ch3 – blog

8 final kilometers of the 4325 in Total.

Very strange morning, waking up knowing it is the last day of this journey and finding out it’s only 6am, as half of the guys in the room had to spend an hour packing their stuff. No breakfast in the hostel, so I left grumpy. But instead of looking for food as usual, I went straight to the port to get my ticket, the ticket that will define the end of this journey.

The check in was at 1pm, so I had plenty of time for breakfast. Since Ancona doesn’t really have much to see, apart from ferries that take Greeks to their home, I went to a cafe to spend my last two hours in Italy looking at the rain.

I boarded, we departed and spend the rest of the day thinking about my last two months and this great journey.

119km of 4317km so far…

I knew I had a long way to cycle so I woke up earlier than normal. I had a rich breakfast at the hostel and departed for my last ride of this trip. 3 kilometers down the road, I realized I had forgotten to return the key and take my deposit back, so there goes my early start. Not long after, it started raining, I put my raincoats and continued. And then as I was going up and down the cycle lane on the pavement, I bumped onto a big concrete pot and made a whole on my left pannier. It’s not a big one or a big deal, but just a bit annoying this happened just on the last day.

A big camera, for big photos

This is the guy who makes the beach

I was following the coastal road and always trying to avoid the bigger road that was running in parallel. Even if I had checked a couple of times at google maps where to turn and join the big road, due to the useless 1/400.000 map I am using the last few days that lists half of the towns I am going through, I missed my turn and without knowing, I started climbing a mountain. I wasn’t expecting this at all and with the rain on top, I started getting a bit annoyed. After about 10 kilometers on the slopes, I saw a sign to the next city but through the big road, which is of course flatter, so I just turned right and went down the steepest downhill I’ve ever been on this trip.

The panoramic view of Cattolica

Hills, up and downs

Then the rain stoped and I was kind of expecting the strong head wind to start as the forecast was predicting the day before. Luckily the whole day was almost windless, so made the ride a little more pleasant that I had expected. Just after noon, I had my lucnh break and a short wonder around at Fano and then I continued for the last 50 kilometers.

A globe

The castle at Fano

And one of the streets

The factories by Ancona

I got to Ancona at around 6pm and went straight to the hostel to check it. I then cycled to the post to buy tickets, but unfortunately they were closed. So tomorrow morning I am getting there early to buy the ticket and finish this trip. At night, I looked for a restaurant and I finally had a rizoto, which I didn’t manage to have during these four weeks in Italy.

The monkey by the finish line

81km of 4198km so far…

I was very happy to found out the hostel’s breakfast was a ‘help your self buffet’ and rather rich, which means I ate loads.

From Ravenna to Ancona is about 160 kilometers, so I’d have to cover the distance in two days. The only hostel I could find though is in Rimini, 60km away and not exactly in the middle. So I knew I had plenty of time to go there on an easy pace. Saying this, I didn’t have much choice, as half way through the day, the head wind became stronger making me go slow anyway.

Dead carousel

For the first hour, I was riding on the main road which goes parallel with the coast. That was very busy though and I really needed to abandone it. The coast at this part of Italy is full of resort cities, so I just looked for the smaller roads which are closer to the beach. As in most of the cases, resort towns are deserted during the winter months, so it was a little strange cycling within them. Most of the beaches were private, which I find wrong and it took me a long time until I found a small passage to access the sea and have my lunch.

By the empty beach

I bet this was packed two months ago

Nice little boat at Cervia

Knocking down a house is fun, but someone will have to sweep

I got to Rimini at around 4pm, located the hostel, left my bags and went back to the city and have a look. Rimini has many Roman relics, most of them under the city. So in many areas there are glass windows on the ground, from where you can see the excavated remaining of the old city. It also have a nice castle, where an exhibition was taking place, but didn’t go in as it has an entrance fee and it was too late.

A church with a strange wall

The second biggest square at Rimini

and the castle

I went back to the hostel to cook and have an early night in, as tomorrow I will have to ride the last 100 kilometers of this journey.

103km of 4117km so far…

I ate the very rich hostel breakfast of one piece of bread and a marmalade and left Bologna. Of course on the way I stopped at a bakery to buy something a little more filling. It’s the first time I am having it, but this filo pastry, with cheese, ham and spinach was superb.

Today the weather was once again very cold, but while cycling and wearing the right clothes I was feeling ok. The ride was a little bit uninteresting in terms of scenery.The road was flat all the way, full of farm land and some mountains on my far right. Unfortunatelly I had a head wind making things a lot harder and on top of that my knee started hurting again. I was in a good mood though, as I know I am approaching my final destination very soon.

My first stop was in Lugo, where there is a nice old castle. The rest of the city looked a little bit deserted, but maybe that was because of the time. In Italy most of the shops and restaurants are shut between 1pm to 4 pm, I guess for their afternoon siesta which I think is a good thing.

From there it didn’t take long enough to cycle to Ravenna, where I spend the night. Unfortunately it’s already mid Octomber, which means it now gets dark by 6:30pm. So by the time I found the hostel, checked in and went back to the city center, it was already dark, so too late for many photos. For what it wasn’t late though, was to go to a restaurant and have a nice pasta Bolognesse. I know I am having it with one day delay, but it was still very good and it will probable make me pedal faster tomorrow.

Ravenna by night