03.10.2023 Crossing into dirty Italy

And I love dirty Italy

But what I dont love is what you see on the pictures and that is a lot of fog, almost looks like polution (and maybe it is partially especially when its combined with the fog)

There was non of that in France on the other side.

Nevertheless I love being in Italy (for all the reasons) and I chose this mountain pass because I have never been here before.

The road would then take me first to Torino then Milan, where my plan is to take a train to Gorizia and skip this norther part of Italy. 

But only because I have cycled this before (some parts even more than once) and I am close to home so I just want to get home now. 

Not to say that train journey are easy with a bicycle, in fact its quite the opposite. 

I have already learned that this part from Milan to Gorizia requires you to take 3 trains (there is no direct route when you have full bicyle). 

I wont even mention what mess it to go from one train to another with a heavy loaded bike and often with minutes to spare trying to find your next train in busy train stations.

The only good thing about this is that it all costs 38 eur, so at least its cheap.

Back to Italy.

I immediatelly started to enjoy this dirty Italian arhitecture (as I call it). Even when houses look like ruins, there is some beauty in them. 

I can tell you right away, when houses look like ruins in my country, there is nothing beautiful about that. They just look like ruins.

This belong to my funny signs collection

More fog

Until Milan, I still had to sleep one more night outside and I was struggling to find a host for several days already. 

Started looking for a host in France around town of Chambery and onwards as I was climbing over the mountian pass into Italy.  

However I had not luck and I was running out of electricity on all my powerbanks.

Today I was supposed to be in Torino, which is a big city.

There were plenty of hosts on the map, however response rate was almost not existent.

So I ended up in the middle of the city in the evening.

Its not so much a problem for wild camping (although it is sometimes) because after years of experience I can pretty much camp anywhere. I have made my peace.

I saw this was going to happen and there is not much you can do about it.

Looking at the map it didnt show any suitable area because everything is heavily populated. 

Personaly I hate sometimes when this happens because although wild camping is possible almost anywhere (if you want it), you may loose a good night sleep if you end up in the city centre trying to camp.

So that was exactly was happened :D

I ended up in some public park (in a very busy town center) and after dinner and all that even managed to find a place to put a tent.  

I would even have a good night sleep if there was not for some concert happenning not very far off and this was quite loud and lasted well into the night.

Next morning the plan was to go straight to Milan which was still far off (around 160km) and in normal circustances this would be managable, but recently I had some saddle sores which prevented me pedaling too much in a day (I couldnt do much more than 100 realistically).

Luckily in all this I managed to find a host in the country side in small town of Lomello (which was about 50km outside of Milano).

This was my first Italian host and her name was Ausilia and she was a very keen cyclist with many past race experiences (like Brevet and similar).

However she was very busy that day so we only met briefly when I arrived, later she had to attend a town meeting.

Still I had some conversation with her and her friend on their farm property.

I wish it was different because it would be very interesting to listen stories about her racing background.

However I was happy because I managed to do all my necessities (laundry, charging devices..) so I could continue the last stretch of my journey.

Forgot to mention that exiting Torino today was one of the worst cycling experinces in traffic I had ever had probably.

It was partly my fault because I switched from "bike touring" to "road ride" in Komoot that morning (because I wanted to get to my host today as fast as possible) so I am sure Komoot took some blaim (basically "road ride" takes faster, straight and often more busier roads).

I am used to Italian drivers being quite zipping around but I find them still careful of cyclists (probably becuase cycling is a national sport in Italy) and I remember passing through Milan (which is a huge city) several times in the last few years and although trafic was very alive, I still felt safe being inbetween the cars in strict city centre.

However exiting Torino today seemed like all this was amplified by 10. 

Roads were in terrible condition (thats the time when I wish I have 50mm tires instead of skinnies I like to use), bumps and potholes everywhere and it seemed like there was no cycle path anywhere where the Komoot took me so pretty much all the time I was staying with the cars on the road.

I still had a smile on my face all the time but (oh boy) if felt like I was going to die that morning many times, or get siriuously hurt :)

It all reminded me of those places like heavily populated streets of India with traffic scenes where everything is completely out of control.

River crossing somewhere on the outskirts of Milan

 

29.09.2023 Crossing the alps from France to Italy

French country side has proved to be very interesting. I was following Eurovelo 3 (along the river of Seine), then little bit of Eurovelo 6 (along the river of Loire).

All this was never boring to me and offered very quiet athmosfere to cycle, free of other vehicles. Also wild camping was very easy on most of these parts since it was following only cycle paths. That assumes of course you are comfortable with wild comping in plain sight (as I call it). Its no so much hiding when you camp but more respectful open your tent after dark and wake up early(er). For me, this usually means 23-07.

Since my route took me towards Torino, at one point I stopped following Eurovelo and Komoot guided me towards the alps on the way to Italy.

One day I found myself on the landscapes which look very similar to what I have experiences in Italy on my previous trips.

The path was following the river of Rhone and there were lot of hills with grapes.

Camping in the woods next to the town of Chalamont.

The area suddenly become all rocky making me think how many climbing areas must be around here.

I actually took a swim (more of a wash) in this river and this suited me a lot, because I havent showered since leaving Paris (which wasnt that long ago, but still took a toll one me). 

The river was kind of green looking and I think rather clean but the coast of the river was this mud which you had to scramble to get in and out of the river.

So I was using flip flops to try to get out of the river and avoid too much mud on my feet and in the socks.

But the river was well worth it.

French arhitecture

Groslée Suspension Bridge. Beautiful bridge across the Rhône river, between Groslée and Brangues.

Very quiet area next to river Rhone with cycling paths only. it would be a dream to sleep here somewhere..

Passing through the canyon and the cliffs of Gorges de la Balme. This part was very beautiful but also very busy with vehicles. 

The 1500 meter long cycling tunnel Tunnel du Chat (going through Mont du Chat) and connects Savoyard Avant-Pays to the west and the Cluse de Chambéry to the east.

I ended there one night and I was struggling a bit to find a place to sleep that night. 

After leaving the small town of Yenne (located on the east side of the Rhone, by the Gorges de la Balme) I continued to cycle upwards, I decided to go on the other side through the tunnel hoping on the other side would be better places for camping. 

But other side of the tunnel actually proved to be worse with just a parking lot where cars could access and some hiking trails not suitable for camping and full of people leaving shit papers (which I fricking hate and who does not?).

Then I decided to cycle back through the tunnel because it was little bit more suitable on the other side but only just. 

All this took me way into the night.

I end up sleeping next to this building alongside the tunnel which I guess is used for tunnel maitainance and inner workings.

Next morning the view over Lac du Bourget. This is where the tunnel exits on the other side. Looks very nice but its also very busy with traffic.

Next day after cycling though town of Chambéry and following the valley towards Mont-Cenis Pass over the alps I had some nasty roads on which you had to cycle with a lot of traffic and a lot of these constructions sites escavating the surrounding rock and trucks driving around.

Luckily at the end of the day I managed to find perfect camping spot next to one of these water facilities with a view over the city of La Chambre.

Slept nicely that night with loud sound of water running. 

Inevitable sleeping gear drying in the middle of the day in the sun.

Victor Emmanuel fort, an impressive fort which raises next to the road.

In fact, there were other similar buildings like these in this valley. If I was not loaded with all this gear, I would definitely went on exploring the road which leads to this fortress.

The town of Val Cennis, an alpine ski resort. After this the climbing begins. But this town is already at around 1300m of elevation so there is not a lot of climbing to the top of this pass Mont Cenis.

The trip contined next day through the valley towards the Mont-Cenis Pass.

I decided to end the day early and stayed next to the river, which was easily accessible next to the road. 

This was just before the town of Val Cennis after which the climbing over the pass starts.

Of course inevitable washing with soap in the super cold river in the evening and in the morning was bound to happen.

Cosy dinner with my favorite food, frozen vegetables which I quickly prepare in boiling water.

The next day was the day I went over the pass - and onto Italy.

The town of Val Cennis, an alpine ski resort. After this the climbing begins. But this town is already at around 1300m of elevation so there is not a lot of climbing to the top of this pass Mont Cenis.

Except from this one peak, I did not see any other snow covered peaks when going over this mountain pass. This a could be view towards Dent Parrachée, but I am just wild quessing based on orientation.

This pass was very beautiful, even more because being beginning of October, there was almost no traffic at all at the top. 

The lake view from the top of the road reminded me a little bit of Norway. There were some camper vans parked below next to the lake. 

The lake looked clear at least on the shallow parts next to the coast. There were also gravel roads leading around the lake and into the surrounding mountains.

I immediatelly got the wish to sleep in this surroundings. Of course this would not be possible without the warm 3 season sleeping bag which I do not have with me on this trip. This lake sits at 2000m of elevation so the nights are very cold.

Descend on the other side into Italy was nearly not as nice as French side and the views it offered!

Misty Italy, almost looks like pollution.