Day 15: Baveno to Pisogne, 300km
 |
| How today started! Shame about the pumping disco music from the beach club next door all night... |
Today was frustrating. Tough trails to start, then some loops that just weren't in the right direction, then lots and lots of road. And more "no motors" signs.
First thing, Norman emailed me over the draft Swiss routes, and even offered to ride with me if I could reach Ponte Tresa by 0900. I knew that wouldn't happen - it was 0800 and I hadn't even packed the tent yet, let alone made my coffee - but I was keen to help him out with his route.
 |
| I'm on a boat! |
But by lunchtime, I hadn't even reached that far - 25km as the crow flew. Looking at the map, I could see great looking trails before crossing Lake Como. But they were big loops, and wouldn't help me make progress. Plus after the lake it looked like a lot of twisty, tarmac roads rather than trails.
The trouble was the route sent me up twisty switchback minor roads and then on to really quite tough trails. Some were moderately technical, others just slower because that's what rocky, hairpin downhills are like. I had the impression that these were great routes if you were a local, or only looking to tour this area, but they didn't quite fit the bill for the Trans Euro Trail.
 |
| I just rested it on that log for the photo. Ahem. Turns out hopping trunks is harder with luggage. |
 |
| This was early on. My least favourite: craggy downhill with tight switchbacks. |
 |
| Ah. Cock. You'll see I've made a right mess of the trail kicking up soil spray with my tyre too. Sorry. |
There is nothing you can do about the law and where it is legal to ride, or geography. So if the trails just don't exist, there's little one can do to help. There is also an inherent contradiction in my trip - I want to ride off-road as much as possible, but I'd also like to reach Odessa (or at least Bucharest!). If I really wanted to get a move on, I could just drive down the motorway.
 |
| Ride up here (on tar) was brilliant. |
But that same contradiction is at the heart of TET itself - it is after-all the Trans-European Trail - and there is an implication of progress as well as off-roading. The impression has been building in my mind that the Italian route doesn't quite have the balance right, and is often too fiddly and slow-going. It makes me wonder if a fundamentally different route might work better, taking in more of the low-lands?
  |
| More no entry signs. How do I get autorizzati? |
Anyway, back to today's ride: so I shortcut to Lecco to ride up Morterone. Finding the trail at the top marked illegal, there was no way I was re-tracing so far. As was the next section too - although I'm now told there is a permit system for this bit, but no info about it ahead of time from the Linesman or on the TET Italy page. And then it was just all roads.
 |
| Views from top of Morterone were fabulous. The fact I met an Opel Corsa along here also eased my worries about getting caught riding illegally too! |
 |
| Finally, seeing Lake Iseo and this view considerably lifted my mood. Wasn't easy finding a campsite, mind. Ended up squeezed in behind the owner's caravan in the second 100% full site I tried. More loud disco music too. |
 |
| NB: Functionality disabled to prevent extracting KML. If you want to follow the route, get the latest data from TransEuroTrail.org |
No comments:
Post a Comment