Week 3

Day 15

13th July , Sanremo - Genoa

Saturday 13th July. San Remo to Genoa - the Italian Rivera. A good start to the day as we cycled along a lovely flat cycle route part of the famous San Remo bike race. Then along the undulating and stunning Italian Rivera through the sea side towns and along the coast sometimes climbing the steep hills with views down to the sea. Through lots of tunnels where disappointingly the Wahoos went onto "ride pause" conning us out of precious distance . Weaving in and out of the traffic with the Italian drivers in a hurry to get to the beach. Through Alassio where in the 70’s (I was very young) we went on a family holiday where we hired a bus which transported family and friends to Italy for 2 weeks camping. Taking everything with us including water and bacon (you do have to be careful)!
Finished the day with a very steep climb to a camp site in Genoa.

Day 16.

14th July; Genoa - La Spezia

Genova to just outside Le Spezia, Sunday 14th July. You know it's hot when an Italian tells you in the queue for the loo - its really hot today. We left Genova early morning (having tried to sleep in a surround sound tent - very noisy campsite) and by the time we left the city it was in the 30s (degrees not genre).

There was very little beach today. Every time we got near another climb appeared which took us into the mountains. We did two really hard climbs and I was sitting at the top and wondering whether I needed a saline drip to replace lost bodily fluid and hoping that was the climbing over for the day when we made the mistake of looking at the profile for the ride only to be horrified to see a monster climb taking us from sea level to over 600 metres- with steep bits (the two climbs we had done looked like mere pimples on the profile). We fortified ourselves with big lumps of focaccia and set off. It took along time but we finally arrived at the top- except it wasn't the top and we continued up again. Down the other side finally. Stopped when it started to get dark and hauled up in the Italian equivalent of a swirly carpet B and B.

Day 17

15th July; La Spezia - Marcignana

Monday 15th July. On route to almost Florence. After a hearty breakfast of coco pops and “steri”- milk we set off for the day’s ride. It was raining! In true British fashion the weather is never perfect. Yesterday was too hot. Today it was too wet - but to be fair the rain was torrential.

We headed down into Le Spezia through a series of tunnels which were very long and mesmerizing with the flashing lights. Le Spezia is industrial and we headed past a naval base looking for the beach. The roads were slippery and we were drenched by vehicles throwing tidal waves at us as they past us by.

We stopped at a lovely bike shop to blow up the tires - which felt better. Along the beach - where momentarily it stopped raining. Raz had a go as pilot (on the front) - on the basis it was a cycle path, there where no precipitous drops or rivers and no traffic. Apart from scaring a few children merrily cycling along it was quite successful. Onto Pisa to see the famous tower - which is amazing. A few snaps at the tower with thundered and lightening overhead then retreated to a cafe for hot chocolate. Then hard ride in the pouring rain to warm up and get to an Air BnB!

Day 18.

16th July ; Marcignana - Santa Lucia

Tuesday 16th July Florence and on route to Bologna. Finally dried out in an Air BNB where the lovely Alessandro took pity on us and cooked us pasta (no cauliflower). On route to Florence. Excited to see the city. VO2 Max hill before breakfast and we arrived. Amazing buildings in a beautiful setting by the river. The amazing Duomo with its intricate carving and the statues outside the Uffizi Gallery. We road through the streets (pedestrian area) on Alice (tandem)! - scattering the tourists in every direction. We also went to the market (with Alice) and had the best pizza so far. It's always at the end of the day when something happens. We had planned a shorter ride - Camping near a lake before a big climb to Bologna. It was not to be. Non existent campsite took us up and up. Finally arrived (different campsite) near the top of the 10k climb exhausted but a good day

Day 19

17th July; Santa Lucia tp Ferrara

Wednesday 17th July - Bologna and beyond. After a hard climb we had a leisurely breakfast of coffee and croissants whilst a cleaning lady sweep up dust which formed a lovely sheen on the froth. Although we thought most of the climbing was done, there was still a steep climb to the top of the pass which was rewarded by fantastic views. The alpine scenery and cooler temperatures were lovely.

We started an undulating descent into Bologna. Slight medical emergency when Raz couldn’t find the end of her hearing aid (antenna) and thought it was stuck in her ear!. Long wait in A&E for a Doctor to look - clearly no one else was capable - we were told we must wait world record or no record. Thanks for the concern of the spot watchers who saw we were at the hospital. Got the all clear and cycled around the maze of Bologna streets before heading out on the road to Ferrara. Lovely evening light - I was very excited to see a Bittern (Raz less so) and we both excited to see an Otter.

Arrived in Ferrara allegedly the city of cyclists for camping with a very strict women running the site reminiscent of a tea shop incident in Lincolnshire (the story of which is for another time).

Day 20

18th July; Ferrara to Venice

Thursday 18 July. Ferrara to Venice. Set off from the City of Cyclists fuelled by coffee having finally been allowed out of the campsite at 8am sharp. We were told the 4 minute wait - even though the “strict lady” was in her office was necessary. Today was a flat ride passing water ways and fields on route to Venice. A puncture slowed us down but we stopped at a garage to drink expresso whilst we changed the back wheel - picking bits of glass out of the tire.

It was amazing to get a tweet from Doddie Weir in support of our ride - a lovely boost. On again... the approach to Venice was frenetic - the dock land area full of massive lorries thundering by. Alice (tandem) through a bag off in disgust as we went over a particular big pot hole. We found the cycle path and the ride into Venice over the bridge was truly magical. The old building juxtaposition with a massive cruise liner - bigger than the whole of Venice moored in the bay. We arrived in Venice and enjoyed sitting at the edge of a canal just watching the world go by. The journey out was beautiful too - the sun was setting on the still waters as we left the magical city. A good day in the saddle.

Day 21

19th July; Vennice to Trieste

Friday 19th July. Venice to Trieste. Left the lovely campsite with fond memories of beautiful Venice. The day’s ride was flat but long with a climb at the end. We made good progress along straight and long but sometimes busy roads counting down the mileage until Trieste stopping for coffee, supermarket shopping, to faff with Alice (tandem) - all the usual stuff. We finally, after about 80 miles, hit the coast again.

It was so nice to be by a new sea the Adriatic. The road into Trieste is really spectacular- views along the coast, castles, beaches and marinas all close to the Slovenian border. We were 90 miles into the ride and we were both hungry.

We headed out of town into the red light area (not on purpose) in search of a campsite (strangely there don’t seem to be many campsites in the red light district). We took a wrong turn on to the motor way (2 level roads) and quickly took a minor road into a residential area. Like a mirage in front of us we saw another tandem outside a spaghetti house. We headed for it. Large bowl of pasta later plus pictures - we headed for a BnB recommended by the restaurant. We found ourselves trapped in the bar with the whole village asking us in Italian (actually they could have been saying anything) about the ride, Alice, how far we had come (we have now cycled more than 1500 miles)! Finally escaped and headed for bed exhausted. Day off today. Raz needs to cut her toe nails. Not sure we’ll have time for anything else.