Solo walk of 61.9km for a nice coffee in Pinerolo(Italy).

Coffee in Pinerolo, bar in Piazza Cavour.

 

Today's solo walk was not so premeditated, as I realized that I had a free Saturday and so on with the idea of COFFEE IN PINEROLO... My usual obsession.

Map there and back.

 

I went down to the courtyard at 7:24 am (04/08/2023), and shortly after the start of the walk, already tinkering with videos, photos, and whatever else!

The kilometers on the way passed quickly, discovering some peculiarities of the 'Via della Pietra' cycle path that still eluded me. For example, the small bridge at the entrance to Barge with an outlet near the ITT factory parking lot. From there, I took the road that goes from the 'Il Giardino' restaurant in San Martino towards the Barge countryside, and then re-entered the cycle path on the section of the old railway.

 

A point on the 'Via della Pietra' cycle path.

We then continue for a very long straight road, passing through the towns of Bagnolo, Bibiana countryside only, Campiglione, and then the center of Bricherasio. The most beautiful passage of the stretch was that of the 'Ponte Pellice' used as a track and reassigned to the cycle path. Many people, especially near Bricherasio. Cyclists were the majority.

A curious building near Bibiana.

I wanted to stop by and say hello to my mother who lives there, but she was away, so I continued, although on my return, I realized that a friend lived near the passage, so I went to say hello to him... I stopped at the edge of the gate for less than a minute.

After Bricherasio, which I crossed passing through the center, I began to travel on country roads, crossing the town of San Secondo di Pinerolo. From here on, there are not many kilometers left, and in no time, I was in front of the Miradolo Castle, and shortly after the overpass, I found myself next to the Pinerolese Civil Hospital.

A cycle path near San Secondo di Pinerolo.

Heading towards Piazza Cavour and a few moments of rest at the bar waiting for coffee. A ritual photo after 3 hours and 56 minutes to cover those just over 30km.

It always affects me to see 'city' people walking around the city, I wonder what they think of someone poorly dressed, with sticks and a backpack on their shoulders running slowly among the sidewalks...?!

Fields on the way...

I resumed the return journey (identical) and realized that I had forgotten to eat for the entire journey! I made up for it with three snacks in the hours after heading home. One while walking, the other sitting on a stone at the edge of the cycle path, and the last, the most beautiful, sitting in a field adjacent to the cycle path just outside Barge towards Envie (the one I paid the most for, as it was the longest of all, and my legs felt like wood afterwards). How I love to eat on adventure wherever I am!

The pace after the last snack had slowed down significantly. I was around the 50th kilometer and after that break, when I started again, my legs felt heavy and sluggish. I hadn't stopped for very long, but I believe the reason for this was that I hadn't covered 60km on foot until that day. It's no coincidence that the first 30km were "fresh," given that in my previous outings, I had covered distances only slightly shorter than the Olona. I'm certain that with the proper rest, the next time will definitely be better, especially since I will have already covered that distance in this previous occasion.

I took a GPS snapshot.

In the end, I completed the entire adventure on foot in 9 hours, 0 minutes, and 58 seconds, covering a distance of 61.9km (although it's not entirely clear why there's a bit of a discrepancy between the GPS watch and the phone?!), with an average speed of 6.8km/h. I alternated between 5 minutes of running and 5 minutes of walking for most of the time, except for occasional moments of recovery due to snacks, photos, or videos, when I opted for 7 minutes of running and 3 of walking. All in all, it went well. Solo outings are always a mix of adventure and training for me. Mostly adventure, given that I've been studying at home for the past five years...

 

At the end of it all, I was completely exhausted.

Now that the third edition of the good old book "Ultratrailwith Mono-Training" is out, I'm planning more excursions to maximize the spread of my work, which in this occasion includes special tips for managing long-distance walks for people over forty.

I'll close by saying that ever since I finished my ultratrail racing period, I've been contemplating whether to resume competing or to continue with solo feats. I received an invitation to participate in a race in October 2023, but I'm undecided; I really enjoy solo outings! I think I could do both, but it will be my upcoming work commitments that will ultimately decide.

Video Live YouTube:

GPS track with WikiLoc:

https://it.wikiloc.com/percorsi-escursionismo/envie-pinerolo-e-ritorno-da-orologio-gps-130925042

 

 

 

Below is the detail of the reference links related to my ultratrail and trail articles:

Very long distances | Routes | Competitions | Solo adventures | Publications | Training strategy | UltraTrail eBook  

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