Iteranti
A wire mesh safety fence framing a view down onto a motorway jammed with lorries and cars running parallel to a railway line.

Piacenza to Sivizzano (day 25)

Ridden · Jamie Brammer

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Piacenza to Sivizzano gpx

Early morning

I deliberately got up well before dawn today to see the sunrise but there’s a 10km industrial estate / Amazon warehouse on the way out… and when I got to the fields the sun was behind clouds. ☹️

More coffee stops today… and at last some fantastic croissants (although I think they’re called cornetos). However the coolest thing was that in 2 towns some old guys came along commenting what an amazing bike I had… I felt just like a Ferrari owner getting his kicks from other men admiring his equipment.

Tomorrow the weather is expected to be “biblical” so I’m super excited.

Lunch

After Fidenza, I departed completely from the usual Via Francigena because 1) It looked like great off road cycling by the south side of the Taro and 2) The official route is hilly.

First stop and lunch was Noceto. Definitely worth a detour. Great food, cafes and an interesting castle.

Afternoon

I headed over the river from Noceto and joined up with the Via Francigena (the variant that comes from Parma). I think this is quite a new route but was well signposted and fun off road on the bike.

First up is a big gravel factory or something like that.

Overnight: Chateau de la Garenne

Another pleasant B&B without the host… you just type in a code to get a key. Only two rooms so very small. There is a restaurant up the road but was closed (I think because of Covid).

  • A loaded touring bicycle with a lit front light standing in the dim lobby of the Ostello Teatro hostel, chairs and pigeonholes stacked behind it.
  • A green Via Francigena waymarker post on a town street at dusk, its pilgrim-and-arrow signs pointing the route past parked motorhomes and a row of streetlamps.
  • A tarmac cycle path curving beside a guardrail-lined road as pylons stand silhouetted against a fiery orange sunset.
    There’s quite a few industrial km to get outside of Piacenza.
  • A line of red MAN lorries with headlights on, queued on a rural road at dusk beside a triangular warning sign.
    It wasn’t fun cycling this bit.
  • Large clods of freshly ploughed clay soil in the foreground, with farm buildings and an electricity pylon in the distance under a pale evening sky.
  • A cycle path running alongside a wildflower meadow towards a small town silhouetted against a golden sunrise, a construction crane visible on the skyline.
  • A brick medieval tower and an adjoining fortified building rise above a canal and dense trees, with a power line and pole in the foreground.
    Lots of old castles. All of today was Emilia-Romagna.
  • A weathered stone and brick farmhouse wall with shuttered windows and an old dark wooden door beneath a tiled awning, framed by climbing vines.
  • The twin-towered brick facade of Fidenza Cathedral with its ornate rose window, seen across an empty piazza at dusk.
  • A view through a level-crossing style mesh fence down onto a railway line running beside a busy motorway with queued lorries and cars.
  • A loaded orange gravel bike parked in a cobbled square below the brick clock tower and cathedral facade of Fidenza.
    Fidenza
  • A gravel track through open scrubland dotted with yellow wildflowers, hazy blue hills rising on the horizon.
    Noceto
  • A white Via Francigena Roma signpost pointing along a dirt track beside a fenced field, with hills fading into haze in the distance.
  • A stony dry riverbed path threading between clumps of yellow-flowering broom, with hazy hills on the horizon.
  • An industrial spill site rising above trees beside a moat, seen from a grassy path.
  • A weathered wooden door beneath a tiled canopy on an old stone farmhouse, its walls thick with climbing grapevine.
    The trucks coming and going from the factory actually cross the river to get there.
  • The brick facade and clock tower of Fiorenzuola d'Arda's parish church rising over a quiet piazza, with cafe tables and diners in the corner.
    There’s a different vibe to the flora here.
  • A wire mesh safety fence framing a view down onto a motorway jammed with lorries and cars running parallel to a railway line.
  • A loaded orange gravel bike propped against a stone fountain in a piazza, with a clock tower and church facade behind.
  • A loaded orange gravel bike with a Bish! Bash! Bosh! frame decal leaning against a metal rail beneath a tall crenellated brick tower.
  • A slate board of sliced cured meats and wedges of hard cheese laid out for a snack, with a fork resting across the plate.
  • A tussocky grass bank beside a gravel track, with a crash barrier marking a road above and dense scrub beyond.
  • A yellow tower crane rising above trees beside a wooded gravel path, seen looking upward through overhanging branches.
  • A dusty tipper lorry passing a wooden Via Francigena waymarker on a wide gravelled riverbed track lined with trees.
  • Looking down over loaded drop handlebars and a cycling computer showing route data, beside a gravel track edged with thick green vegetation.
  • Supermarket shelves stacked with Italian beer, including boxed bottles of Ichnusa, Tennent's Super and Heineken, each with euro price tags.
  • A dry gravel riverbed path leading towards a hillside village of stone houses tucked beneath wooded slopes.
  • Two rows of young vine-trained trees running down a mown hillside pasture towards a wooded valley and distant farm buildings.
  • A pale gravel path winding through scrubby hillside bushes, with a low dry-stone retaining wall running alongside.
    The hay fields over the river from the back of the B&B (this isn’t the view from the B&B unfortunately… that’s more like a couple of sheds).
  • A prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich on a plate beside a bottle of Pedra Rua craft beer, set on a wrought-iron table.
  • A traditional stone farmhouse with pale blue shutters and doors, its walls draped in a trained grapevine, beside a quiet road.