LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 39 Due Cappuccini Per Favore: Italy by Bike and Rail Article and Photos by Eric Adsit Love is a strange thing. It changes you, or maybe what I mean by that is it allows you to change yourself. For most of my life, I've identified as an outdoor dirtbag – someone so passionate about spending time on the river or in the mountains, they're willing to forego the luxuries of things like indoor plumbing, an actual bed, or food that was never dehydrated. I appreciated those things, of course, but I wasn't above sleeping in a par- tially finished garage for a few months to save money for my next kayaking trip. You can imagine my surprise when I found myself in a Roman spa, sipping an aperol spritz in a snow-white robe. As David Byrne put it, "You may ask yourself, how did I get here? " By our third date, Rhiannon knew she would end up marrying me. I'm not bragging here, she's just someone who knows things. On that date, we talked about our "non-negotiables," the core principles we knew we needed from a part- ner in order to share a future. Three years, two career changes, a house, a wedding, and a new hip for Rhian- non later, we were hitched and talking about how to spend our honeymoon. Italy was an easy choice. We had heard her parents, who met in the northern Italian city of Vicenza, wax poetic about the food, the scenery, and romance for years. We also knew if there's one time you get to splurge a little, it's your honeymoon. Like the Adirondacks, April is the shoulder season in Italy. It was too early for swimming in the Med and still pretty wintery in the Dolomites. That meant flights and accommodations were surprisingly affordable, but it also meant having to think a little more critically about what we'd actually do there. At the end of a long Adirondack winter, we ruled out the idea of skiing, but quickly landed on mountain bik- ing in Finale Ligure. It just made sense. We met at the Wilmington Mountain Bike Festival (thanks BETA!), I proposed at the top of All-In in the Hardy trail network (for the pun, obviously), and we got married at Mt. Pis- gah (unfortunately not astride bikes). Why not carry forward the mountain bike theme? As the brains of this partnership, Rhiannon tackled our itinerary with masterful fervor. We'd go from the culinary and cultural of Rome to the quiet and nostal- gic Vicenza, on to the steep and seaside singletrack of Finale Ligure, and back again over about 12 days. But first, we had to get there. One thing we didn't discuss in our conversation about Mountain bikers weave through the narrow streets of Finalborgo.

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