When we had just finished eating dinner after our first day here, another person showed up to the Italian Cycling Center. Jennifer had been here earlier, then left for 10 days in Turkey, and is now back for another 6 days. We decided we'd do the "Lake Ride" which she loves and which I had messed up on last time I was here. We had a biggish group that time, and Ben's brother-in-law Casey, one or two other people, and I found ourselves between the faster lead group, led by Pat, an ex-pat American, and the slower group led by Yvonne, the American woman who was helping George run the ICC while his leg was broken. Pat and her group (including David) turned across a funky wooden bridge, and we rode blithely by thinking there was no way anyone would go over that. They saw us from the other side, but no amount of yelling caught our attention. Eventually, Pat turned back and followed the route we took (which turned out to be the return route), and took us backwards up the ride to the coffee stop at the lake. So we never saw the climb that should have been the first half of the ride. I was determined to do it right this time. So off we went, being met first by a very nice Italian woman named Edda, then, at the bus stop where so many ICC rides regroup, by Pat, her husband Leopoldo, an Italian ex-racer, and Gianluca, a very nice young Italian kid (late teens or early 20's). We set off as a group, but I soon had a flat, followed by a tube that split at the stem. George and Jennifer continued ahead, while the others waited (somewhat impatiently after the stem failure) for us. I think Leopoldo was not amused by David's refusing his CO2 cartridge and insisting on pumping up the tire by hand. Anyway, we continued on...PAST the infamous bridge. I quickly spoke up and asked why we hadn't turned, and Pat said Leopoldo preferred the other way. I explained that the whole POINT of the ride was to do it as advertised, and they reluctantly turned back. I think Leopoldo was annoyed at me, so he rode as slowly as he could across the rickety bridge. I thought I wouldn't be able to stay upright, but I was determined not to let him win, so I made it. Then he took off at a breakneck pace, which I also gamely matched. That split our group effectively, as Pat had planned a restroom stop, and David's bottle flew out of its cage for the first of several times that day. Eventually, Gianluca caught us and told Leopoldo that the others had dropped (Leopoldo speaks little English, and besides I didn't have extra breath to try). The climb under overhanging rock in lovely shade (by now it was in the upper 80's) was worth the hassle. We found George right where Pat had asked Gianluca to take us on the scenic detour, so the Italian contingent left us there, and we continued with George and Jennifer. Another wooden bridge that amazingly had been used for cars until recently, a stop in the middle of the lake to admire the view, a quick push on foot up a very steep rocky path, and then back across the "new bridge" and we were at the coffee stop. The descent takes you by some WWII fortifications built into the hill, and then we were back along the Brenta bikepath we like so well. At one point, we stopped George and made him tell us more about the Covolo di buttistone, a large cave visible across the river and across the highway, halfway up the cliff. This cage was used since feudal times as part of a fortification with castle that controlled traffic up the Brenta River. In WWII (or was it I?) it was used as a munitions storehouse. It's really huge, allowing a large number of troops to shelter inside. One can climb up to it via a steep flight of a lot of steps, and one of these trips, I'm going to do it.
The next day, we decided to go to the Villa Coldogno, which George says is interesting because the frescoes depict typical villa life at the time of their painting. It is only open on Saturday mornings (and Friday afternoons, it turns out, but George does not ride in the afternoon), so we decided we should do it on Saturday. This time, George led on his motor scooter, which we had heard about from Casey who was here earlier in the summer. He drove fairly fast, which David and I could keep up with (sort of), but we kept dropping Jennifer. I finally caught him where he waited for Jennifer and me to catch up after being caught at a long light, and I told him that it was one thing to ride the scooter to make it easier on himself, but quite another to use it to turn into Leopoldo. After that, he drove at a more moderate pace. We stopped in front of a couple of villas on the way (George said it was really a 3 villa ride, although in the end, we saw about 6), and then pulled into the courtyard of the Villa Coldogno. Unfortunately, it was closed for August vacation, although the website had not mentioned this. They allowed us to go through a couple of gates and look at (the outside of) a WWII bunker set into a hill. Then we went to the bar across the road and had our coffee and croissants. On the way back, George seemed a bit lost a couple of times (we had all voted for the shorter, more scenic, less highway-shoulder way back, so I don't think he does this often), but when we arrived back at the Locanda for lunch, it was exactly the 60 miles he represented the ride to be. It had been a really hot day, with lots of humidity, so it wasn't surprising that it rained a bit after lunch. Ride, eat, sleep. This is getting to be a habit.
No comments:
Post a Comment