Prepping for the Via Francigena

October8

After three driving days, I arrived in Aosta, Italy, to start my bike tour. I plan to follow the Via Francigena from here to Rome. Then my bike and I will catch a ride back up Aosta and drive back to Portugal. The entire ride should be ~1,000km.

Aosta is beautiful, and I look forward to my time here at the end of the trip (spending a full day here at the end of the trip). It also had one of the coolest bike shops I’ve ever seen.

That big monument you see above is from 25 BCE, celebrating Augustus’ defeat of the Salassi people in that area. The Romans built a fortified citadel here, roads connecting the rest of Italy, and a ton of other stuff (as Romans do).

I look forward to a deeper dive when I get back toward the end of the month.

Training & Packing

I hit a wall on training, so I spent the last 2 weeks just resting. Also, my bike seat broke, which really sucks. This is the second one to break by Selle Anatomica and was a replacement for the first one. Both broke from metal defects, and I do not recommend their saddles. This sucks as it means my butt will be sore from getting used to a new seat on the tour…

This tour is likely to be a bit colder and wetter than others I have done. So I packed a little more warm gear than on previous rides. I also tried to go lighter than my last tour, so I went pretty minimal.

My daily ride kit: 2 bibs, 2 short sleeve athletic shirts, 1 pair of shorts, and 2 pairs of socks. Every day when I get in, I wash my ride clothes and hang them up to drive.

In case of bad weather: a waterproof jacket, a warm long-sleeve layer, and a mid-layer jacket. I also brought my thermal/waterproof gloves and waterproof socks in case of torrential downpours or cold mornings.

Post-ride clothing: 1 pair of biking pants, 1 pair of light pants, two pairs of underwear, 1 pair of socks, and 2 cotton shirts.

Electronics: small MacBook air (have to work some to keep Shepherd humming), kindle, iPhone, bike GPS, little headphones, charging cables. I didn’t bring my 4g modem as I’ll just piggyback off my phone if I don’t have wifi and need it.

And that is about it. I’ve got everything in two bags on the back of the bike.

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posted under 2022 - Via Francigena Bike Tour

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This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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