The morning kind of drags on. Even though the flat plains make rising relatively easy, the cycle paths I follow are a broad mix of gravel, trails, grass and small roads that make riding tedious. Combined with the overall stink of the canals, overfertilised fields and swine farms, this isn’t the best part of my trip.
Only after I reach the river Po at Guastalla, the path over the dam is now of excellent and consistent quality and the next 100 kilometres just roll by. It’s warm today, but not too hot, and a light breeze finally freshens up the air.
I ride along at 19 m above sea level for most of the day, but apparently, the various bridges, and riding up and down the dams add up to almost 500 m elevation overall. I don’t stop in any city today. Even in Cremona, the evening traffic is crazy enough to keep me on the river path and I just have a dinner break and watch the sports rowers going up and down the Po.
150 km, 500 m elevation