Day 25 - Lido di Venezia to Argenta

When I planned the trip I thought today was going to be an easy day as it is pan flat, and after the mountains I thought I would be fit and strong, but it was really hard today, partly because my bottom boils raised their ugly heads again (more of that in a separate post) but mainly because it was hot, very hot, too hot.

After a night of little sleep in a baking bedroom which was still 27C when I was up fighting the mosquitoes at 4pm, I decided the best way to start the day was with a refreshing swim in the sea. It was glorious, only one other person in there, but as a result I did not get away until 10.30. It was a lovely start cruising down the Lido 12k to it's most southerly point Alberoni where I caught a roll-on roll-off ferry to the next island Pellestrina. Again another short ride of about 10k to catch the ferry to Chioggia on the mainland. This ferry was typical of the Venice ferries which hold more than 100 people and plenty of bikes. Choigga was a bustling harbour down enjoying market day, after Choiggia I headed inland approximately due South, my aim being to cycle as far as I could to make the following day's ride to Florence (Firenze) as easy as possible.

It was midday by the time I left Chiogga and the temperature was starting to get uncomfortably hot. I mainly followed minor roads, and having to take a minor diversion due to roadworks on one of the bridges over the extensive canal system in this part of Italy I only made it to Loreo for lunch, only 44k cycled, not good.

When I stopped for lunch in an air con restaurant there were 2 things I had noticed that morning. Firstly, a large number of people, especially young women, were cycling electric bikes which is annoying because they cycle as fast as me putting very little effort in, but mainly because they will never be shaped like the lady in white if they only cycle electric bikes! The second thing I noticed was the number of young men now carrying man-bags (basically hand-bags). These bags are far worse than Chris Parker's one, I just don't get, why the bag, it's just wallet, phone, keys, that's it.

Anyhow, after my lunch I walked outside and it was like walking into an oven, horrendous, and I had loads of ks to cycle. The thermometer on my computer seems to be accurate in the shade but in the sun reads too high, when it reads 30C it is probably about 25C, this is the temp that my normal cycle mate Dave starts to melt, on this afternoon it read 39C, Dave (and also Bill & Richard) would all simply have turned into puddles on the road! I spent the most miserable afternoon of the trip so far biking a further 55k. What added to the misery was that as the roads were flat they were also very straight and the cars and lorries just shot past me. I was trying to keep to minor roads (white roads on my Michelin map, these Italian Michelin maps are nowhere near the same quality as the French ones), sometimes these roads were just dirt tracks and other times they were busy roads there was just no way of telling. The one brief highlight of the afternoon was the sun went in for seven minutes (yep, I timed it) it came out as I crossed the massive river Po.

My bottom boils (saddle sores) were becoming a bit of an issue as well, and I stopped in Tresigallo for Coca Cola and ice cream and an hours break. When I emerged it was after 6pm and a little cooler as I limped on another 30 odd ks to Argenta where I stopped for the night being quite concerned about my saddle sores as I had about 140k to ride the following day including crossing the Apennines.

Todays stats
Distance 133.09k
Climb 183m (basically pan flat)
Riding time 5:42:05
Average speed 23.3kph
Total time 9:41