Today I wanted to avoid the kilometers long tunnels with no lights on the right side of the lake, so I spend some time planning my route in order to stay close to the water, but not feel like I am putting myself in danger.
For breakfast, I ate the left over from last night, cold bolognese pasta and left the camping around 9h15 with a new plan, go the south of the lake but on the left side. There are no real cycling path along the lake, so I have to share the road with cars, there are also tunnels (with no lights) that are quote long, bit they end up being better than expected.
There are no rules to guess the stupidity of people, I got passed dangerously by French, Italians, Germans, old, young, expensive cars, cheap cars, women, men… But there is also no way to guess who is safe, some drivers had almost too much patience, and you feel respected as a biker, which is really nice.
It seems that most people that come here come to windsurf, kitesurf or other nautical activity, saw a small cute shop and decided to stop to get some lunch for later. This morning the weather was perfect, the warmth is not there yet, but the sun is shining, there is wind, but too much, perfect.
While riding, you think about many things, today I really noticed all the crosses and small graves with picture on the side if the road. There were a lot, more than usual at least, old people getting hit at a crossroad, siblings, friends or a couple missing the corner. It reminds you how vulnerable you are, and it makes me be extra careful. I do a small prayer to some God(s) for these people and keep going.
I kept going until I found a beach where I could swim, and eat lunch, I have also to figure out where I am sleeping tonight.
I then stumbled on a collection car meet, mostly Lancia cars from the 1960s-70s. I spent some time looking around, enjoying the rumbling of the motors and then kept going along the water.
After that, I got a pretty bad part of the lake, full of traffic, tourist traps, trash on the side of the road, passed by an attraction park which doesn’t attract the best crowd (for a bikepacker at least). I was considering sleeping in the area bit after seeing how the camping looked, packed to the maximum, overpriced, dirty, noisy, and with un welcoming staff (bouncers in front of camping, felt like my clubbing experience in Paris), I stopped under a tree to reconsider my options.
I spent almost an hour making phone calls and settled for camping (adults only) about 1 hour way (45 min of bike path). What a pleasure to ride without cars passing you every 20 seconds.
Arrived at the camping earlier than expected, so I chilled, charged electronics, a camping with a lot of rules, quiet but nice and simple.
Delivery of pizza free at the camping 4.50 eur for a Margherita, and 7 for a 4 season, quite a bargain (+10% off for some reason). They took a lot of time to arrive, and while waiting, two other bikers from germany arrived (Jan and Tobi), we met during the dinner at one of the communal table under a porch, with an Italian family next to us (also eating pizza).
We talked about a lot of stuff, life, smoked got offered wine from the italian family, shared food, anecdotes, routes, talked about history, nature, studies… As a joke, they tell me to join them the next day to go to Bologna, I laugh it off and tell them I can’t do it, but really I am think about it.
Jan: a travel biking nerd and veteran, architect, broke his bike today and bought a new one in a italian shop to keep the trip going. Had a good insurance policy, he also travels a lot by bike, is 30, doesn’t want to get his driver’s license ever.
Tobi working in sustainability, is also around my age, 24, and finished his master. He is following Jan for his first long term trip, he is also a big weekend biker, they are both students in Stuttgart and met working on a project together.
Tomorrow they are going directly to bologna 150km away, I was planning to do it in two days. I am going to try to join them tomorrow, it is 12h30 at night, they will wake up at 6h30… I guess I have no choice than follow