Commute to school

Dusted off the Trek 1220 my friend Clint gave me a few years ago and headed for school in Pordenone, 28 km away.  It was overcast and quite cool, but I soon heated up and started shedding layers and stuffing them in my rucksack ( I need to install a rack).   The bike rode quite smoothly and felt fast on the slight downgrade.  

After San Quirino I foolishly went into a little roundabout too fast and slid down.  No damage done- I'll blame the tires, which are quite old.  Maybe they've lost their grip (or have I?)  I soon arrived at the school, took out my cell phone to check the time, and realized I had arrived an hour early.  Now what to do- I decided to try to find a dog park near the Noncello River which a young lady in my class had mentioned.  It was fun riding around town- there are bike lanes everywhere, but I'm afraid I've gotten rusty on the rules.  An older fellow on a city bike with pushrod brakes dinged his bell at me so he could pass as I was gawking at the city sights.  Later I was crossing the river on a 4-lane street bridge, and noticed there was an adjacent bridge only for bikes.  A passing motorist hooted his horn to emphasize my transgression.   I finally found the park which is in the river bottom of the Noncello.  Very pretty- I'll have to bring the pups down here for a walk someday.  

Back to school, then after the 2-hour class I started home.  It's a gentle upward gradient, only 270 meters in 28km, but it's just enough to give you some resistance to push against.  Excellent training- hope we'll have many more dry days so I can commute in coming months.  I arrived home after another 1.5 hours, plenty of time to shower and eat before my annual MRI at the Cro.  My radiologist decided not to use contrast dye, saving me €200.  All in all, a good day.

Our school, Odorico Mattiussi (named for a local priest who visited China in 1300,
our version of Marco Polo); pic taken on a sunny day a few weeks ago

The best compromise between light traffic and distance
I could come up with