Saturday, November 1, 2014

Cycling along the Tiber

The search for places to ride continues. Sunday's ROAR didn't reveal any place to ride that wouldn't likely cause one to end up a hood ornament on a Roman's Mercedes, so this time it was along the Tiber. After the normal Roman traffic chaos to get down off the Janiculum Hill  tranquility beckons.


Lungotevere they call it here. A bike....well, let's just say "no cars" trail running along the famous river. Above is the pedestrian-only Ponte Sisto, the shortest way for us to walk to the center of Rome.


Cyclists and walkers are not the only ones out here. As you can see above rowers also use the peaceful environs for some exercise.



Within a few kms the trail swings back up to the surface, though the trail is separate from the roadway rather than just a stripe painted on the pavement.


Though you DO have to cross some busy thoroughfares. You make a right turn here - note the bike-specific traffic light.


But soon enough you're back on a peaceful trail with no auto traffic to bother with.


There's even a bike rental yard down here, though most of the machines looked pretty beat-up.


The pavement is generally good, though sometimes tree roots push up the asphalt in spots so you won't be breaking any speed records here.


About 10 kms out the scenery changes to more wide open spaces, including this polo field for the horsey set.


And a driving range for the golfing set.


Plus a nice park with a lake.


But it's not all for the 1% as you see sheep doing their thing out here as well.

The trail ends (at a bike shop!) with our cyclometers showing just over 20 kms from the Academy. If we return the same way and include the short bit in the other direction along the Tiber we can enjoy a 50 km ride more-or-less. May not sound like a lot, but when compared to what we might be doing in freezing Iowa this winter instead, it looks pretty good!

Meanwhile the search for other cycling options continues...

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