Out Cycling Around Galliate

Cycling around Galliate © OnsStories.com

The Dutchman and I often go cycling on the farm roads around our town and then also in the Ticino Park (bordering our town) there are special cycle/pedestrian paths among the trees which also lead to the banks of the Ticino River. It is such a pleasurable outing, young and old make use of these paths. Sometimes we sit just anywhere along the path and have ourselves a mini picnic or we have a coffee at the bar on the river bank.

Whilst out cycling on one lovely sunny day we stopped a while next to the road to rest and eat our ice cream that we had bought earlier. The fields have been ploughed ready for planting, the canals ready for the water when the flood gates are opened to flood the rice fields. Every here and there someone’s on a tractor busy turning the ground upside down.

Cycling through these fields, seeing the farmers busy preparing for planting gives one a sense of expectation, of what the land would look like in a couple of months. The rice fields that will be flooded soon will eventually look like a green blanket, inviting you to come sit down. But don’t be fooled underneath the “blanket” the ground is soggy, wet. All around you can see the birds enjoying the feast that the tractors have uncovered, and in the flooded rice fields other birds are hunting for their favorite delicacy – frogs. Further along the paths you’d see someone walking with a bucket towards the canals, this means competition for the birds and their froggish – delicacy.

Going downhill towards the riverbank is exhilarating. It’s a steep downhill road turning gently to the right towards the end then onward towards the trees and the river, the going down is quick, the wind wizzing past your ears, long hair that’s not tied up get re-arranged according to the wind choice not yours. But ,oh my, the going back up…. I’ve tried pedaling but gave up after the first 20 metres, got off the bicycle and walk the rest of the way, reaching to top of the uphill about 10-15 minutes later huffing and puffing….only to go back and to do it again the next week.

There are numerous spots where you can take the most beautiful photos, The Dutchman never goes out there without his camera. One Sunday morning we rode along the river and there was this little family of swans, mom was sitting on the nest that was built on a mini island in the river where the water was very shallow and quite still, and dad was out looking for food. Then something caught my eye that I thought was kind of strange… there was a cat standing in the shallow water between the reeds, miracles never cease to happen, do they?

We moved on and started to ride back home following a different path when we came to a popular spot where there was a kind of “suspension” bridge well needless to say the Dutchman wanted us to go across it pushing the bicycles but I got cold feet when I got to the part where the bridge starts to move and promptly turned around much to his disappointment. Now do you really think I would go walking across a bridge that’s swinging , even if it was just moving slightly, high above some small rapids in the river below?

We then retraced our steps and returned home via the main cycle path through the park. Once we got home we were rather tired but were looking forward to our next outing on the cycles in the Park.

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