The great cycling tour Day 23: EuroVelo 7 to Bologna

Today everything was much easier than feared before, the tension is now luckily gone.

Monica takes care of me like a mom even during breakfast and serves enough for at least two people, even though I'm alone with her in the breakfast room with the white tablecloths and opera music in the background. She says I should eat a lot before such a strenuous cycling tour. I don't like fried bacon, but today I eat it, partly out of politeness and partly due to the lack of non-sweet alternatives. When saying goodbye, she asks if she can take a photo of me.

My first destination is the post office in Solara, where I want to drop off the package I packed yesterday. The patient man at the counter wants 29€ for it, which I find quite a lot as a passionate eBay seller who often sends things abroad and knows the DHL prices by heart. Well, I'm glad I don't have to carry the Maloja clothes and especially the third gas cartridge any longer. My brother-in-law said that this type of Scandinavian screw gas cartridge cannot be bought in Italy and that I should take it with me. That may be true, but they last much longer than expected, especially much longer than the normal blue camping gas cartridges.

In Crevalcore, I come across the EuroVelo 7 again, the signage is really luxurious. And at intersections there are always yellow suns painted on the asphalt, the logo of Ciclopista der Sole, as this section is called. In between, I learn that it was only established in 2021, so it's no wonder that the signs and pavement markings still look so new. Faster than expected - maybe the bacon helped - I'm in the greater Bologna area, and hills are appearing on the horizon again.

There are now bike paths even through the city center of Bologna, and the people of Bologna themselves ride a lot - red lights at pedestrian crossings are more like a recommendation for them, not a reason to brake.

I really had concerns about the campsite, expecting the worst as I pass under highway bridges, the route suggested by the GPS is closed because a circus is occupying it, and eventually I end up on the street prostitution area, with corresponding motorhomes parked everywhere. The campsite itself is an oasis of peace and German-speaking pensioners, just like everywhere else. I'm very happy with that, it feels safe for me in my thin tent.

I'm too exhausted to go out again to do some shopping, so I'll just have the remaining lentils that I've been carrying with me since Austria. But today's day fills me with confidence, if I can make it to Bologna, I can make it to Rome as well.

https://www.komoot.de/tour/769091599?ref=itd

Centro Turistico Cittá di Bologna, 16€, with proper sanitary facilities, toilet paper and WIFI