Day 9 & 10: From one valley to another

Two easy days, I thought.

In Bolzano, an older cyclist, who accompanied me for a while (This happens quite often, everybody wants to know where I go, and wants to give me good advice)  told me, that from Trento it will be all flat.

I believed him
 
I’m a fool

Well, he was partly right: In Trento the motorway splits in two, one heading East into the Brenta valley. This was my direction. But, if you say motorway, you mean: no cyclists!

If I want to go to the Brenta valley, I have to use a secondary road, going from Trento via Vigolo-Vattaro to Levico.

Vigolo-Vattaro: remember that name, my cycling friends!

It goes up.
As there is nothing mentioned on my map, it cannot be long.
It goes further up, and gets steeper.
I have to step down, and push for some 100 meters.
Its 3 pm, awfully hot, and it doesn’t stop climbing.
I buy all the Coke, I can find  on my way up.

Finally, I had to climb more than 500 meters, and it was not even mentioned on the map!

I am disgusted, and stop in the next town, Levico.

I only did 78km today, my shortest stage so far.

The next day is easy, basically flat to Montebelluna.

I met the first interesting traveller yesterday:
John is Canadian, 75 years old and loves to travel. He was a plastic surgeon in a former life, worked in different conflict areas to help people. Now he is on his bicycle. On June 6th, he started in Nordkapp (Norway), to cycle all the way down to Malta, thus connecting the Northernmost and the Southernmost point of Europe. We exchanged some interesting travel stories, but had to separate in Trento