The rain had stopped, it was overcast but no rain!!!

This is Lake Garlate, our backyard overnight.

At the end of the lake we followed a river. It was quite swollen, the gravel path had decent puddles. We thought these were decent but it got worse.

The river had broken its banks and I was shocked to see Tony riding through what was about 100 metres of flooded river, 30 cm deep. I was sure I was going to fall off and be dumped unceremoniously into the water. I should have worn my bathers!

Unfortunately there are no photos as Tony has the camera and he had a few words to say after that section. We ploughed on looking for the first option to get to a sealed road.

We found it up someone’s steep back yard. At the top, the bike wheels were caked in thick, blobby mud, and our bike shoes were totally caked.

We found layby and some wire and started cleaning our shoes so we could cleat in.

As we had deviated from the mapped route, we wound our way through a few villages as we needed to cross the river. We stopped at this little town and grabbed a coffee. We wanted to sit outside as we were grotty looking, but the lady insisted we could not, and made us sit inside with our muddy looking shoes.

The traffic got quite busy as we headed to Bergamo, a larger city with over 120,000 residents, the fourth largest in Lombardy. We were heading to Citta Alta, the historic centre in upper Bergamo.

It is quite a steep climb up to the base of the historic Venetian walls and defence system. There is a narrow cycle lane.

Once in the old city proper, between the steep cobbled narrow alleys, the tourists wandering all over the road, the occasional car trying to sneak through, we pushed our bikes.

This is an ancient laundry.

We sat outside in this piazza, and enjoyed a nice cold fruit smoothie. Tony checked the weather radar and there was a red weather warning in place a few hours earlier than previously, so we needed to get moving as we still had over 40 km to ride.

Leaving the city we descended back towards the modern city area.

The next part of the ride was not enjoyable, but one of necessity. Getting out of urbanisation took maybe 20 km of busy traffic.

Eventually we turned towards Lake Endine and Val Cavallina. This last section was the most enjoyable of the day.

The rain jackets were back on with 20 km to go. The thunder was seriously loud, booming around us, but no signs of lightning. Sitting in a metal structure during a lightening storm is less than ideal.

Fortunately for us, it was all noise and no show for the last 20 km.

Given the local flooding we had witnessed these campers must have been confident the water would not rise. Either that or they had floated off during the night!

Lake Endine is a pretty area. The main arterial road is on the opposite side of the lake, and we quietly went through a few small villages before joining a well formed bike path.

Looking back up Lake Endine

The skies are getting darker, but this is one of my favourite images for the day, played to the deafening symphony of booming thunder.

As we descended to Lake Iseo we stopped at this welcoming statue on a hair pin bend.

Lake Iseo I visited in 2018 during my Giro d’Itali tour, spending a night in Pisogne. It struck me as a beautiful lake and I vowed to come back – here I am!

Whilst we waited to checkin Tony changed the brake pads on my bike, and both bikes we cleaned up.

Something interesting happened as we settled in. It was pouring with rain outside and a lady wandered past indicating she had a question. I opened the door and she asked if I spoke English.

I asked her if she was Australian. Yes she was, so here we are, here is Sherelle from Dubbo in NSW. She is staying in the unit next door. Amazing just how small the world is at times.

I walked in the rain to a little village grocer, purchased items to cook up a fresh dinner in our unit. That was nice. I love the little village stores, looking at the type of product on offer. Not surprisingly, fresh and dry pasta was prevalent.

Another day is done. One of our trip highlights is tomorrow. Stay tuned! 😊❣️