Genoa to Cinqua Terre

Our ride from Genoa to Sestri Lavante was amazing as it was sunny and beautiful. We were both relieved to actually be riding and reminded how much we enjoy bicycle touring adventures. The traffic getting out of Genoa was not so bad but definitely not for the weak at heart. It was along the Mediterranean with fantastic views and amazing Italian landscape, up and down the coast. We arrived in Sestri levante just in time to find camping and get some dinner.
We awoke to rain the next day so waited it out before our 20 km climb and then decent to Vernazza! Oh my, I thought I had died and gone to heaven! I mean the coffee alone, mamma mia! and Cinque Terre is amazing! The coastal trail is closed due to a huge flood in October of 2011. The town of Vernazza, where we stayed was wiped out on the street floor where all the businesses are located. They are up and running again and depending on a good tourist season ahead, I'm sure. We were able to hike some of the coast trail and it is really beautiful, maybe by next year they will re-open the full coastal trail. Fortunately the train system here is great and you can easily ride up and down the coast to check out the other 5 villages, which we did. Vernazza was our favorite, but they all have their own special charm.
We are very anxious to ride, our legs are ready, but the weather says otherwise. Today we will ride out of Cinqua Terre and go as far as we can but it is supposed to rain later and significantly over the next few days. Thank goodness for the easy train system.

Not exactly tropical along the Golfo Paradiso, but winds were calm, the sun was shining, and the views along the coast were great.

Darryl is trying out a frame bag instead of a front handelbar bag to carry tools, pump, tent poles, and other easy access necessities, so far so good, and while we are both a little out of balance only using rear panniers ( instead of using front and rear panniers) our overall lighter loads seem to minimize the performance penalty of not being perfectly balanced.  So far I mostly notice it when wheeling the bikes through train stations, or when needing to make tighter, slow motion maneuvers.