From Mesola to Pomposa
2 July 2019
This time I set off without GPS tracks, because I wanted to reach the sea by asking for directions and finding my own way. Who would have known I’d also end up inside a live-action videogame.
The start, the beauty
So many things in these last 50 km of my trip. The land of the Po Delta is full of wonders, natural and human-built, and more than once I was left open-mouthed, enraptured by what I had in front of my eyes. The first time it happened in front of Torre Abate, a few meters from the shelter where I spent the night. The structure is a splendid piece of hydraulic engineering built in 1569 during the Este land reclamation, with the task of water defense and control. It’s a magical place, which I had the luck to admire also at sunset the evening before leaving.
Continuing along the so-called Canale Bianco I picked up the Destra Po cycle path I had left the day before in Mesola, but from there on the scenery would change drastically. At that point the Po has already split into the two main branches and I’m running alongside the Este branch, called Po di Goro, which in that area has many marshy places teeming with life. I proceed slowly and without making noise, above all to enjoy the silence and to watch the birds fishing undisturbed.
The sea
By now you start to smell the sea, and it’s very beautiful to see the scenery change in such a tangible way, so perceptible by all the senses. The colors change, the smells change. I’m at Goro, but I want to reach Gorino, right where the Po flows into the sea, and when I arrive the emotion is very strong. From the small harbor of Gorino, the gulf called Sacca di Goro is visible 360 degrees and seems truly enormous.
I made it to the sea, starting from Lake Garda and riding almost 300 km by bike. I almost can’t believe it. But, for me, reaching the sea means literally being on a beach and maybe even having a swim. I start asking around in the little village of Gorino, I gather some rather generic directions and I set off. And I still don’t know what kind of mess I’m getting myself into.
I pass through Goro again because there’s no other way, and from there almost by chance I come across a gravel road with a sign pointing to the beach resorts. Fantastic — finally a piece of real gravel where my bike gives its best, and at the end I’ll throw myself into the water. I launch myself at a good speed onto the gravel and enjoy it like a child on a bike the first few times. I don’t know where I’m going or what I’ll find, but it’s all straight ahead and I have the sea next to me. It’s fantastic. But once I reach the end of the gravel, a first surprise: the path ends and it isn’t clear what you’re supposed to do.
The videogame
Go back, no, come on. And yet there’s still a sign. Finally I understand: there’s a double gate to go through to enter the pine forest (I’ll understand later why double). A small notice points out that you can access the second gate only after carefully closing the first. There, I think, watch me get stuck inside in 75-degree heat in the shade. Instead I pass through, and start going. The mugginess is crazy and I hear lots of insects around me — better hurry. But all of a sudden, sand. I get stuck, I fall. Never mind, it’s sand. I get back up and an instant later I’m surrounded by thousands of insects that start biting me everywhere. But I had put on Autan! Totally irrelevant. There’s nothing else I can do — I start pushing the bike through the sand.
Now try to imagine the situation: an unbelievable heat, sweat mixed with Autan and sunscreen running into my eyes which are burning a lot. These swarms of insects keep attacking me in every way and I’m pushing the bike which has suddenly become incredibly heavy. To add insult to injury: at a certain point from the opposite direction an MTB with sand tires appears, racing like the devil. The guy laughs. Nice. I’ll only find out later that I’m on a trail known to MTB cyclists called “I due cancelli” (“The Two Gates” — put there to keep the fallow deer from leaving the pine forest where they live) and where the mountain bikers compete against the clock. And I push. I do reach the second gate, and still oblivious I think okay, it’s a role-playing game, you win.
End of the journey
I get onto the walkway of Lido di Volano exhausted, but happy to see the beach umbrellas. As I am (more or less like a madman), I ask the lifeguards for permission to lean the bike on the rescue boat and photograph my arrival at the sea. And a minute later I’m in the water, enjoying my goal achieved.
Now all that’s left is to reach the Pomposa Abbey, which I know is beautiful and which will be the end of my long trip. After a strenuous stretch of main road, I find a splendid gravel road that leads straight to the garden of the Abbey. A moment of real ecstasy.
I have arrived at the end. Now the km are 305, but what matters most is the road my soul has traveled, which is not measured in kilometers.
Thank you my love for having accompanied me this far. I can do it, I am doing it. I do it.