeline east to meet up with the bike highway that stretches all the way from Bolzano to Verona and beyond, and by this time Phone and I had a good enough relationship that I trusted its advice.  Bike highway acquired, I very happily headed south to Trento along a more or less flat and lovely little Greenway following the turbid and swift Adige River. 

 I soon found that bike touring was not lost among my European colleagues- it was in fact quite popular using the very rig I had going- e-bike with Ortlieb panniers.  Only difference was the Continentals preferred the river valleys to the high passes and alpine villas I had frequented.  I mean, I get it, the passes were a real bear, but they were flipping BEAUTIFUL and they allowed me to sample the out-of-the-way villages and outstanding bike highways of the higher valleys.  

Anyway, zipping along the nice little bike road in and out of the vineyards, I passed by lots of things city planners had generally thought they put out of sight by the river (not generally where you wanted to be due to pollution and floods)- a prison, water treatment plants, a freeway, industrial zones, and so on.  However, it also is surrounding in the farther distance with gorgteous steep spires of the Dolomites, the river churning close by, and a vineyard basically anywhere a vineyard could be.   It's great. 

Jen had preceded me in the Citroen, so we met up for an end-of-stage beer, and then after a few logistics, saw a couple of the sights of the historic down town- the Cathedral of Trento and the adjoining museum.  I must admit after being properly sun-baked and weary from a day's pedalling, yet another museum of religious artwork was a bit of a tough sell.  But it was quite well-curated, and there was some great history about a great council of Trento where the Catholic Church (which very recently had just been The Church) struggled to get their ducks in a row when faced with a major peel-off of the faithful in led by one Martin Luther.  Spoilers!   They ended up arguing about things like the true nature of the Eucharist and should saints be as reversed as they are (smacked of paganism to Luther), and eventually decided that no, everything was super great about the Catholic Church and please keep paying those indulgences, please!  Cue hundreds of years of religious war, that of course was really more about real estate and zoning.   

Our duty to education and culture fulfilled, we checked in to the place, and I must admit, having been pretty overheated for much of the day, I was pretty much done.  So about halfway through a Netflix show at about 8pm, yours truly retreated to Dreamland.


Day Seven: The Last.  Trento to Bolzano (71 km, very little elevation gain)  So Nice I Did (part of it) Twice

Batteries were a concern today.  The E-bike I rented did not give me the key to take out the battery, so that if I couldn't take the whole bike up to the room, I couldn't charge it.  This happily had not been an issue at the other 4 places we had stayed along the way, but in Trento (a big city in comparison to the hamlets we had stayed in in the high country) room was back to European-urban tight.  We checked in kind of late, so I didn't know this until about 4 pm, so a scramble ensued to get the bike to a friendly bike shop to charge it.  This we found, got it charged to about 7 pm, when the store closed, and I took the bike apart and shoved it in the Citreon in the parking garage.  

4/5 bars of power, and a long way to go- fortunately things were pretty flat, the day was glorious, and the route-finding easy.  I set the bike on "Eco", the lowest power setting, which in the mountains was next to useless.  But here- not too bad!   And impossible to stay mad at the terrain- 1/3 of which I had travelled before on the way down to Trento.  In fact, the scenery just got better and better the farther north I travelled, with the high bluffs of the Dolomites closing in on either side, and the industrial area of Trento relenting to the wine country surrounding Bolzano.   


  Really, not much to relate, in that it's a long steady cruise up dedicated bike roads through great countryside.  It might have bugged me that the freeway was never too far off so the auditory element of the trip was a little impeded, but hey, that's what podcasts are for.  My intake thereof had plummeted during this trip- with so much to take in on our many journeys, and it was kinda nice to catch up while taking in the 5 star scenery.  I did stop about 20 km shy of Bolzano to rest my tailbone and enjoy some local cider from the many, many orchards in the valley- of particular note was the apple-hot pepper hard cider, which was a real treat!

Bolzano was a treat the first time, as I have already written,  but today we had some logistics to take care of. I said farewell to my trusty bike at the rental place.   I was pretty famished after my ride, and it being about 2 and the daily 3-7:30 universal restaurant closure imminent, I indulged immediately in some recuperative weinerschnizel und weissbier.   We then got the stuff into our lovely new place, returned the Citreon, and huffed back to the place.  I wrote this entry and the one above, we drank more of the spicy cider (I got a bottle to share with Jen), and prepared for our journey southward. 






Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Genoa

Florence II: Attack of the Museums