From: Milan (Linate Airport)
To: Salsomaggiore Terme
Miles: 70.5 (800 ft. of climbing)
Miles Completed: 70.5 (800 ft. of climbing)
Lunch: Pizza @ Roadside Gas Station
Dinner: Ristorante La Porchetta
Accommodations: Hotel Casa Romagnosi
Today is one of those days you mentally prepare yourself for, yet somehow it's even tougher than you could have imagined. Our flight left from JFK at 5:35pm - everything went smooth logistically - no issues with weight or bike box and the flight left on time. I took two sleeping pills in an attempt to get some shuteye on our leg to Dublin. No luck. Just felt heavy headed most of the trip and the meal seemed like a dream. May have gotten a few winks but definitely no REM cycle.
We arrive at Dublin for our 2 hour layover. We were required to go through immigration and then back through a security checkpoint. The immigration officer asked where why we were in Dublin. I tell him for a layover to Milan. "If you make it" he says. I thought it was a strange comment but when we arrived at the security line I understood what he meant. Mayhem. Luckily Dr. Ed found a "fast pass" line for us to access since we were connecting and we made it through security in less than 10 mins. The flight to Milan left a bit late but we arrived on time @ 11:50am - our luggage and bike boxes came out pretty quickly and immigration/customs were very easy. While the layover was a pain, Linate is a European-only international airport (you can't fly into Linate directly from the US - only into Malpensa), so the customs and immigration seem less demanding.
Now the race is on. We find the "left luggage" area where we are going to leave our bike cases and confirm we can leave them there. We scout out an area in the corner and begin to assemble the bikes. People are walking by, doing double takes, backing up and watching us with quizzical looks - they then move on. With little sleep and all the energy spent on traveling, my muscles are already hurting from just assembling the bike - I can't even begin to think about the ride. Somehow, despite my packing fears, my bike looks great and nothing is damaged. We get the bikes assembled, panniers packed and luggage checked in what feels like record time and hit the road at 1:30pm.
I was riding on adrenaline for the first 30 miles. While we were mainly on bigger roads, the beauty of Italy is starting to appear in patches. I also notice the cars are much friendlier to cyclists. The give you a "I'm behind you and I'm about to pass you" toot of the horn vs. flat out blowing your eardrum laying on the horn most drivers in the U.S. give you. At mile 30 the reality of 40 more miles begins to set in. I'm doubting myself but I must go on. It's painful. My legs are burning and I feel no energy yet I'm trying to pedal harder to get there faster. We are doing 19mph on the flats, which is pretty fast considering we have 35-40 extra pounds on our bike. I see we are averaging 15mph so far for the ride - again, pretty darn fast considering all the circumstances. As we are approaching mile 60 I'm not sure what to think - the town seems so close yet so far. We get directions to make a left ahead. Wait - we're starting to go uphill. This is no good. I can't even imagine climbing at this point. Well we did, for 5 miles. I could barely pedal. HELLO GRANNY. First time in the granny gear (this is the smallest ring on the crank - nicknamed the granny gear by cyclists for obvious reasons). We give up all the climbing we did in half the distance on our descent into the town. I'm blown away at how awesome Salsomaggiore is. What a sweet town. Totally worth the ride. Our hotel is very nice and we have a jacuzzi tub to boot. I take bath and we head to dinner in town. Very solid dinner - nothing to write home about (or blog about) but solid nonetheless. I need to get some shuteye. Body hurts.
A domani.
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