Week 1

Due to the theft of our camera, two mobile phones and 80 euros in Parga, Greece, all of the pictures for this tour were borrowed from www.flickr.com.
Therefore all credit goes to the various people who have made these very nice pictures.
I have taken the time and selected pictures that closest resemble the ones we took.

Monday 30 April

Bergamo airport to Lake Iseo
3 hours 24 min. 13.7 Av. 46 kms.

We didn't get much sleep last night, went to bed around 22:30 and got up at 02:45 so we could be on the road by 03:30 for the 1hr 30min ride to Brussels airport. We had given ourselves enough time for our 07:00 flight. We also had about 10min delay at the check in counter but no problem, unlike Greece everyone uses a computer here.
Than a small problem with the security, apparently no tools are allowed in the planes not even a small adjustable wrench I use for removing the paddles, don't know what anyone can do with such a small tool, anyway after some haggling they let us pass (with the wrench). The flight took 1hr and 20min.
The airport in Bergamo is small and the luggage handlers were rough with the bikes but we sorted everything out and were on our way in just over an hour.
Traffic was what we expected quite busy, not so many trucks as tomorrow would be the 1rst of May, a National holiday here and a long weekend. The roads were OK and most drivers were courteous and gave us a lot or space, but off coarse there will always be a jerk or two in every crowd and here is no exception.
The scenery became better the closer we got to lake Iseo and we found the camping (Punte D'oro) easy enough.
There were a few around, but we chose this one because it was the closest to the town and relatively cheap.
As soon as we set up the tent, and cleaned up we went for a walk to the town to get some supplies, eat our first pizza and a gelato for dessert we watched the sunset. Soon afterwards when we got back to camp, we bought a few beers and this thunder storm came, and it lasted all night. We were so tired we slept through most of it.
Our route and elevation profile can be found here, (to view the elevation profile you need to click on Show top left corner on the  bikely page) www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bergamo-to-Iseo

       
Here are some pictures of Lake Iseo so you can have an idea of how beautiful this lake is.

Tuesday 1 May

Lake Iseo to Cremona
6 hours 15.3 Av. 92 kms Total 138 kms

We got up at 06:30 and were on the road by 08:00. The morning was partly cloudy and the air fresh after all the rain from last nigh. The roads were good not much traffic being a national holiday and the scenery got very flat as soon as we left the lake area.
We followed the road through the towns of Rovato, Chiari, Orzinuovi, Quinzano d'Oglio and finaly Cremona.
Did I say it was flat and boring?
The camping at Cremona was the same as two years ago, very bad, but being the only one in the area ........
After setting up camp we took a ride into town for a slice and a gelato and wondered around for a bit. When we got back to camp we met this nice Dutch couple which were driving around Italy with a tent and two bikes hanging over the back of their car. They would find a nice area to explore and take day trips. Great idea. We gave them our card and hope they get in touch. It's now 20:30 and time to sleep tomorrow is going to be a long day.
www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Iseo-to-Cremona

   
Here are a few pictures of Cremona.
Left: We had a gelato in the left corner where the arch is.
Center: The Cathedral of Cremona.
Right: An aerial view of the main square.

Wednesday 2 May

Cremona to Modena
7 hours 40 min. 16.1 Av. 124 kms Total 262 kms

Got up at 06:00 and were on our way by 07:30. It was partly cloudy early on BUT, after we stopped for some supplies at Pieve d'Olmi the sky opened up. Heavy rain with thunder it was real bad, we took shelter by the city hall for over an hour and a half. We also took this time to put on extra clothes and leg warmers as the temperature dropped and we had a long way to go. There weren't any camping between Cremona and Modena.
When it finally did slow down a bit we started off, the rain came and went every half hour or so, when we finally dried up it started again. This went on as we cycled through Casalmaggiore than Viadana where we crossed the Po river.
The traffic was terrible with many trucks, more trucks than cars, they gave us all the room they could but still it was bad, very noisy we were soak wet from the spray they through up as they sped by.
At Guastalla the sun came out and at first we thought HEY it's going to stay dry, BUT after looking carefully at the sky we saw we were in the eye of the storm. There was a perfect circle of clouds above us and we knew that soon the back end would catch up to us.
From Novelara to Capri we ended up getting soaked again. The traffic did not let up very busy with many trucks.
Finally from Capri to Modena it was dry, but the P413 had no shoulder which made it a bit more interesting.
The camping at Modena was a real bad and at 23 euros very expensive, I has gotten even worst than it was two years ago. We were very tired now after a long, noisy and wet day, needless to say we slept very well.
Tomorrow start the hills and we'll need all our energy.
www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Cremona-to-Modena

       
1- Piazza Grande.
2- One of the many beautiful streets in Modena. 
3- Another view of Piazza Grande. 
4- Modena Cathedral with the Ghirlandina Tower. 
5- And the Palazzo Ducale, now a military academy, at Piazza Roma.

Thursday 3 May

Modena to Montecreto
7 hours 20 min. 11.3 Av. 83 kms Total 345 kms

We got up at 07:00 and were on the road by 08:30. We got on a very busy road to Modena got re supplied and headed towards Maranello on the P3.
The road was flat, very busy and a lot of light industry. Just before Maranello we heard race cars and when we saw some people looking through these bushes we stopped also, and that's when we saw that it was the testing track for Ferrari, and the factory in the background. They were testing two of their cars.
Right after Maranello the 18 km long steep climb began to Serramazzioni. The road was very good and we saw a couple of Italian cyclists on race bikes, but there was no shoulder and the trucks were very close especially around the hairpins.
There was an incident when a small truck tried to pass Monique just before a blind hairpin and got stuck when a trailer truck was coming down on the opposite lane. The small truck had to back up (down) and let the large truck pass, it was a joke as all the cars that were backing up started to beep. But like I said earlyer there will always be a jerk in every crowd.
The scenery was very beautiful and we found it difficult to keep our eyes on the road.
Right after Serramazzioni it started to rain and we continued on to Pavullo where we got more supplies and continued on in the rain. Soon afterwards we saw the sign to camping Montecreto and right after Gaianello we turned off the S12 and headed towards Aquaria. We followed the road down to the river Scoltenna than the real tough climb began, around 500m in about 5 kms, and that is tough at the end of the day.
The rain was coming down real good now and it was getting late. There is a certain feeling one has when its 19:30 with one hour of daylight left, very tired, still have a 10 kms or riding to do, and don't know if the camping is open.
We even saw deer coming out of the woods to feed, we took some pictures but....... May the thief burn in hell.
The camping at Montecreto was open and in the rain we set up our tent. We showered dressed warm and went right to sleep, too tired to even eat.
It was a very tough day in the hills, we got really spoiled since the beginning of the tour, all flat with some downhill.
www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Modena-to-Montecreto

 
Left: View of the Po river valley from about half way up the climb.
Right: One of the many beautiful views from the top of the first climb at Serramazzioni.

Friday 4 May

Montecreto
Rest day

We woke up this morning at about 06:30 and it was raining real hard. We waited till 09:00 but it didn't let up, so we decided to take a rest day here, no use in getting soak wet before we even started cycling. Besides the next part would be over the Abetone pass at 1400m and we didn't think it wise to try for it today. We were also a bit tired from yesterday.
So we just hung around Montecreto for the day, it did stop raining for a few hours around midday but than started up again real hard in the evening.
We hoped that it would stop by morning as we didn't want to spend another day here.

   
Left: The hill top castle/monastery at Montecreto.
Center: A view of the ski lift. The camping is just in front of the hotel (bottom-right of ski lift).
Right:  An opposite view of the center picture.

Saturday 5 May

Montecreto to Florence
7 hours 45 min. 11.3 Av. 88 kms Total 433 kms

We woke up at 06:30 to a very fine drizzle so we hurried and packed everything as best as we could and were on the road by 08:00. We had a very nice early morning down hill to the river Scoltenna and followed it along the very scenic P324 to Riolunato were we picked up some supplies. The scenery along the P324 was very beautiful, with high heavily wooded gorges and very tall mountain peaks in the background.
At Pievepelago we turned left on the S12 and started the 12 km long climb to Abetone. It was a grinding climb but very beautiful and around every bend we kept seeing more and more beautiful scenery. These national and regional parks in Italy are very beautiful indeed.
The road was very good and hardly any traffic which was nice for a change. We also saw more (race) cyclists along this route, I guess the nice roads and beautiful climbs in this area is a magnet for cyclists.
When we reached the top we tried to find a place for a cup of coffee but no good everything was closed.
"Bloody hell" (I yelled), "we climb over a 1400m pass and not even a cup of coffee", that amused the other tourists.
So we started the 17 km down hill through the heavily forested hillside, it was cold with a lot of humidity, it has been raining here for the last several days. Our hands were now getting frozen and tired holding the breaks all the time, we had to stop often to warm them up.
We stopped at Cutigliano for a sandwich and some supplies and continued on, just before La Lima we had to take cover at a gas station when this hailstorm passed over us, it didn't last long but we were glad we found some cover.
At La Lima we turned left on the S66 and headed up hill again for 7 kms, over Pso d'Oppio at 821m. It was a tough climb mainly because we had really cooled off coming down from Abetone.
The downhill after Pso d'Oppio was very long and nothing less than spectacular, it was one of the best rides of the tour. Even the overcast weather didn't dampen our mood, we were happy we made it over the pass relatively dry.
It was also warming up again.
We reached Pistoia at 18:00 and had 30 kms to reach Florence so we rode to the train station and found a train that accepts bicycles to Florence for altogether 10 euro. So we decided to take it. It would have been too long to try and make it by bike. We reached Florence after dark and slowly found our way to the Michelangelo hill where the camping was.
The camping was expensive at 23 euro, also the ground was really rough with many sharp stones, we didn't want to take a chance and ruin our tent so we hired a tent from the camping at 35 euro a night. Just two bunk beds under a canvas cover. But it was dry, had a lock on the door and room enough for the bikes. It was the right idea as later on that night it rained pretty heavily again.
The camping was clean and the location perfect. And after a couple cold beers we slept real good.
www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Montecreto-to-Pisoia

   
Left: One of the many beautiful views from the top of Abetone.
Center:  Another view from the top of Abetone.
Right:  A post card from Abetone.

Sunday 6 May

Florence
Rest day

Got up late this morning, took our time with everything had some breakfast and slowly made our way to the center of town.
We wondered around a bit to check out most of the sites and generally do the tourist thing, along with several thousand other tourists. It was real busy, and around some of the major sites like the Cathedral it was difficult to walk.
We couldn't imagine how it would be in peak season.
There were venders everywhere selling everything. Some things were nice but we could not take any souvenirs along.
And lets not forget the 3 hour long wait to go into the Duomo.
It was funny that around 13:00 it started to rain and all the street venders put their stuff away and came out selling umbrellas LOL, and the people waiting in line had to stand there, most of them forced to buy the umbrellas LOL.
We then slowly made our way to the main bus terminal next to the train station and got on a bus to the campsite.
Monique went for a siesta while I went over to the bar got a nice cold beer and set on the patio which overlooks the city. Soon afterwards the sun came out, life can be beautiful sometimes :-)
We had thought about it carefully and decided that we would slowly head South for a couple more days and take the train to the Adriatic coast, most likely Ancona, and cycle South from there.
We made this decision because of the prices around here, lack of campsites and the weather had not been kind.
And if we have a couple extra days we'll sail to Igoumenitsa instead of Patra.

       
First two are from the main Cathedral of Florence, the Duomo, 3rd and 4th are views from Michelangelo hill where the camping is located and everyone knows the old bridge with the shops on it.
These are the closest pictures (to the ones we took) that I could find at flickr.com.
It isn't much but it's the best I could do.
Every time I think of all the pictures we had taken I'm very saddened.