Tour Days 3 and 4 — Penegal , Italy to Levico Terme, Italy
As promised, here’s our entry for yesterday. We left the Hotel Monte Penegal, situated on a sheer cliff about 5,700 feet above the Adlige Valley, heading toward Levico Terme, a small resort town about 20 km from Trento that sits well above a beautiful lake, Lago di Levico. Though the distance isn’t much in a straight line, Michael, our guide, led us on a lot of fun roads to get to our destination.
Our first pass was Passo Della Mendoza (Mendel Pass), which opens a path between two Italian provinces, South Tyrol and Trentino. This pass has long formed the border between the German-speaking and Italian-speaking regions of the Tyrol region. Bolzano is a town founded by the Romans over 2100 years ago and has been a trading center for most of that time because it’s almost dead center between Venice and Augsburg, Germany. Remember, control of the roads was essential to regulating, enhancing, and protecting trade. That’s why so many Alpine roads have such ancient origins and have been continuously improved over millennia . Our rides take advantage of these centuries’ old routes for our riding pleasure.
We continued over Passo della Palade (1518 meters or about 5,000 feet) and over Monte Bondone. The ride down Monte Bondone involved 40 switchbacks covering 1,450 meters (4,750 feet) in quick progression. The road was very good and the hairpins were not too tight. We always try to ride smoothly so our usual style was conducive to the road and we had much, much fun!
We landed at a lovely hotel in Levico Terme and had some fabulous pizza. But the day was tiring so Connie and I invited ourselves to crash early to bed.
Actually, “early” is a relative term. Our suppers all begin around 7:30 and can last a couple of hours. Part of that is the culture and partly to share time with our fellow riders. When we get up from the table after 9:30, we’re just about done. Very different from our routine at home.
Wandering Retirees 