Getting out of Verbania... on the bike... finally!

View from the apartment, with the sun shining.

Finally today, I got out on my bike. About five miles into the ride, I remember what I am here for. The food has been less than expected, tourist stuff is boring, but cycling is always fun in Italy. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble with Garmin Connect (have to use it in order to get stuff on Strava) because it is a complete and total shit application. Traveling with an iPad is great, but it doesn't help with the Garmin connectivity. I said it last year, but this year when I get back, I'm going to call up Garmin and give them a piece of my mind. I wish there was someone who I could hold responsible for their terrible program so I could beat them with a large stick. It's completely unacceptable. But I digress...

My first ride was 35 miles, along the lake then up a big climb over 4000ft above sea level. I don't really have any stats on it since I can't connect to Strava right now, but it was hard, especially as the first climb I've done. I started out just cruising along the shore road, and at some point, just past Intra, a group of three riders came by and I jumped on their wheel. They were flying so I just sat in and spun up my legs. I could definitely feel the jet-lag still in the legs. Even though I feel rested now, my legs were still a little funky. Then I turned off and started the climb. I took it easy because I didn't really know what I was in for, how my legs and lungs were going to respond, etc. It was a nice road, wide, well paved for the main section. Once I got about 7km up, the road turned off and got really narrow as it wound through the woods. Luckily as it seems to be protocol, all the cars beep their horns before coming around blind turns so it was very safe. Around 12km of so up, I thought I got to what was the top, 3000 ft of climbing. I stopped, took some pics and started to roll downhill. After a km or so, the road turned back up. Another 1000+ft up. Once I got to the actual top, I was more than ready to descend. Luckily, the descend lasted all the way until I got back to Pallanza. But, since I bypassed the main road back towards Intra, it was definitely the most technical descent that I've ever done in my life. So many turns, tight narrow roads, but luckily no cars. It was pretty fun!

I came back to the apartment, made myself some pizza on focaccia and a salad. Probably the best food I've had here so far. It's getting a little disappointing. There are two more restaurants I want to try, otherwise I'm going back to the grocery store, buying some pasta and taking dinner into my own hands.

After a late lunch, I went out for another "quick" ride. Just 19 miles... with 1800ft of climbing! The climbs were really nice, and despite there being a lot of traffic, there were tons of riders all about and Italian drivers know how to deal with cyclists. It was a pleasant ride. Unfortunately, I took some back roads with lots of speed bumps and tight turns on the way back so I wasn't really able to fly down the descent back to Intra. There was lots of traffic in town so a bit of stopping and starting, but once I got back to the road between Intra and Pallanza, it was all clear. This road used to be a two way main road, but at some point, the made it one way and closed off the other lane with a barrier to cyclists and pedestrians. Only in Europe! It's extremely scenic along the lake so it makes for a really nice ride.
That was my day! Dinner was actually ok, but the service was so bad. I felt bad because the place was swamped. It's nice to not leave tips here, but having waiters work for tips sometimes keep their service level up. Nothing like waiting 20 minutes to get the check. It was a little frustrating.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only frustration for the night. When I arrived at the wifi spot, there was group of terrible "musicians" playing. When I say "musicians", I mean a guy singing and another guy playing guitar and his computer, controlling terrible MIDI backing tracks. Very untalented, extremely loud, completely annoying. I guess this is a thing here in Italy... and all the stupid cigarette smoking. I just don't get it. If there is only one thing I like about America, it's that people can't smoke in restaurants, even outside. They gotta get that together here.
Of course, my Garmin isn't syncing with my iPad and I have a feeling that I won't be syncing until I get back to a computer in the US. We'll see. I hope I don't loose all my rides. So, for a lack of Strava today's ride(s): 55 miles, 5800ft vertical, average speed... not so good.
Tomorrow, I think I'll try this other climb from Stresa over to Lago Orta. Should be hard, but scenic. Maybe I'll get the Garmin working. Until tomorrow... buona notte.
PS, if there are grammatical errors (I'm sure there are) please excuse them. I'm sitting here at midnight, at a gelateria/ bar. I don't have time to proof-read before they close!