Italian flair is in the air. It reminds me of films by Frederico Fellini. Over there, doesn't the guy smile like Marcello Mastroiani? The center of town would fit for a crowd singing Adriano Celentano's "Il Ragazzo Della Via Gluck". And then the girl over there. She's looking a bit like Gianna Nannini. She smiles and my head starts humming "Bello e impossibile". I continue chewing on my pizza capricciosa on Piazza Giacomo Matteotti in Udine.
Another day in spring paradise here north of Bologna, Italy. Temperatures were just right for a splendid tour with the Brompton along the river Po. Saw plenty of pheasants trying to hide from me, and saw rabbits jumping around in typical Easter fashion. Nature is showing its happiness in full blow.
What a relaxed and pleasant ride this was yesterday. I am on my way south from Verona to Bologna. I bicycled through villages, farm land, and the closer I came to the river Po the more water was all around me. Plenty of birds on the water and blossoming trees. Right now I am having an Italian breakfast. I must say, the Italians are good with coffee.
I had a typical Italian breakfast next to the Arena in Verona, Italy. Some days ago, the Olympic Winter Games got celebrated here. Winter is gone, so now I start my spring sports days. I will bicycle through Emiglia Romagna for several days. Right now, I am having a toscany toast at a random village bar on my way south towards Bologna.
Early breakfast in sunny Stockholm, lazy lunch in sunny Copenhagen, and, later today, dinner in Hamburg. This journey starts promising. I am on my way to Verona, Italy, for taking out my Brompton on a spring bicycle tour. As a bonus, I add a photo from my compulsory visit to the New Harbour in Copenhagen; this time without ice.
The Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre specifies its air pressure to be between 4.5 to 7.5 bar. With a 10 kg bag on the back, and with my 75 kg body weight, I usually ride with a pressure of around 6 to 7 bar. I do not think that the pressure ruined my rim band. It appears that the structure of the material of the rim band has changed over its life time to the worse.
As usual, my next trip will take me to Austria. I might, however, do a detour through Italy.
After 18000 kilometers, I had to change the rim tape on my Brompton. Due to the air pressure in the tube, the old tape got pushed into the spoke holes, and this caused the tube to follow into these holes. As a result, I twice got a 2 mm large puncture on the inside of the tube. Changing the rim tape was easy, once I figured out how to nicely center the tape on the rim with a spare spoke.
Now the bike is ready for the Easter journey starting on Saturday.
Today, I bicycled along the coast of Sweden's third-largest lake, Lake Mälaren. The ice on lake is about to vanish.
Daylight is getting longer by almost 35 minutes per week right now. We are about to overtake the places further south. We are winning!
There is nothing wrong with such a lovely afternoon in early March in Stockholm, Sweden. Swans and ducks are surfing on leftover patches of ice in the sun. People are out strolling, some even in T-shirts and shorts. I am hanging around with the Brompton and plan my next Easter trip. Life's being good to me!
