If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.
We made it to the lake!
Our 11-week trip is divided into four parts: 1) Umbria and Marche, 2) Veneto, 3) PreAlps and Dolomiti, 4) lakes. Which means that we have begun the last part of our journey.
The ride from Trento to Riva del Garda was easy and uneventful. We were again on the EV7, on a dedicated cycle path along the Adige River, biking around villages and through vineyards. We had good weather, we made good time. About halfway, we pulled off the trail in Rovereto for a cappuccino break. Looking for an open bar, we had to detour around a huge sports complex and factory and hop on a busy highway for a mile or so. The first bar we stopped at just didn't sit well with us; it was dirty and dingy, and the guys hanging out front smoking put us off. So we moved on a few blocks and found a nice cafe, with good coffee and a clean toilet.
We were barely back on the trail when we spotted the Bici Grill up on a hill. Well, you just don't pass up a good lunch stop, and it was past 11:30, so we stopped, drank aqua frizzante for 20 minutes until the kitchen opened, and ordered big salads with bread. As we sat there, the place filled up. Even during the week, the bicycle trails and supporting businesses are busy. It's fun to see so many people out enjoying themselves.
Properly fortified, we set off again. We had one long climb near the end of the day, followed by a steep descent to the lake and then several miles of zigzagging through Torbole and around the point to Riva, where we had an apartment reserved just a few steps off the lake in the old town.
This easy cycling with cool weather and frequent food stops is spoiling us. We can hardly remember those first few weeks of sweltering heat, murderous climbs, and horrible farm tracks.
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| After showers, we went out for groceries and dinner. The old part of town is pretty small, but packed with restaurants and shops. |
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| An ascensore (lift, in this case a funicular) takes you up to a tower ruin with a panoramic view of the town and harbor. We planned to bike up higher than the ruin the next day, so we skipped the ascensore. |
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| The harbor at Riva del Garda was quiet the first evening we were there. It was a Monday, cool, and cloudy: probably the perfect combination for a calm fall evening. |
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| A porta through stone walls, a hallmark of medieval fortified towns and villages throughout Italy. |
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| Our first view of Torbole from a pullout just after we started our descent to the lake. Torbole seemed to be larger than Riva del Garda, with bigger and younger crowds. We passed a few beaches and quite a few boat, canoe, kayak, and SUP rental shops there. |
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| The street where we live. Our apartment is in the cream building on the right. On the third floor. A long way to haul our bikes. They didn't fit in the elevator, even standing up. A plaque on the wall outside the apartment noted that this neighborhood was the Jewish ghetto from 1403 to the end of the 18th century. The ghetto was a restricted area, and the activities of the Jews were supposed to be highly regulated, but in this small, remote, town, the rules were relaxed and Jews were quite active in the life of the wider community. |
