Arrivederci Verbania!

"In and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky and they stand there."

Yes

Every day I notice something a little different about Italy. It's the third time I've been here, yet some little innocuous things still surprise me. For example, how much safer I feel on the roads even with a lot of traffic. Or how drivers actually pay attention to cross walks and stop. And, how in most of this area anyway, traffic circles, aka roundabouts have completely replaced any stop signs, traffic lights, etc. They almost don't exist. At the end of every street, where in America there would be a stop sign, here there are triangles painted across the road and a yield sign. And it works! The roundabouts too. Traffic seems to meter itself, and I've yet to see an accident. Americans get to a traffic circle and it might as well be bumper cars on steroids (not to mention the size of the average 'murcan car versus those in Italy). It's unreal, and it makes cycling a lot easier.
Today was my last day in Verbania. Tomorrow I move on to Parma, where the food will be incredible, the weather should be sunnier, and the vibe will be a little more Italian (as compared to how Swiss and German culture, as well as the tourists are here). I'm very excited for that. I'm also really excited to visit Emlia-Romagna, the region that contains Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, and Bologna. All of those cities are within this 100km belt of gastronomic heaven. But, before I get too into that, let me tell you about today.
Today, it was quite a bit cooler, and though the sun came out sparingly, I felt more comfortable wearing a base-layer and arm-warmers (cycling). I rode to Intra, took the ferry across and rode one of Scott MacNeill's recommended loops. It was nineteen miles, so I figured how hard could it be?! Wrong! Climbing the Passo Cuvignone from Porto Valtravagia over Monte Sasso del Ferro was tough. Not as long as the Piancavallo or Mottarone, but still really hard, really steep, lots of sections well about 12% for a long time. At one point I could have swore my Garmin read 17%. Good thing I live at the top of Federal Twist and get lots of practice with that grade. Unfortunately- or maybe fortunately- Federal Twist is not 12km long!

Passo Cuvignone, 11.6km 7.2%

The descent unfortunately was not much fun. It was not much wider than the ascent and even steeper which would be fine, if it were closed to traffic. Not that there was much at all, maybe three or four cars the whole time, but the last thing you want to do is go flying through someone's windshield or off the side of a cliff because you wanted to be "badass" and descend like you're riding in the Giro d'Italia. The run-in to Laveno was great though. Steadily downhill on a nice wide road, sweeping turns. That was fun.
Once I got back across the lake (on the ferry), I grabbed some tomato pie-like focaccia and a sfogliatella, sat along the lake to eat it, then rode towards another climb that sits just outside of Pallanza. Called Monte Rosso, it's not a huge climb, but it's a road to nowhere with at least twenty-five switchbacks. The condition of the road was fine for the ascent but not so great for a fast descent. A passed a lot of mountain bikers on the way up. Once you get to the top, there is a cool looking trail that'll take you across the mountain ridge to the next town, then you can take another road back down. I don't think it was very technical, and there is a lot of stuff like that around here. It would be cool to live here for a bit, train on all these mountains, and have a cross bike too for mountain trail road riding. But I can dream...

Monte Rosso 5.7km 8.3%

I guess one thing to add, now that I've cycled a bit in the areas of both Lago Maggoire and Lago di Como, is my opinion on one versus the other. I think the scenery here, the little roads and villages, is nicer. I think the bigger roads, especially the bigger mountain passes that are wider near Como are more fun to ride and better to train on. That's why you see lots of pros riding in that area. I really like it here, I certainly wouldn't mind living here, the climbs are plenty hard... but, for a great concentration of super smooth, cyclists' dream roads, I still think Lago di Como is where it's at. That said, I'm really glad I came here, I'd definitely come back again and it's a great cycling destination, that's for sure!

Besides that, the rest of my day is pretty mundane. Packing everything up, cleaning and taking the bike apart, finishing up some food in the fridge... basically just getting ready to make the move. Hopefully it won't be too epic. I think I've managed to move a lot of weight from my bike bag to my now expanded carry-on so that'll help my shoulder and back. And it's off to Parma! Arrivederci Verbania! It's been really, really fun!