It’s nearly six and like every other morning I can’t sleep, even though I slept very well last night, with the blanket on me, because, even if it doesn’t seem like it, we’re in the hills. I open the window and nothing can be seen, I think I still have to put in contact lenses, but it’s true, the fog envelops the whole farm and nothing can be seen. I try to touch the wet cloths and they are as wet as yesterday after the rain. Check carefully that all garments. The ones I had taken out of the bags and tried blow drying, they are still damp. The water, even if in very small quantities, had penetrated everywhere. By now I’m used to these things and those to come. The Il Paglia farmhouse is very nice, even if I joked that my little house could have been the pig’s hut or the “punaro” for the hens. It’s very, very good here.
Photo 2: The snail that wanted to come to Rome with me
Nearby three ponies, many cats and after the rain an immensity of snails, that only walking on the grass could hear the inevitable crack of the shells. I leave at 8.30 and as usual I trust the words of the locals: if you want to avoid the traffic to go up to the town of Acquapendente there is the Via Francigena, which in this way will avoid some traffic. Here, as usual, I start the day pushing the bike, slopes that are impossible for me, just to stretch my legs and arms. I arrive in Acquapendente, which I visited in the evening for dinner and continue on a false level that is filled with cyclists and marathon runners who will come to Civita Bagnoregio for a marathon that has filled up all hotel availability here too. It must be said that here in the area there is a ferment, both in terms of running and in terms of cycling, which every Sunday attracts thousands and thousands of enthusiasts to carry out these feats or even a simple walk, but which create tourism, we should learn . What hangs from the helmet? Looking up, I see something like a piece of cloth, probably a hat dangling. Maybe my hat broke? But if I don’t even have a hat, I didn’t even wear one this morning! I stop, I touch, it’s something slimy… but it’s a snail, it wanted to go on a trip with me, but nothing, I’ll leave you here on a nice stone, go and walk. I had left the helmet attached to the bike outdoors and she definitely slipped through the holes somehow and I didn’t notice her when I put the helmet on.
Photo 3: Bolsena lake Photo 4: Bolsena
I know that I have two demanding climbs to do, the first for Acquapendente and I have overcome it. I arrive in San Lorenzo and suddenly below me you can see the majesty of Lake Bolsena. See is a bit of an understatement, he sees it in the distance and with a lot of haze. Honestly, from the maps I considered Lake Bolsena a little smaller, but by bike it is long and tough. Being a volcanic lake, you enter clearly downhill, but exit uphill. I stop in Bolsena, which I had already visited with Cri, I take some shots and then off, unfortunately today I have little time available.
Photo 5: Bolsena. San Rocco fountain Photo 6: Bolsena
But there is also the climb that reaches Montefiascone, even if it must be said that there were many in between. You don’t even feel the descents and you feel like saying, one more descent!!! Because you know well that then you have the climb to compensate for the difference in height. Here we are on 600 meters and now down towards Viterbo. I start to descend, but I feel that both brakes are starting to not be as I would like. I adjust the front brake a little and feel it brake now, but on the second attempt, a very annoying pop because I immediately understand the meaning, brake gone completely.
Photo 7: Montefiascone
It’s Sunday, where the hell am I going? I was thinking of arriving at the Decathlon in Viterbo to buy a new cape, like the one that completely collapsed and frayed under yesterday’s rain, losing crumbs from inside and completely covering my shirts in white scales. But how to get there? Come on! I go down slowly and in the most critical points I walk. I arrive after an hour and a half of descent to the Decathlon. I find angels there, including one who also worked in Torri di Quartesolo and declares himself to be half from Vicenza, clearly not from the Veneto region. In the blink of an eye they fix my bicycle for a negligible expense, so much so that when I get the bill I say: increase, increase the price, no problem, you’ve solved a big problem for me. In fact, given the weather forecast, it is my intention to get as far as possible on the road, in order not to have to face tomorrow’s day with rain, yesterday’s experience is already enough for me. I also buy some energy bars, I have no intention of stopping to eat, I just have to go through Viterbo, take some pictures, especially at the papal palace and then get off in Rome.
Photo 8: Viterbo. Photo 9: The walls of Viterbo
I arrive in Viterbo with the brakes working wonders, and I try desperately to find this blessed palace, but after three quarters of an hour of trying and advice from the locals, it will be agitation, it will be haste, it will be all I want, I can’t get there , I see it at the bottom, but I don’t get there. At 2:00 I abandon all hope and leave for Rome. And as the one in Tuscany told me: it’s all flat, here too the advice of the locals is that, for Rome, some slight uphill then all downhill. Yes there are descents, but false plans are really false, but false so much! The voices inside the brain have been playing all day, come on I have to do it, no I can’t, but tomorrow it’s raining, but I’ve never done 150km, but I have to. In short, the only concern of the day was getting to Rome, given that the forecasts are certain, tomorrow there will be water all day. After eating the three energy bars on the fly, my energy ran out so I decide to stop in Capranica and treat myself to a great eat-and-drink ice cream with fruit and two cream puffs. I don’t know if it was hunger or something, but it was all delicious and only €6.60, try it in town!
Photo 10: Sutri
Now yes, the descent is nice and continuous and even where it’s flat it’s slightly downhill so you proceed at a good speed, but it doesn’t last long. It is so beautiful that I pass Sutri in one bite, but at a traffic light I understand that it is a splendour. I have to go back here, too good. Near Bracciano, which you can’t see, the Cassia becomes four lanes and the two navigators I have keep telling me, turn right, turn right. I know it’s certainly a scam if I do it, but I also do it because the Cassia is full of traffic for the Sunday return of the Romans to Rome. And here I am again climbing hills and hills and I see that the remaining kilometers have stretched quite a lot and instead of being downhill they are always uphill. At one point I decide to throw myself down towards the Via Flaminia knowing that traffic is blocked. I arrive on the Flaminia and here too the traffic is the same as the Cassia, there are about 20 km left, I look for a hotel. After looking at the prices, I discard what I had planned for the Colosseum, where Cri and I spent some wonderful days, the cost has become exorbitant. But I find an equally beautiful hotel, the Farnese residence just behind the Farnesina. The traffic is blocked, but with my bicycle, always very careful, I overcome the queues to the envy of the Romans lined up by car. The navigator tells me to take the old Flaminia, there are still 10 km to get to via del Mascherone, but by now they are the last ones and the traffic in Rome is less intense than I thought.
Photo 11: Roma. Campo de’ Fiori
I juggle the various bridges and underpasses and suddenly I arrive at the last km which takes me through the center and I land from this fantastic flight of mine in Campo de Fiori where, first of all, I greet Bruno and then I turn left and find the 'inn. The joy is immense, I perform for friends in a non-bomb bomb I arrived in Rome remembering a song by Antonello Venditti. Yes, just because I wanted to, just because I’ve struggled with fears, I’ve struggled with bad thoughts, thoughts of abandonment, thoughts of not making it and I’ve held on all the way. I struggled with my limited physique. I’m definitely not the athletic type, never have been, just slim, but my strengths are nowhere near as many of my friends, young and old. But the head, but the head that is important, but the soul, but the soul that is important, but the heart, but the heart that is important. I carry the wounds of this battle, arms and legs completely crawled, furrowed with thorns and brambles. Right elbow, right side aching from falling into the room caused by hooking the two boots, and for that I’ll have to buy the boots with straps.
Photo 12: Roma One of the twin fountains of Piazza Farnese
La gamba destra con il segno dei denti della corona della bici perché è scivolata da fermo per il troppo peso e, cercando di trattenerla, i denti della corona si sono piantati sullo stinco. Ma vuoi mettere tutto questo con la leggerezza d’animo che mi ritrovo adesso? Con la sensazione di benessere di essere riuscito in qualcosa a cui non avrei mai pensato in gioventù, forse perché non ero giovane dentro? Questo è il segreto di questo viaggio, dirmi che sono ancora giovane, anche se non è vero per l’età, conoscere persone, avere la libertà di non avere paura di esporsi, di mostrare la mia anima, di mettere a disposizione la mia cuore. Retorica? Auguro a tutti di poterla provare, tutti abbiamo il diritto di provare emozioni forti nella vita, di uscire dalla quotidianità fatta di televisione e per noi pensionati di cantieri da guardare o partite di scopone davanti a una bottiglia di vino. Grazie a poco più di un centinaio di persone che mi hanno seguito e se qualcuno che ho incontrato in questo viaggio si è aggiunto, mi piacerebbe saperlo, vuol dire che quello che ho seminato, ha dato un piccolo frutto.
Photo13: Roma. Campo de’ Fiori market.
End of the adventure.
The video of the tenth and final stage
