Day 4 Mantova to Guiglia 82 miles

“There may be a better land where bicycle saddles are made of rainbow, stuffed with cloud; in this world the simplest thing is to get used to something hard.”

Jerome K. Jerome

Our hotel opened onto the fabulous Piazza Sordello a Mantova...

...with a fine view from our room

Gathering for the morning briefing. 

Note the cobbles we'd cycled over the night before. 

To see route click on link -  Interactive google map

This will open a new window where you can zoom in and also click on parts of overall route to view different days.

Attractive but very bumpy

A description of the day ahead. 82 miles, mostly flat of the Po plain, but a challenging 450m climb at the end into our Guiglia and the Appenino mountains, our destination. 

This was one of the longest days in terms of mileage but shorter overall, given the flat terrain.

All roads lead to Rome.

This is a flood plain and the roads were raised up with steep banks.

 Seemingly, a common name for a piazza.

Our lunch stop was fascinating. Course after course would have arrived. But we'd filled up on the antipasti, not being aware that pasta, risotto, BBQ and pudding were to follow. 

Wanting to press on, we left early to the dismay of our trattoria host.

Really friendly people. A bit of a mismatch between the local tradition of a lengthy Italian lunch and cyclists on an 82 mile ride wanting to carb load and move on. 

Who's right?

A long wait but the train came eventually. 

Meanwhile a local runner and a female post woman nipped under the barrier (in good time).

Our route took us through Carpi, a small town of around 70,000 lying about 10km north of Modena. 

Carpi is distinguished by a large renaissance square called Piazza Martiri.

Afternoon brew stop at 67 miles. 

All of us had sped along the Po plain, with only 14 miles to complete the 82 total. But a significant climb ahead.

Two fabulous local cakes, lots of fruit and nuts...  and jelly babies.

An almost relentless ascent of 450m took us to our destination hill town of Guiglia. Quiet and unassuming, but the best supper to date.

Fine views from both sides of the town.

Tired and pleased to get up hill. Time for a mooch around the town. 

A beer

...or glass of Prosecco 

Very characterful hotel and town.

Amazing buffet with endless courses - 8 different local cheeses, antipasta, local chutneys, risotto, non-veggie stuff, superb local ice creams and mini-puds.

Time for bed.