Over the Hills and Far Away

I'm sitting here listening to Robert Plant's new album steaming on NPR, putting an end to a perfect Italian day.
It's amazing how much of cycling, and well anything really, is mental. I have not been particlarly motivated to ride these last few days. I was getting a little bummed out with the food in Parma, the lackluster roads, and for the first time in all my trips to Italy, feeling a bit homesick. Crazy, I know. After yesterday's failed ride, resulting in the plan to ride across the Apennine Mountains to Italy's west coast, I was really excited to ride this morning.
The ride started identically to yesterday. It's basically one road, Strada Statale 62, all the way to La Spezia on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The first 16 miles of that road suck. It takes 12 miles to get to where the Autostrada splits off, then it gets marginally better, but it's not until mile 16, where you turn out of the valley and immediately start climbing, that the road doesn't suck. But, once you get to the climb, it's beautiful. Mostly decent pavement all the way, two wide lanes and no traffic. I think for the next 25 miles, only a dozen motorcycles and a half dozen cars passed me. It's was silent!

The climb was long, gradual, if you can call 8-9% gradual. It never got above 10%, but it went on for a long time. Perfect in my book. With a few sections of downhill respite, it was basically an uphill battle from mile 16 to 40. It was everything I have been seaching for in a road the whole time I've been here. The scenery was amazing, climbing out of the valley up into some real mountains. There were a few spots where I probably should have stopped and taken some photos, but in the mountains, they never come out to looks as dramatic as they are in real life, especially with only my iPhone camera. You just have to imagine. Although the mountains here aren't as high as near Lago Maggiore, the views were remarkable. Like I said, besides the mountains at least on the Emilia-Romagna side of the pass, lie miles of perfectly flat land. You can see forever. The iPhone camera can't. That's part of being here, you can't capture it all, that's why you have to come here yourself. Plus, I was on a mission today. I only stopped once to pee... and once to make sure I wasn't off course. I wasn't stopping to take any photos, sorry.
I climbed forever, but I was having so much fun. I started climbing in a town called Salita, which ironically means climb in Italian. Eventually that turned into another climb, then another. It's all one road but different parts have different names. Eventually however, I reached the sign that said Passo della Cisa, Dipartimento di Firenze, Toscana. I dropped it down a few gears and sprinted for the top. I knew from that point, it'd be 30 miles downhill to the sea. I swear, once I crossed into Tuscany, the sun broke through the clouds, the road smoothed out, and of course, I began going downhill. It was a perfect welcome back to my favorite part of Italy.
The first part of my downhill journey, was the actual descent of the pass. It was the best. Super wide, mix of sweeping no-brakes turns and then a series of switchbacks! It was a blast!! Eventually I reached the next town and it was, for the most part, a gradual downhill false flat for miles on end. I was absolutely flying! Finally I reached the town of Aulla, which is where I turned off onto SS330 and climbed up a bit before the final shot down into La Spezia. The little climb really hurt, and despite that most of the previous 20 miles was downhill, it was not steep enough to not pedal and I was really pushing it. Once I got to La Spezia, the road was flat along the coast. I vowed not to let up and stop the clock until I saw the sea.

By the time I saw the marina, just over four hours of riding had elapsed, 77 miles, just under 5500ft of climbing (RideWithGPS said 6100?), and my average speed was 19mph. A bit of mental motivation goes a long way. I kicked ass today. It was the epitome of Italian cycling. Crossing a mountain range, through three provinces, perfect roads, great weather, you couldn't ask for anything more. It was the ride of the trip!!
Once I got to La Spezia, I cruised around for a bit, checked out the town, and decided upon this cafe to get some lunch. And, lunch was awesome. Canolloni filled with spinach and ricotta. Perfect! I followed that up with a giant cone of really good gelato (Nutella, Bacio, and Fondente) then road around some more. I rode up to the castel, I road down to the marina, and checked out all the windows in the shops in the gigantic pedestrian zone more than a few times.

Eventually, I decided it was time to get the train back. Unforutunately, getting there in the middle of the day, I missed all the bakeries but was also too early for some handmade trofie at an Osteria. I decided, I better just head back. Once I found the station, I realized that I had over an hour until the next train back to Parma. With that, rather than sit around at the station, I ended up going back to the seafront and found a stand selling traditional Ligurian focaccia. I bought 1.50 Euro worth of focaccia with fresh tomato and sat by the sea for the better part of an hour, relaxing.
The train ride back was long. Two hours is a long time when you just want to get back and out of your salt covered cycling cloths. By the time I made it back to Parma, it was just about dark. Luckily, restaurants here are open late because everyone eats dinner at the earliest 8:30.
I consulted Trip Advisor and found a little Trattoria on the other side of the river. The reviews were good, so I decided to give it a try. Finally, I found so food to get really excited about in Parma. On this little back street this place was hiding, but hiding not that well. Even at 9:30 on a Monday, I had to wait to get a table. For a grand total of 18 Euro, I got a big plate of chicche (little gnocchi) with pesto and tomatoes, the cover (all restaurants charge this in place of having to leave a tip) grilled vegetables, a big bottle of Pellegrino, and an incredible semifredo of mint with chocolate sauce. Everything was fantastic. I'm going back tomorrow for the tortelli filled with chard. I bet the tagliatelle ai funghi and risotto are good too.

That's my day. It was everything that I could have hoped for and more. I needed this day. I'm tired, but I needed that ride and the good food to keep me interested in this place. I know that sounds crazy. It was a great start to the week. I don't know if I'll be able to do another ride that great, but I know that the one way ride to a great destination in the way to go. It keeps me motivated. Having to ride the same road in and out of the city is really depressing to me. I don't want to see the same thing twice. I don't know what else to tell you, I ready for bed.
PS, funny story. I got back to the apartment today and I noticed that the door was not double locked. I could have swore that I double locked it. I entered the apartment and much to my surpise, someone had come in and given me new towels, new sheets, and cleaned the whole place top to bottom. I was not expecting that. I figured I was on my own. I've never had service like that in an apartment. I could tell that the cleaning lady was clearly an Italian mother. Not only was the place spotless, all the dishes and pots on the drain board were put back in the cupboard. The things I had on the table, like my vitamins, oil, vinegar, salt pepper, Nutella, were all placed neatly in the cupboard as well. Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a messy person and I like organization, so nothing was dirty or messy, but somehow, this lady made it even neater. She even went so far as to fold some cloths I had laying out that I had only worn to dinner last night. She even un-cuffed my jeans that I had left so they wouldn't get wrinkled. It was awesome, but also a little creepy! I don't know what it is, but Italian women know how to clean. I've never seen so many old women sweeping the sidewalks or washing the outside of the buildings. Everything gets a daily scrub down. If they don't have a sidewalk, I've even seen people sweeping the shoulder of the roads! It's great, but it's also maybe a bit crazy. Yet another reason I love Italy!