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Published: September 17th 2023
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After a very relaxing and much needed day off in Foligno I set off for the campsite near Narni.
I soon pick up signs for the Spoletto to Assisi cycleway and they lead me go a lovely canal side cycle path. I get to enjoy it for 40km or so before the inevitable climb.
It's a very hot day, but thankfully there are plenty of trees provideing lots of shade. The temperature difference under the trees and in the sun is amazing. Trees are just brilliant.
The climb peaked at 1,984 feet and was very steep in places. There were loads of white admiral butterflies sunning themselves on the road.
The forest was silent save for some crickets and the rustle of dry leaves everytime a lizard scurried off.
The winding descent to Terni was very enjoyable. High sun bleached bluffs to my left, densely covered in forest. In Terni as i leaned the bike against the wall of a supermarket, a cyclist came over asking if I had a pump. His front tyre was very soft. He was very glad to get the lend of it. Little did I know then how much I would
need it next day!
The day ended with a spectacular and tiring climb through the beautiful hillside village of Narni. I arrived at the campsite only to discover it officially closed for the season the day before.
Campsite officially closed yesterday. The owner kindly booked me in anyway.
So, next day I was determined to enjoy the glory leg to Rome. The Earls themselves arrived in style into Rome.
But as they say, pride comes before a puncture. And my pride was well and truly deflated on my last cycling day.
I checked google maps and it showed what appeared to be a track near the river after the first descent. I risked it. At first it was brilliant. Nice gravel surface. Loads of butterflies amongst the flowers along the margins. Then I was on a grassy track squeezing past huge tractors parked on it as farmers were harvesting sunflower seed.
I knew it was only a few hundrrd metres more so pressed on. Next up was a narrow path hacked through a reed bed. I did think WTF, but thought I was really close to the road now. I was exactly on the blue
line on the map.I soon emerged from the reed bed covered in burr and with a huge grey spider sitting on top of a pannier.
My optimism was short lived. The gravel track lead to a locked gate! There was no way round it so I had to turn back. I followed the gravel track which lead in a large arc right back to where I'd left the SR3. Any other day it would be a lovely route, but I'd just added about 10km and an hour to my trip.
I decided now I'd follow SR3 all the way to Rome. The plan worked well as far as Borghetto where I was going to stop for a bite of lunch.
As I entered the village and was looking up admiring the ruins of a small keep perched on a little hill above me I heard that hissing noise hated by cyclists.
"That can't be me", I thought. But it was. I pushed the bike across the road. Naturally I stuck with the original plan and had lunch. Then in the shade of a little building I set about removing the back wheel and replacing the tube.
I still had a new one so I thought it wouldnt take long.
Wrong again. Despite carefully checking the inside of the tyre I had missed a tiny, tiny sliver of a splinter in the side wall. New tube punctured. Must be from the reed bed?
So wheel of again. Fix puncture and replace. The valve on the old tyre had a tear below it so was useless. No point fixing it so I binned it before I set off.
Within five minutes the tyre was soft. I pumped it up. Same sgain. I was getting a couple of km between stops. I didn't want to remove it again as I suspected it was the valve rather than the patch and didn't want to damage it more.
It was still a little hilly so very slow going. I feared I could end up walking to Rome so I checked train times in the next village. No train till 10pm.
I stopped at an autofactor shop. They suggested a motorbike shop down the road. Thankfully they sold tubes and in my size.
After a final pit stop I made great time to the outskirts of
Google maps leads me astray again!
Honestly, this was the parh. Someone had clearly cut a way through the reeds too. It was only a couple hundred metres to a track so out of curiosity I followed it. It lead to a locked gate. Private land. Rome. It was 6pm so I phoned the hostel to let them know I was going to be late.
From Montebella it took.me ages to.pick my way through Prima Porte until I found the cycle path along the Tiber into the city.
It wss dark now and of course now that I needed Google maps I struggled to get it to work in the city.
I was very very tired by the time I checked in.
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Tot: 0.244s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.2218s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
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