When the sky above you turns and you need some loving care…
Optimism is a good thing….and we know winter is coming ..even when heading south in Italy!
At 4:30pm -on a cloudy day- it’s pretty much dark.
The way into Bologna (I’ll get to write about Bologna another time - I think…) was a fun little pretty and dry single track -the way out of the city was another single track…not so dry and not so much fun. It had rained a lot and the kind of mud was the slippery, clay one. More sliding sideways (using the brakes with our damp, clammy, cold hands was no use) than forward on some steep down hills. Shoes, bikes, panniers, cyclists …..all went south. Pick yourself up, mud yourself off and on you go, because there is no other way out of this mess! Wish I had photos now, but it was the last thing on my mind…such BUMMER! Took this photo from the internet…not one of our bikes, but - aside from the color of the mud (ours was grey) it’s pretty accurate:
In one little settlement (couldn’t call it a town or even a Village) I asked two police men in a car for shelter (for the first time on this trip): “Sorry, (they looked at each other) you could knock on somebodies door, or ride to a bigger Mt Village” (that is what I understood….seems like the farther south we go Italiens only speak Italian.)
It was dark, the main road was pickled with trucks and crazy fast drivers. (Must have been rush hour - time is slipping away like mud) Rain, dark, narrow roads, lots of traffic, uneven pavement, no shoulder….this paved, main road just isn’t an option…it’s suicide …back to the single slippery track. (Which was our planned route -on Komoot- anyways) It felt like the middle of the night….keep trekking….It really only was 6pm..weird…walking the bikes…slushing around…wish it could have been fun…keep going. Finally a paved road before Vergato https://maps.app.goo.gl/9t7Jhyf19jPmMTyp9?g_st=ic
James’s wheels didn’t turn anymore….too much clay had accumulated between the tires and fenders.
One of the first houses in town had a big, open, clean! bicycle shop. (Other than that, the Village was pretty much shut down - no wonder it felt like midnight) I marched in with a big happy, dirty smile and described our situation with a desperate mix of languages and gestures. After a few blank stares and a second look at James and our bikes, these two got the message: We really need help!
…and we got it!
They sprung into action: Armed with a water pressure machine -one of them did an impressively thorough job to find our bikes under the thick layer of clay. (Then the sidewalk had to be cleaned too) A couple of phone calls secured us an option to get cleaned up, get a good night sleep and think things over.
One of our helpful new friends took us in his nice clean company van (not before he covered the seats in plastic) to a place 15km down the road south but farther up into the mist/fog/cold mountains on roads with a 25% grade. If there is a tomorrow, we are going to have a rough time getting down, was my thinking, but who cares now? One hour at a time..
The B&B owner brought us a free dinner before we cleaned up- we must have given enough of a pitiful sight..
We didn’t trust the bright, beautiful sunshine - finally shining light on our glorious surroundings -in the morning. The forecast called for more rain. It took us all morning to come to a decision. Why it took so long ….oh, well….. The puzzled B&B owner shrugged his shoulder and with the help of iTranslate he said: Is there something I can help you with? (Maybe I detected a tiny little bit of impatience in his voice?….We were still hanging out on the bench outside, hours after we checked out of the room)
Then there was this sensation of itchy legs to get back on our -ever so clean -bicycles and ride out our frustration and have an acquaintance with the innocently smiling sun -a deceiving smile! The night will come inevitably and so will the rain and cold as predicted in the actually accurate forecast. We still had a biggish climb before getting down to the flats toward the coast.
Finally we came to the conclusion at about 12 noon with clouds building up again: We want to get out of the mountains asap…we had enough!
Next stop: Riola train station, right down the steep -but paved- streets from the B&B.
I don’t have to mention that it took a whole day to get to Pistoia (direction Livorno on the coast of Italy) only 49km away but pretty much “over the hump” After the late start, the first train was 2 hours late…the second (in Porretta Terme) 3 hours! The ride actually on the train was approximately 2.5 hours. 
But the Piccolo Ritz Hotel was the bomb! Yes! Our now exceptionally clean bikes and us were warmly welcomed and as the generous breakfast had an extra box with assorted chocolates
we knew we wanted to stay another day - rain or shine.
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