Surly They Won't Make It

22/11/24

We had decided a little while ago that we should head south in Italy. We were initially planning to head east to Trieste and down the coast of Croatia. However, the elevation and the likelihood of it being much colder led us to the idea of staying in Italy. That and the fact that the hills would slow us down so much we would probably run out of time on our visa. 

Southeast from Venice are the islands of Lido and Pellestrina. These long, narrow pieces of land permit cycling and are often overlooked by tourists. The car/bicycle ferry to Lido leaves from Tronchetto, the part of Venice island you can drive to and park your car before getting on the aptly named ‘people mover’. Route 17 is actually included in the travel pass and you only have to pay another €1.50 for a bicycle. 

Getting to Tronchetto was the first task, there were reasonably good paths out of Mestre. We were unusually without the Sun and there had been a spattering of rain overnight. We needed to get to the causeway and the route produced by Mapy.cz was very good apart from one annoying hiccup. It took us through a train station currently undergoing renovation. There was no ramp, only stairs with one of those kind of helpful channels for your bike wheels. 

After mashing our bikes up those stairs it was plain sailing fortunately. We were soon on the causeway, 4km of incredible cycling across the lagoon. Sure we got the bus yesterday, but it’s more dramatic on your bike. As we approached Tronchetto we were moved to a boardwalk, that made that ‘reassuring’ sound of wobbling wood. There was a winding cycle path that kept us safe from cars and led all the way to the ferry port. We were soon in a familiar line to board, that made us reminisce of being in Harwich over a month ago.

Luckily we had our elastic straps, the boat didn’t have a proper place for bikes. It was a glorious Sun bathed day now. The ferry cruised around the island of Venice and towards Lido. About 30 minutes later we docked and cycling down the island. It wasn’t as dramatic or exciting as we would have liked. Perhaps in summer it would be busier but it was a holiday resort in the off season. There was basically one road all the way to the next ferry. Sometimes a cycle path. We arrived with 30 minutes to wait for the connection. 

When the ferry arrived there was even a bus full of passengers that alighted. We wanted to cycle the length of Pellestrina but it seemed that the most southerly ferry port didn’t allow bikes to board. We were running short of time in terms of our travel pass and pounded down this island, it wasn’t very interesting. Sure it was thin and you were flanked by sea, but it felt run down and uninspired. When we got to the next ferry port we decided that we would let the pass run out and pay the extra. This would give us time to examine the exciting looking narrowest part of the island.

We were cycling next to a defensive wall. The sea being the other side. It felt slightly precarious at times. It took us all the way to the nature reserve at the end but when we arrived there were big no cycling signs and an extremely vigorous barrier to stop you taking your bike through. We were a little disheartened, but had some lunch surrounded by cats before heading back to get on the (now expensive) ferry to Chioggia. 

Chioggia felt like the island of Venice but with cars. It seemed alive on a Friday evening, unlike the previous parts of our journey. We didn’t have far to go to get to a little apartment that was pro cycle touring. They advertised having somewhere to keep our bikes and had laundry facilities, including a dryer. Ideal as our clothes were starting to smell, especially our fleeces which we wore daily and hadn’t washed yet!

It was a neat little apartment with a nespresso machine, we still had some decaf capsules we had take from the spa hotel in Blenio. Dinner was lentils and chickpea curry with fried polenta. We wanted a coconut based dish, but they don’t have coconut milk readily here and when they do it’s extortionate. So we settled for tomato based, which they have amply of course. 

Obviously, dessert was mostly bread and jam. We went out for a stroll in the evening, hopefully to find an open geletaria but it was false advertising. The night life was booming though and it was a nice atmosphere. Tomorrow we’d be heading towards the enormous Po river delta.