Re: lost in Veneto, Italy

Quoted message said:

Excellent and inspiring report. Thank you. We are planning a ride in
May from Venice inland then back to the coast at Ancona to catch the
ferry to Split. Any suggestions on where to ride between Venice and
Ancona over about 7-10 days?

Depends on what you like as far as riding (hills, flats ...), scenery,
how far you would expect to ride per day, etc.

Were it my trip, I would be sure to route through Ravenna (mosaic work)
then into Tuscany a bit, stop in Cortona, down to Lago Trasimeno, then
head east through Assisi and on to Ancona.

- rick

I liked Ravenna a lot too but the road coming out of Venice was
terrible. A big shoulder but the large trucks and buses were extremely
noisy. Find a quiet route out of Venice or take a train out. I never
asked anyone but the detailed map I used made it seem impossible to get
out of Venice (Mestre actually) without being on a freeway for a while.

Thanks for that. We do 50-70k a day. Moderate hill relieve boredom of
flat straight roads - not that there are a lot of those in Italy.
I'll look at distances to see if we can get into Tuscany.

Quoted message said:

Thanks for that. We do 50-70k a day. Moderate hill relieve boredom of
flat straight roads - not that there are a lot of those in Italy.
I'll look at distances to see if we can get into Tuscany.

The loop I recommended is a little less than 400 miles (Venice/Mestre
to Ravenna to Arrezzo to Cortona south and around Trasimeno over to
Assisi and on to Acona). As someone else suggested, riding out of
Venice/Mestre is a pain; not only that, it is boring for a ways. You
might want to train from Mestre to a bit outside of town then start
riding. Obvious spots to train to would be either Padova or Bologna.

- rick