It deemed like most of the local population were out cycling on the trails this morning, roadie's a few tourers and many mums & dads !
We headed towards Caldonazzo which took us around the beautiful lake of the same name with Italians sunning by the foreshore and canoeing through the still waters.
Following our guide book we ended up climbing into the small village of Roncogno unsure of which way to go to enter Trento to avoid the motorways. One local in a small blue Citreon in broken English indicated that if we took a small nearby lane we could get to a point where we could carry our bikes down an embankment and over a railway line thus avoiding having to cycle back.
An hour later we'd discovered the old railway line and disused railway station but despite employing Indiana Jones style tactics we had failed to find an exit trail !
So it was back the way we had come eventually crossing over to the other side of the freeway and getting lost on two occasions before climbing through Madrano and Civezzano to eventually find our way into Trento.
Despite our hatred of navigating through cities we thought it would be easy to ride into Trento on a Sunday and find the Adige River by which we could then navigate towards Bolzano - Wrong !
We were sent in 4 different directions by 4 different people before finally finding someone who could speak reasonable English (not easily found in Italy) to tell us we were only 200 metes away from the river after the last person had sent us in the opposite direction !
It had taken us nearly 5 frustrating hours to travel the 35 kms to get here but all was temporarily forgotten as we indulged in a baguette style lunch and took in the beautiful scenery !
Well fed we jumped back on our bikes for the stunning river side side trail ride towards Bolzano
The weather was hot but at least the cycling was flat and other than a couple of stops so Henley could lubricate his family jewels we were making reasonable time.
What impressive scenery to be taken in with giant monoliths either side of you and Austrian style villages disappearing up the many side valleys.
With H starting to fatigue badly after a longish day we finally made our destination at Leifers just 10 km shy of Bolzano and were pleased when the front desk upgraded us to a mini suite where H had just enough energy left to enter the room l
After slightly recovering we were able to venture out for a nearby dinner for some much needed sustenance where because of my thirst I ordered a coke and a beer. The waiter looked at me a little strangely then went away and came back with a suspiciously dark coloured beer - I tasted it and almost spat it out - the waiter had interpreted my request as putting the coke in the beer not providing both separately !
With Henley now at least able to manage a laugh it was time to crawl into bed and enjoy our much look looked forward to rest day tomorrow !
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