This ride is one of the most satisfying and safest I've experienced. In fact I am sure the Italians have used tarmac originally meant for their roads (which are repaired in a kind of patchwork style) and used it on their cycle paths. We saw a cleaning crew mowing, whipper snipping and sweeping the path yesterday (I know!).
Pathways are signposted with towns and distances, unlike Belgium (where they use a complicated unknown numbering system) or Holland (a confusing over signposted network of paths) or France (where paths can start and then disappear). The path runs alongside the Adige River, a route used for transport since the Middle Ages. Sure it's not all that adventurous but it's fun and visually spectacular. Lots of people take the ride through the valley to Venice under various guises. There's day trippers, road racers and mountain bikers. We drafted off as many people as we could to keep it interesting, including one guy who helped us cruise along at a nifty 34km/hr for a dozen kilometres or so.
We saw several 'fellow' cyclists (I use the term loosely) at breakfast this morning including one woman who was wearing white Knicks and a baby pink t-shirt, both completely see-through, while the rest of her party were wearing socks and sandals. Wonder what everyone is saying about us. Ha!