This episode takes me from Pistoia in Tuscany over the beautiful Apennine Mountains to Marzabotto in the Province of Bologna. Episode includes route notes and tips.
All right day 6 30th of May got a top of 25 low of 14 going pistoia to vado 910 M elevation legs are already really sore so we’re going to see how this goes got heaps of water cuz I don’t think I can get water all the way and I’ve tried
To go light with the food all right let’s roll well it was pretty mild overnight it’s only a low of 17 top of 25 isn’t too bad then again I had top of 26 the other day and it was absolutely brutal on a climb in the sun with no breeze so we’ll
See oh this this square is nice there’s no one here 7:00 in the morning Big Clock Tower time to get up I feel so good to have all clean clothes feel nice and fresh I wish my legs felt fresh they don’t feel fresh I’ve gave them a rub down this morning stretched
And they definitely felt better half of the rub Down well this is my last training climb before the Alps the highest point I think is 2750 M and I think I start from about 1,000 so biggest climb I think is going to be 1,700 and this is about whatever it was 820 but I’ll have more
Climbs in my legs more uh preparation before I get to that so hopefully I’ll be all right quick banana break I’m at 274 elevation and it’s uh 10 to 8 left at 7 it’s eore where’s poo Bud oh he’s got a mate I might have overdid it a little bit with the
Water cuz it’s only4 8 and I’m halfway up the elevation I’ve got to go to but it’s good training good training for the big bigger days this is a great Quiet Road I haven’t seen a car for I don’t know 20 minutes well I can hear his
Birds now we’re starting to get some view that’s pistoia down there where I’ve just come from it’s good when you do a climb you set out and it’s like 20° and it stays 20° or sometimes gets cooler cuz you’re climbing it’s getting later in the day and it’s warmer down
Low but as you climb you can stay at a nice 20° temperature definitely cooler up here at 522 Now Another banana break I wasn’t going to climb with bananas cuz they’re heavy but I couldn’t help myself I love Them getting up there now it’s nice and cool I want to camp up here if I can find water I want to try and find a camp spot cuz I’d just love a cool night on top of a mountain in my sleeping bag All right look at That well the wind’s actually howling on this side it was so calm and peaceful just few hundred yards back on the other side Florence down there this is beautiful Wow well I’m basically at the top I think time for a celebratory Quant and energy bar I can see a flat area down there that I could actually get to God I love the Camp Oh I just found a magic little spot I found water I found somewhere to camp but I’ve got no pH reception which is a Bummer well I’ve decided to push on there’s no phone reception and it’s pretty early in the day and I think I’d just get bored sitting in my tent next to my tent but it was such a nice spot and it would have been cold up here tonight which would have been Great There’s a tiny little town here what a pretty place to live My last climb two of two I didn’t think it would be this big when you look at the profile on the way down it just looks like a Bump Well I would have made it to water without the extra 2 L bottle but I did put a hydroly tablet in two bottles so I’m feeling super hydrated well I’m not having much luck with With the Wind probably the strongest wind I’ve had so Far I just got smoked by a local flew [Applause] past well I’m getting close now there’s a bridge about a k that I have to go across to get across the river and then it’s not far to my Camp spot that water looks so nice well here’s my bridge I got to go
Across so I better have a look at Google Maps and get an idea of where I’m going well no bu there’s a gate across the road I need to go down well I found a definite definite doable spot down here it’s right next to the train
Line but I’m going to try and find the dream spot next to the river a bit further back the way I come from at least I know I’ve got a spot it’s not ideal but it’s definitely secluded well I just had a bit of a disaster I had a
Whole jar of creamy peanut butter go through my back p and it was a nightmare you haven’t lived until youve cleaned out a pan with a rag by a river I’ll tell you this is the peanut butter in the water down here I wonder if fish like peanut
Butter time to go to Camp I think I just come down to fill up my bottle and have a swim and it end up being an hour of a nightmare well I’m set up finally I’m right next to the train line literally the power lines are right there you can see thema
Probably but it’s the best I could do and having uh noodles with carrot and onion and tomato again I’ve just come to the simmer and with Pudo cuz I love it it’s so Good Okay root notes it turns out I didn’t need to bring extra water if you’ve got especially if you’ve got a water filter just after the top of the mountain is where the stream was that Crystal Clear stream that you can filter water there or you can just go with
Three bike bottles I had two 750 mil bottles and one 600 that’s plenty to get to the town that comes after the climb down here and the grocery store was not open at maoto the Town closest to my Camp it didn’t open until 4: so it’s definitely better to go to
Vato sorry yeah vato grocery storees open all day and and yeah no problems maoto is here from Fato this is my second route for that day and my plan was to Camp down here on the river bank but there was a gate here and I doubled
Back and end up camping next to the train line here which I do not recommend I was right in there the train lines here and I actually found out on the way back that here is a good spot to camp right on the River on the river near the
River bank there’s not many people around no houses really can see you so that was ended up being a good spot just in here I think it was little Trail comes off the bike route Cycle Way
1 Comment
Drone shots are great