Day 15: Asti to Milan

Day 15 was the final day of my Italian tour. The trip was flawless so far and I wasn't looking forward to finishing, but I was still in high spirits. I altered my original route to explore more of the countryside and avoided the most-direct route. Nevertheless, I shared the road with a lot of traffic.

The route went north from Asti and had good views of the Alps in the morning. Once I reached Vercelli, the ride was as flat as a pancake. I could tell I was nearing Milan because the truck traffic was increasing, which is never enjoyable. Once in Novaro, I found a little cafe with great coffee. I was smelly, tired, and had a rime of salt around my face. This appearance turned a lot of heads and I didn't really feel very welcome... oh well. I had decided earlier that I would take a train from Novaro to avoid the worst of traffic entering Milan and any headaches that I might encounter while entering the city by bike. This was a good idea: the train ride took me directly to Milano Centrale where I waited for about 4 hours for my train back to Germany.

Summary: 100 km (62 miles) good morning views of the Alps but a lot of truck traffic in the afternoon