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@GideonPARANOID
Mapped the route we did together into one map. We completed the five hundred mile loop sooner than we really expected, so decided to set up a base in the cheapest & most convenient campsite - Camping Darna, just outside Porlezza on Lake Lugano. 12€/night with a 24h Carrefour in town & plenty of riding options around there & easy access to Como - a no brainer!
I booked nights in the Linate airport hotel in Milan for our first & last nights for convience's sake (free airport shuttle). The hotel felt deserted & the staff were lovely & interested in our trip. They even let us keep our cardboard bike boxes in their left luggage for two weeks for free which was absolutely fantastic. Only a short five mile ride into the city centre to Porto Garibaldi to get a train up to Como San Giovanni, & then to start our trip!
However, before we could really start, we had to resolve the problem of @Tor forgetting her seatpost bolt. While packing the boxes, we noticed her seatpost was seized, but seems forgot to put the bolt back in. Both of our touring setups use saddle bags. I wasn't keen on testing the limits of how seized it was, but after intense Googling (very few bike shops with workshops seem to be open in Milan on a Sunday or even Monday) & a fruitless Decathlon trip we resolved we'd have to soldier on & hope for the best.
We rode up the west side of the lake in gorgeous sunshine up to Argegno for the first of many quattro formaggi pizzas of the trip. Noticing a little bike shop around the corner we popped in to ask for help (we'd managed to find an abandoned seatpost binder bolt on the floor outside the station which might be useful). The shop's owner - previous Olympic MTB'er for Spain - tried to find a nut but sadly nothing. Ah well.
We then climbed our first hill over to our first aforementioned campsite in Porlezza in the blazing heat, popping into the shop on the way to stock up on some food for a picnic on Lake Lugano for tea.
Photos:
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