There are a few basic truths to cycling.One is that if you put fenders on your bike - which is a real time-consuming and frustrating pain - you can guarantee that it will not rain.This held true despite many threatening days in the first 2 weeks based out of Lucca.  But yesterday Fender Karma ran out and I barely made it through the drizzle to the hotel before the downpour set in.This morning I wasn't so lucky.  I woke up to sunny skies, and halfway to my destination was grumbling and grouching and considering turning around and going back to Parma as I stood in the mud under a tree by the side of the road as it poured. The weather has been very spring-like since I've been in Italy.  One day it's beautiful and warm and sunny and the next the temperature drops 20 degrees and it's rain.  But that's what happens when you travel in the shoulder season ... you get the benefit of fewer tourists and lower prices.  But you might also get wet.Despite today's rain I pressed on south towards the town of Langhirano - which is in the foothills of the Apennines mountains and the farming and culinary center of Parma's prosciutto.  Conveniently they have a Prosciutto museum there which meticulously takes you through numerous photos and videos of the history of Parma's ham starting from the Roman, with lots of dead pig visuals, and ending with modern production.  This is not a museum for the squeamish.Apparently this region is good for the ham (butt and hind leg of the pig) because of the natural attributions of the soil and water of the region.  North of Parma where the land is flat near San Segundo where I rode yesterday the terrior is favorable for the