Thursday, 19 March 2020

coronavirus giorno 28

28 giorni dall'inizio dell'epidemia, 19 giorno di lavoro da casa.
sarebbe il blog dei viaggi e della bici, ma forse è il caso di considerare questa situazione come un viaggio, che non si sa quanto durerà ne' dove è diretto.
non pretendo di raccontare a nessuno la situazione, ci siamo dentro tutti allo stesso modo e tutti sappiamo cosa sta succedendo. ma magari riesco a svagarmi un po', e a tenere una memoria per me stesso di questa situazione assurda.
non intendo fare la cronaca, per quello ci sono i giornali e per decenni ci saranno analisi e discussioni di quello che sarà successo. ho un orizzonte molto limitato, dato dalle quattro mura, quattro finestre, due balconi e un fazzoletto di prato.
il prato per ora non cresce. l'abbiamo seminato ormai quasi due settimane fa, ormai dovrebbero cominciare a vedersi i primi sottilissimi fili d'erba, ma ancora non si vede nulla. intanto il pesco cheerleader è fiorito, e anche i narcisi nell'aiuola.
il vicino ha preso l'iniziativa di potarmi la siepe (che non ne aveva ancora bisogno), e l'ha fatta tutta sghemba. ma non riesce a star fermo, va bene così. ricrescerà.
intanto scendere a bagnare il giardino una volta al giorno è il momento clou della giornata, ci si accontenta di questi piccoli gesti.
ieri mi è caduto il cellulare e si è rotto. schermo nero, non funziona nemmeno il touch (a parte che non saprei dove touchare). ne ho subito ordinato un altro. un po' di soldi buttati via, ma per un buon motivo; è impossibile pensare di restare chiusi in casa senza cellulare.
stamattina ho fatto un altro allenamento sui rulli, il secondo. sto cominciando a essere più a mio agio, ho anche provato a pedalare in piedi per qualche secondo ma è difficile e molto più faticoso, non ne vale la pena se non per dare qualche secondo di sollievo al soprassella.
senza il cellulare ho dovuto collegare i rulli al computer, che però non vede la fascia del cardio, allora ho usato anche il cardio dell'orologio. ci ho messo un po' poi a sincronizzare i file dei due sistemi, ma alla fine ce l'ho fatta. un'ora e cinque minuti di lavoro, non c'è male. ora che padroneggio lo strumento mi dedicherò a studiare un piano di allenamento, giusto per dare un'utilità alla cosa.

Saturday, 6 July 2019

stage 7, 8, 9 Orléans - Le Mans - Le Mont St Michel et - Renneas

and so I'm on the train.  at almost 300 km per hour my watch vibrates every minute to warn me that I have done 5 kilometers.  I have no way of telling him that I am now traveling by train, he still thinks he is on a bike.
 but for now I have cycled enough.
 the line between France and Italy is closed for a landslide, SNCF canceled my train and did not give me an alternative way to return home.  here they say only desolé.

 anyway I was in Orleans, I think.
 a year ago, I think.
 a year ago I got back to riding on the Loire, finally with the wind behind it, a nice fresh Northeast wind that pushed me along the river and in the middle of castles and villages.

 France from the train is not very different from that from the bike, only faster and crowded with people who do not smile at me as much.

















 I leave the river almost without realizing it, I expected a climb but it is so soft that it is not there.  there are wheat fields instead, it is mature and there is a great deal of harvesters.  the wind pushes me as far as Vendôme, I go through the historic center which is as beautiful, green and elegant as the Paris square.

 after Vendôme I begin to feel tired, especially at the saddle.  the roads of France are not smooth, they are an endless series of invisible bumps, and in the long run even the most comfortable bike in the world becomes unbearable.

 at a curve, through an opening in a hedge I hear an accordion, I see a lake and a meadow.  within, there is a big tent full of old people having lunch, with a young lady who plays the accordion and one who makes them sing.  they beckon me to come in, they smile at me, but I don't know the songs and I take a coke.  I applaud, and I go and lie down by the lake.  I sleep maybe twenty minutes, enough to feel good, but I go away reluctantly.  I think that was the most comfortable spot of the trip.
as arrived at Le Mans I go immediately with Fred to the station, to ask how to get back home.  désolé.

 Fred and Steph are very nice, they prepare me a healthy and proteic dinner, a couple of beers, and then immediately to bed before the last stage.
 I feared that it would be the hardest, instead pedaling in three (with Fred it is Michel, ça va sans dire) the day passes quickly, traveling without bags the bike is light again.  we chat while pedaling, we buckle uphill, we stop by a lake to have a picnic with Steph and Liliane, the sandwich seems to me the best ever, I eat half of it right away and keep the other half for later.  spending ten hours a day on a bike you get used to doing everything, pedaling.  eating is normal, even if stopping to eat is also a way to rest.  in the longer and less steep descents I came to rest my elbow on one knee, and my chin on my wrist.  and rest like that.

 the wind is not strong, but it pushes us a little to Fougères, which compared to twenty years ago has become a tourist town, looks like a fortified city in Val d'Orcia.

 from then on the air changes color.

 there are still twenty kilometers to go, but you can already smell the sea.  the wind turns and turns against, when in the distance I begin to glimpse the flèche among the trees, I go atmorethan 30 kmh against the wind, I leave the others behind.  arriving pushes me, I push to arrive, I have infinite energy.  pedaling on the catwalk is forbidden, or maybe not, but let's go anyway.
 I laugh as I ride to the end of the road, I cry when I get there.  for no reason.  low tide smells of algae.  two Turinese people arrive by bike, exhausted.  they rented the bikes in the village, five kilometers away.  they must never have come a long way by bike.  me neither.

 we say goodbye to Michel, Steph and Liliane, we are both exhausted, we deserve two beers, a galette and a pancake each.  I add a calvados.

 today we made the last 60 kilometers on small roads in the middle of the woods, it is Saturday and there was no traffic, we cycled side by side and chatted, we had time, it was not hot, we were fine.

 in Rennes, we took just the time for a shower, a sightseeing tour of the city, lunch.  Bicio is now in a bag, on the train.  the fields around the train are the same as those around the bike, but the grain is no longer visible.


 day 7
 pedaled 169km
 height difference 822
 Drank 4.5 liters
 pissed 4 times


 day 8
 ride 185km
 height difference 872
 drank 4 liters
 pissed 4 times


 day 9
 ride 61km
 height difference 245m
 drank 2.5 liters
 pissed twice


 1233 total km
 total height difference 7431
 collected 1634 euros
 drank 37.5 liters
 pissed 23 times.

this travel is supporting Emergency.it. to donate, visit this page. donating 25€ or more you can receive a daily email with a link to follow my position while I ride. email me at this address to subscribe.
also check my instagram page for daily pics

Thursday, 4 July 2019

stage 6 - Nevers-Orleans

finally the Loire that I expected, with beautiful views and villages, varied landscape, castles.  obviously I have not visited anyone, but this is the stage that I would recommend to those who want to try to make an easy bike trip.  180 km in a week are within the reach even of those who have never cycled for long.
 as soon as I leave I see dark to my left, a storm is preparing, I keep an eye on it to understand which way it goes, and which way I go.  it seems we shouldn't cross it, but I keep looking at it with suspicion.  mentally I think about what to do if it rains, how to fix the luggage, what to wear.  in the end, traveling by bicycle is a bit like sailing: if you know you have what you need, and you know you are doing all you have to, don't worry.
 the storm sucks the air, and I have front wind, as always.
 I stop at La Charité to eat something, as soon as I leave I see that the storm is loose, but it starts to rain.  I change the cape (I prefer the sleeveless jacket that lets my arms and back sweat), I put the shoes on top, I change the sunglasses with the white ones, and I go.
 I wanted to visit Sancerre, but with the rain, even a kilometer long stretch becomes annoying.  after the bonneville nuclear power plant it stops raining but the track becomes a dirt road.  I do it anyway, it's a dirt road. Very compact and fine, it doesn't seem risky and it doesn't rain anymore, there's no mud.  but I go too slow and go back to the highway.  after Gien is again gravel until Saint-Gondon (a bijoux), then I give up again and I go back to the provincial road up to Sully.
 in this area there are many more travelers by bike, we greet each other when we meet, or we get over it.  there is a couple (red shirt he, black leggins her) that overtake and we say goodbye, then overtake again and we say goodbye, then overtake them again ... I know there were shortcuts!
 in Sully I stop to take off my cape, change my glasses and put on my sunscreen because a great sun came out.  I decide to cut for the shortest way, I will save maybe five kilometers, but above all I finally have the wind behind me!  it seems like a miracle, I no longer hoped for it.

 the time has come to do two maths, by now the kilometers I've done have exceeded the donations.  the help I received so far has been so much, every donation is an exceptional incitement, but I still have to count on the help of my friends to reach the goal of 2500 euros ... talk to your friends, let them turn around  is a fool who is pedaling to Normandy to raise funds. maybe some of the are willing to cycle with me.
 day 6
 ridden 177km (818 total)
 height difference 307 (5492 total)
 1489 total harvests (745 km donated)
 drunk 3.5 liters
 pissed four times.









this travel is supporting Emergency.it. to donate, visit this page. donating 25€ or more you can receive a daily email with a link to follow my position while I ride. email me at this address to subscribe.
also check my instagram page for daily pics

Tuesday, 2 July 2019

stage 5 - Roanne - Nevers

I wanted flat, and I had flat.  one hundred and sixty kilometers, and the only climbs were the cycle path overpasses.
 the Loire valley is crossed by a network of cycle paths, I take one immediately, and it is perfect, well maintained, with pitches with benches every few kilometers.  unfortunately the storm last night filled it with branches, and I can't ride as relaxed as I would like.  on the other hand the trees shade and shelter from the wind, so I'm fine.
 one of the problems is that the path does not cross villages, so to find something to eat I have to leave it, lengthening the path and wasting time.  following a sign indicating a possible grocery store within a ghost town: town hall, church, school, two houses.  no shop.  I go back, where I was a minute before there is a van selling bread: it wasn't there before.  I take pizza and croissants, as soon as I turn around it closes and starts again.  is the traveling boulanger.
 after bourbon-lancy the path is gone, I have to do the provincial roads.  not bad, except that there are no more trees to protect me from the wind and the sun, and the road is a single endless, alienating straight.
 when I resume the path after Decize is no longer as beautiful as before, the asphalt is uneven, tufts of grass grow in the center, impossible to pedal relaxed, I begin to feel the saddle and fatigue.
 five kilometers from the finish I feel the bike strange, I stop and check, I have a hole.  slowly deflating, enough to get to the hotel.  when I arrive I forget that I have attached the computer to the battery charger, I take it and I break the cable.  in short my nap of arrival (the great pleasure and duty of the cyclist) jumps, between wheel to be repaired and cable to be found.  all solved, just a waste of time.
 at the restaurant I order a caesar salad as a starter and an entrecote.  the waiter asks me wow!  are you hungry?
 I avoid telling him how I burn calories.

 day 5
 pedaled 169km (641 total)
 height difference 218 (total 5185)
 1458 total raised
 Drank 4.5 liters
 pissed three times.






(729 km donated)

this travel is supporting Emergency.it. to donate, visit this page. donating 25€ or more you can receive a daily email with a link to follow my position while I ride. email me at this address to subscribe.
also check my instagram page for daily pics

Monday, 1 July 2019

stage 4 - bourgoin-jallieu - roanne

on the third day, as per tradition, the body rises and makes peace with the mind. yesterday he was reluctant, he didn't understand why his mind was still asking for that effort, for the second consecutive time. today the body is tamed, he has understood that this is so, that every day the mind will ask him to pedal all day, and in return he will give him food, drink and rest, at will. in exchange the mind asks him for work, rhythm and speed, those three things which, combined, empty and relax the mind.
so I begin to take two breakfasts, to stop and eat every time I think about food, to rest every time I feel exhausted, to drink continuously. so after some up and down in narrow streets in the middle of the wheat fields we arrive in Lyon (me, my mind, my body and my bicycle). Lyon's cycle paths are perfect, even better than those in Paris. we should tell Beppe (the mayor of Milan, for not Italians) to send someone here, to study how they are made and to copy them.
after Lyon we go up and down several times, we climb among cherry trees full of fruit and we go down towards meadows crossed by flowered bridges.
the last climb worries me, it looks very high on the computer, in reality it is not steep but it is long and sunny, and absolutely constant. did the ingegneur decide that the slope had to be 4.5% from beginning to end? here, ten kilometers to 4.5, all the way. I know, it's not so much, but with more than three hundred kilometers in the legs already, and with 600 others in front, and with luggage, they become challenging. but body and mind have made peace, I keep the constant pace, regular beats, my body makes them rise as soon as it is needed, makes them go down when it is no longer needed, mind promises not to pedal downhill any more, and the descent will be the reward, after the last real climb of the trip.
to Roanne I arrive just in time to take the usual nap, and get out exactly when the storm breaks out. we sleep tonight. from tomorrow there is the Loire.

day 4
rode 135km (472 total)
height difference 1527 (4967 total)
total collected 1407 (703 km donated)
drunk 5.5 liters
pissed three times.

this travel is supporting Emergency.it. to donate, visit this page. donating 25€ or more you can receive a daily email with a link to follow my position while I ride. email me at this address to subscribe.
also check my instagram page for daily pics




Sunday, 30 June 2019

stage 3 - Ste Marie de Cuines - Bourgoin-Jallieu

today I will not make a good endorsment for Garmin.  yesterday the navigator (what I keep attached to the bike, which gives me the route, the temperature and many other little things more or less useful) has stalled.  blocked at 59 km to arrival, 38 degrees, etc.  I couldn't even turn it off, I had to wait for the battery to discharge completely, to get it started again.  luckily I also have the routes on the phone, but I have to stop to watch them.
 today I was unable to start the live tracking.  someone asked me if I had taken a day off, instead I spent the first hour and a half of stage trying to start it, then I had to give up.  I'm very sorry for those who expected it, in the end I think it's a Garmin server problem, because my GPS connected correctly to the phone, and everything worked, except live tracking.  I hope that tomorrow will be fixed by itself.
 for the rest, a beautiful descent to Chambéry, the Savoy mountains are beautiful, practically enormous vertical woods, surmounted by impressive granite stacks.  and below, wheat fields.
 after Chambéry I found the cycle path that led to Lake Bourget, where I dropped my bike on the shore and took a bath, fully dressed.  it was one of the two best moments of the day.  the other was when I was ready to climb the col du chat, because the tunnel that runs through it is forbidden to bikes, and instead I discovered that next to the car tunnel there is another smaller one, for the  bikes.  500 meters in altitude and I don't know how many kilometers saved.  and in the tunnel it was pretty cool ...
 when I got to the other side, the navigator was finally reset, and I discovered that there were 41 degrees.  the temperature has never dropped.  never.
 the path of the Rhone (ViaRhôna) is beautiful, sometimes shady, but today there was no way to enjoy it.  the Rhone valley was an oven.
 at the end of the stage I felt fresh, I looked at the GPS and said 38 degrees.  cool indeed.
 now it's cloudy, I hope the weather is finally changing.
 day 3
 ridden 160km (337 total)
 height difference 857 (total 3440)
 total collected 1330 (675 km donated)
 drunk 6.5 liters
 pissed twice.









this travel is supporting Emergency.it. to donate, visit this page. donating 25€ or more you can receive a daily email with a link to follow my position while I ride. email me at this address to subscribe.
also check my instagram page for daily pics