Day of rest.

July 28, 2011   |   Author: scooter   |   No comments   |   Categories: Adventures

Some days you need all the encouragement you can get.

So, I had a day off, you beauty. After driving all over Europe, adapting to a new work environment, you’d think a day off would be well spent with my feet up.

On the other hand, the lack of riding was gnawing at my soul and expanding my waist line. I hit out for a lap around Lake Maggiore, a 190km loop from Castronno, up into Switzerland to a pretty town called Locarno and then back around to home.

I had ridden the closer parts of this loop and was looking forward to cruising along next to the lake for what was apparently a neat, flat ride. And so it turned out to be.

I felt surprisingly good considering the lack of k’s in the  legs, but as always, I tend to get a little bored on flat rides. I also seem to find all those uncomfortable positions on the saddle when you sit spinning the same cadence for hours on end. Still, it beats working.

I returned to the local cafe in time for lunch and smashed down a big salad and a couple of espressos. With far too much time on my hands in the afternoon and not willing to head back home just yet, I pushed on.

I did drop into home to refill my bottle and grab a couple of bananas. For the next stint, I decided to head to Ponte Tresa, which is a beautiful little town on the lake by the border with Switzerland, just below Lugano.

There are a few climbs to get over there and the power in the legs was definitely starting to fade. What a great spot to have a brew! Unfortunately, I was a little too shelled to remember take a photo. Your loss.

Here are some photos. On a clearer day, the views are spectacular, you can see the big hills in the background.

 

So, at the end of the day, I reckon I had ridden 270km’s. Mostly flat, but I did save the hills to last. There is a decent climb out of Ponte Tresa back towards Varese and it had me struggling. There does happen to be a flat way home along the lake, but that would have missed the point of the exercise. By the time I had made it home, I was fair gone, but feeling very satisfied.

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