I started on nice country roads today, then got to the Via Emilia. This is the old Roman road from Milan to Rimini on the Adriatic coast, that goes in basically a straight line. At Parma (of ham fame) I ended up on the by-pass with thundering trucks going by. At Reggio (of parmesan cheese fame) I found the right way, and went in a straight line through the middle of the town. At Modena (of balsamic vinegar and Ferrari fame) I found the campsite. The weather was hot today. The lowest temparature I saw on a thermometer was 35C, with the highest 39C. But the campsite had a pool, which was fantastic.

I’ve discovered two side effects of all the cycling. The first, while my legs are strong for cycling, I think they are the same strength otherwise, and I keep pulling tendans and muscles when not cycling. The other is, turning lots of fat into muscle has made me denser, and less able to float easily in a swimming pool. Oh well, can’t be good at everything!