The Great Bike Tour Day 32: Dutch Route with Swiss Mountain Guide Variant

There are people who have such an incredibly positive aura - good vibrations - that you can't help but be infected by their zest for life. I met one such person today: Walter.

There are differing opinions on the best way to get from Assisi to Rome. None of the options are really great, and there are lots of uphill sections everywhere - unless you ride along the highway. The version of the German bike travel guide that I downloaded at home doesn't convince me, I prefer the route I looked at the day before yesterday in the Dutch travel guide.

I start at 07:30 am, and by 10:00 am I have covered more than half of today's planned route, so it's high time for a coffee. I see a loaded bike in front of a bar and am happy to meet another long-distance cyclist. I actually meet them much less often than I thought. Anyway, the person quickly reveals themselves to be Walter from Bern: thin, sunburnt, a handkerchief with knots in its corners on the head, and white hair underneath. We get along right away, talk for a long time about bike and mountain tours, and he tells me about his various professions: teacher, youth trainer instructor in mountaineering, and mountain guide. He is full of zest for life and enthusiasm for all sorts of things. He was in Todi this morning, which is so beautiful, and if I have time, I should definitely go there. At some point, I ask him carefully about his age, I would have guessed around 65, maybe 70. He bursts out laughing, no, no, he just turned 80.

Infected by so much energy and zest for life, of course, I take the detour via Todi, even if it means an extra 15 km and especially 450 meters of elevation gain. But somehow that doesn't matter today, except that Komoot once again sends me on a 3 km steep dirt road, which I really didn't need.

Another small challenge is to find Casa Enrico in Acquasparta, where I have rented a room for tonight - this is once again a camping-free zone.

https://www.komoot.de/tour/779976024?ref=itd

Casa Ernesro, 44€, grandparents' house, now rented out as a holiday home. Modern bathroom, mini kitchen, no Wi-Fi but this wonderful, tiny roof terrace.