I ended up having a restless night due to the heat. Well, it was summer, so heat wasn't unexpected. As this was the last day I had the bike, I didn't want to waste it, so it was an early start (well, for me) to head up north and explore around Lake Como. Especially Bellagio, as 4 weeks earlier I had been in Las Vegas, where it's hard (though not too hard) to miss a casino named Bellagio.
The map at right shows Monza (starting point, above Milan) and Lecco to the NNE of Monza. And note that Lake Como is shaped roughly like and upside letter Y. The plan was to ride towards Bellagio along the eastern section, then down to Como along the western fork. And play it by ear from there. One option would be to ride around the entire shore of the lake, but I had already seen the other (eastern) side twice, so that didn't appeal all that much. Or possibly loop around to Lugano (in Switzerland) but it looked like that would mean some freeway travel, which is not generally appealing on a bike.
The yellow line on the left marks the border with Switzerland. And so another border crossing, perhaps meaning more waiting in the sun to approach the guard on duty.
The route was to head towards Lecco, but turn off the freeway before crossing the lake. This photo was taken at the SE end of the lake, looking across to Lecco. Even at 8:30 the sky was hazy, although the temperature was still quite pleasant.
From about the same position, but looking more north, showing (well, not very clearly through the haze) the mountainous terrain north of Lecco. And that's why the freeway runs through the mountain - there was nowhere else to build it on the narrow strip of land at or near lake level, and mostly built upon anyway.
Another view of Lecco, in close up, showing the expected tower - presumably a church steeple.
The road to Bellagio is quite enjoyable; narrow, somewhat twisty, mostly just above water level, with little in the way of towns and villages. Bellagio also has some one way streets; this parking lot was just before the road turned into a one way, the other way!
Using some "follow your nose" navigating, I found my way to the heart of Bellagio (well, as best I could tell). The tall building is the Hotel Splendide, and while I can't vouch for the inside, it sure has a great view.
Some of the view from Hotel Splendide, looking across to the western shore of Lake Como, which is (surprise!) geologically akin to the eastern shore.
Western Shore of Lake Como
Bellagio Humidity (top) & Temperature
The western shore makes me think of a large shark approaching, with its mouth open, about to devour the little buildings along the waterfront! And I'm also amazed at the building about half way up the dark green band, and located between the spire at the bottom and the peak of the mountain. What is it? Does somebody actually live there? How do you reach it?
The other item is the hydrothermograph (recorder of temperature and humidity), located in the piazza near Hotel Splendide. the middle of the day, and the temperature reaching 33C (about 91F) around 2PM yesterday, dropping to 22C (about 72F) overnight. OK, that explains why it's somewhat uncomfortable!
Ah, the ferry is coming. From the maps it appears there are (at least) two ferry routes from here - this one to the west, and the other to the eastern end, terminating roughly at Varenna (where Jon and I had our coffee break on Saturday). This ferry's name appeared to be Lario, which made me wonder whether it was named after the Moto Guzzi town of Mandello del Lario. Then again, maybe not.
From here I rode down the eastern shore of the western fork of Lake Como to the town of Como. The ride was quite enjoyable (well, apart from the bit stuck behind a garbage truck!), with many twisty bits, some wonderful views, and passing through a number of towns hanging to the side of the cliffs. AND, it was in the shade!
Como is another of those towns that I had trouble navigating. It's centre is old, and thus has narrow streets. Basically I was looking to find the road which runs up the western shore of the lake. And I did eventually find it. However, after a few kilometres, I had decided that it didn't appeal very much - quite a few trucks, and mostly urban (of some sort). Not what I was hoping for. And being in full sunshine, I was starting to get hot.
I saw my chance, and turned off the road into a street which then made a 90 degree turn, effectively making the turning manoeuvre into a U turn. And then the bike was falling over, and we came to a stop. I suppose the physical reason was not going fast enough; the mental reasons were being distracted, and hot, and not concentrating.
Damage to the bike was minimal; damage to me was none. I don't think there were even any scrapes on my riding gear! So apart from being annoyed at myself, no damage. And a very friendly passing motorist stopped and helped me get the bike upright. A quick check that nothing too serious was broken, and I rode down to find a parking area for a closer inspection. Which agreed with my original analysis - damage limited to a few (extra) scratches on the fairing, a somewhat broken turn signal and mirror (as shown above).
So then it was back to Monza, but I took some back roads to get to the freeway from Lecco. And one of the backroads was a detour, so it was even more of a backroad than I planned. Oh well. Not to mention the fun of finding a place in Como which sold fuel - the bike was getting a bit low, and pushing it did not appeal to me.
Back in Monza I caught up on the paperwork (including checking that I had all the rental documents and receipts for returning the bike tomorrow), and then had a snooze - which was really needed. And I made another check of the bike, just in case. I wanted to know of anything wrong so that there would be no surprises upon returning the bike.
When Jon arrived home, we headed back up to Lake Como in the car, to have a very pleasant meal on the shores of Lake Como, at a restaurant all on its own (i.e. not in a town), at a place where the road is located on the lake shore. Sitting outdoors we could watch the passing parade of cars and bikes, and enjoyed the meal. And we could stare across the lake to the Moto Guzzi factory (not that we could see it). Not knowing that we were headed to such a pleasant location, I didn't bother to bring the camera. Which is a pity, as it was quite scenic as night descended. You'll just have to take my word for it!
Italy In July