Cycling In Italy – Stage One

The alarm went off at 6:30 AM which is not unusual if I’m starting a ride at 8:00. I listen. Is that wind and rain or the hotel’s air conditioners? Not being sure, I drag myself out of bed, open the door to my balcony and peer outside. Still not sure because it’s still dark, I pull on a pair of shorts and walk out. Yep, it’s rain and now I’m wet and awake. At dinner last night, William, the owner of the cycling tour company, said we would not be riding if there is rain. I fall back into bed, but sleep doesn’t come so I imagine the options. The rain could stop. We could ride later. Around 8:00 I venture down for breakfast. An announcement is made to the group of anxious riders. No ride this morning. Instead, we are heading to a ceramics factory. Really?  A ceramics factory? The girls try not to smile. The guys are speechless.

Okay, so the La Ceramica VBC factory was pretty cool. Not what I expected and besides, while we were there, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We headed back to the hotel for lunch and the announcement was made that we would start today’s ride at 2:00 PM. Not our normal start time, but at least we’ll be on the road.

The ride began with many twists and turns down typical narrow Italian roads that must date back to the middle ages. I’m not sure how cars navigate some of these. Along the way, we hit a section of cobblestones. I'm thinking how glad I am for bringing my comfy saddle. We ride along a river, over a covered bridge (which also had cobblestones as a surface), and then out into the countryside. It’s beautiful. Almost every village we ride through has a church and a separate bell tower. I’m not an architect, but to me many seem to be modeled after the bell tower in St. Mark’s Square in Venice. We also see many 16^th and 17^th century church steeples and towers with onion shaped domes; a sign that this part of Italy was once the crossroads for trading for the western world. 

We start a climb of about 7km and then stop at a cafe for coffee. We’re high above the valley and it’s starting to get cold. The sun no longer lights the village square and the café. We pull on arm warmers and vests or jackets. Several of us gather in front of a rococo period church which is still illuminated by the sun. The church’s stones almost seem to glow in the fading sunlight. They are still warm and give comfort.

The group leaves the village. There is still a two steep climb to the very top of the mountain.  We reach the summit and start the descent. Nothing could have prepared me, and I expect others in the group, for what we were about to experience. I lost count of the switchbacks about halfway down. Sharp, hairpin turns that make you slow to almost a stop if a car is coming the other way. The only way to judge how far left to go is to glance down to the valley below. It’s a long way down. I’m praying that we’ve adjusted the brakes on the new bike correctly. We finally make it down, stop to regroup, ride through Bassano de Grappa and back to the hotel. It's almost 7:00 PM. Time for a quick shower and then dinner. I hope they are serving pasta and lots of red wine.