Thursday, May 13, 2010

Day 1: Malpensa Aiport to Bellagio (50 miles)

The rain today has me enjoying life at a café. Here’s the update after day numero uno:

After landing in Milan and receiving a rain filled greeting at the airport, I took a free shuttle to a Best Western close by where I built my bike in their parking garage and dropped off my bike’s case in their luggage storage. I was amazed that the build went so smoothly, but the pump I have with me is for for mountain bikes tire pressure….ooops. I didn’t think of that when I deflated the tires for packing:





With 50 lbs of pressure in the tubes, I set off on a long ride. Since I’ve made absolutely no reservations or plans for my whereabouts on a day to day basis, I decided to push a 75+ kilometers ride from Malpensa Airport to Bellagio, an idyllic town on lake Como.

I was very lucky to follow these roads just after the rain had passed. The waterfalls around the lake were beautiful!





Several good things happened on this fist ride. I didn’t get a flat and I ended up finding a bike shop with a pump about 40 kilometers into the ride. My GPS worked perfectly while taking me through tight winding streets and avoiding major highways. The rain’s departure opened the sky up to share a beautifully sunny day. The fact that I hadn’t slept for about 24hours affected me little as I was so psyched that everything was working well and on my way!!

As usual though, a few funny things happened to me as well. The battery died on my GPS when I was about 15 miles from my destination (My fault. I didn’t charge it before I left). No problem, the town was easy to find with a few questions answered by the non-English speaking Italians. They were more than amused by my hand gestures and repeating of the same English words, but they always helped me out somehow.

Towards the end of the ride, I realized that my sleep deprivation and lack of food was catching up to me when I having a very hard time pedaling down a large hill near Bellagio. So the fist thing that I did when I rolled into town was to find a cheapish place to stay and eat some fresh caught fish out of the lake.

Lake Como truly is beautiful. George Clunny filmed the home that his owns here for Ocean’s 11 (or was it 12?). The romantic Star Wars scenes were filmed on this lake as well. For a single man from the US, it’s a great place to relax, get lost in the maze of narrow alleyways as well as my own thoughts as I enjoy the views.

Day two is upon me. I feel refreshed after an amazing night sleep. I'll soon be on my way to ride another 50 miles to have lunch with Francesca.

3 comments:

  1. Brian:
    I'm so excited that you are blogging on your trip! I look forward to seeing picture and reading of your wild journies! Stay safe and warm with a full belly

    Rachel

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  2. Brian, so happy to hear from you. Your trip already sounds amazing. Thanks for the info and the pics. You know Momma Cita needs to hear from you. Get plenty of rest and food. Don't over do it son. You are so amazing. You are living life to the fullest. Lot's of Love & Prayers. Love you so much. Momma

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  3. Brian...this is an absolute treat to read and view. I concur with all that your Momma said. Keep up the fun!!!

    Can't wait to meet up next week.

    (big huge hugs)

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