Spedaliccho Spun

Strava positions

Our final positions for the ride: Ted is 46th, Matt is 48th and Jon is 49th out of 59,692 people who have entered the Strava challenge for August. 

The end of the ride (Matt blogging on Sian's phone)

We made it! We passed the final ordeals of punctures, biting flies and riding road bikes on gravel (including Ted falling off 500m from the house)

Over 16 days we've cycled 1915km, eaten 40 breakfasts, used 56,000 k calories (& almost certainly consumed more), suffered 12 punctures, 1 trashed tyre, 1 car incident and remained good friends. The support team have been fantastic, putting up with our endless stats, providing Thunderbird support and reminding us of Rule 5 often enough to keep us going.  

Downhill all the way

After a 10km, 300m climb we've hit the top of the pass, it's downhill all the way from here.  

Oh, but no, I was wrong, as soon as I blogged this we had 100m of downhill followed by miles of uphill, bad call. Oh and then Jon shredded his tyre, we managed an emergency fix to get us to the bottom of the hill so Thunderbird 2 could come to our aid with a spare. Leaving Sian in Thunderbird 4 in the Coop doing the shopping. Kudos to Sian, she got the worst job. 

Day 16 Arrivaderci Bagno, Buongiorno La Selva

100km (ish) to go....

Last day!

Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, it's almost over.

Go boys!

Strictly Bagno

We've stumbled across a dance show in the main piazza in Bagno. It's fantastic. I'm reminded of the Katherine show in the Northern Territories, we're in the middle of nowhere and everyone is out for an evening's entertainment. 

 

Team aperitivi

Anne flew out to Bologna this morning to join us for the last couple of days. The aperativi at the Piccola bar are outstanding and the mojitos are pretty good as well.  

Strava-tastic

For the velominati among you I'm posting our Strava ranking for August, 58,733 people have entered and we are currently ranked 50th in the world. We'll check again tomorrow when we finish the ride (huzzah!). 

Bagno bathing

The boys pushed on another 30km from the planned RV, all of it up hill, to Bagno di Romagna where we're staying tonight. This statue is in the middle of the roundabout as you enter the town. Not sure what Ted is doing with his hand, but they all seemed keen for a dip.

We're staying at a boutique hotel, it's completely lovely, except for our room decoration. 

The owner appears to have a gnome fixation, there are 10 in our room. On the plus side there is a massage bath, Matt is still in there after 30 minutes, I suspect he will be very relaxed tonight. 

The biggest doughnut in Imola...

Another beautiful day, with progress only spoilt by a spate of punctures. So second breakfast in Imola, where Ted has

purchased the biggest cakes in Town!

Penultimate second breakfast

Imola, no racing cars yet.

Once more unto the breach dear friends...

The lads set off once again after a good breakfast. 

Day 15, up to the Apennines

The sun is just rising and we're off to the mountains today. The first part of the ride will be pretty dull, 80km along the SS9 Roman road to Forli, but then we start heading up. We'll do half the climb today and the rest tomorrow and I'm actually really looking forward to corners and hills again. 

A lovely evening in Bologna

The last time we were here it was our honeymoon and things have changed (for the city not us). It is now pedestrianised, cleaned and quiet, a real joy at night. 

We've had a lovely supper at a restaurant bursting with regional specialities and are poddling back to the hotel. Tomorrow is our penultimate day and our last on the boring planes of the Po valley. 

Lunch in Bologna

Another win for the girls as we negotiated the streets of Bologna with ease and still had

time for a perfect, people watching lunch.

Arrival in Bologna

The boys arrived after the restaurants had stopped serving, however Landi and I managed to have a lovely lunch and procured savoury snacks to keep them fuelled. We're staying in Piazza Galileo right in the middle of the city, it's another pedestrian centre so beautifully quiet. The ride today was another 150km, but was completed nearly an hour faster than the previous day, it just shows what a difference the weather makes. It's ferragosto today, a massive public holiday and Bologna is deserted, however I'm sure people will reappear for passeggiata. 

Second breakfast day 14

Going well for a change. 

Day 14, Cremona to Bologna, revived by good weather

We're at our second breakfast, 55km in and all is well. It's a lovely day and a public holiday here so the roads are quiet and good. Yesterday's nightmare ride is a distant memory. 

Three Stages to Go!

With just 3 stages to go and 1530km in the bank (and hopefully passing the 1000 mile point tomorrow!!), here is the remaining challenge in blue...

Man alive, what a tower

I

Apparently this is the highest bell tower in Europe at 112.27m. After a very damp day it's a lovely evening and Cremona cathedral is beautiful at night. We've had a super dinner and are now enjoying gelati at the cafe on the corner of the cathedral palazzo. Like many of the places we've stayed on this trip that are off the beaten track, Cremona has been a very pleasant surprise and well worth a visit. The centre is free of traffic, most people move around on bikes (of which we clearly approve), there are lots of squares with cafes and everyone is very friendly. Finally, and probably most importantly, Cremona is the home of Stradivarius and you can barely move for statues of the fellow. (There are two - S.)

Aperol aperitivi

It's aperitivi time again so we decided on team lurid drinks of Aperol and soda. More orangey and sweeter than Campari and a colour that is not found in nature. Much like Ted's top.

Slightly (ha ha) damp arrival

Appalling conditions, but great pasta awaits.

Hotel Duomo, great hospitality

The entire hotel staff has been out in the pouring rain to help damsels in distress with their luggage.  And now they've brought us aperitivi!  They are expecting the arrival of three drenched cyclists later.

Wish I had an umbrella...

Despite an extra early start to avoid the heat, our attempts to pack the miles in have been thwarted by a torrent of rain, thunder and lightening! Possibly the hardest day yet...

We even had to take cover in a railway station shelter!

Day 13, unlucky for some - on the way to Cremona

We left on time at 6 and have been ploughing through storms of biblical proportion. We had to shelter at a train station at one point because the road was flooded. This is not the best day for cycling....

Stone Schwacking

So, our host, Guido had a trophy for Stone Schwacking (not really sure of the English for this activity). It involves the stone (each of which costs c10Eu!) being tipped so it lifts of the ground/base and hit on the volley. Stones can travel up to 180m and a game can last 4hrs! Apparently it involves a lot of alcohol!

Cooling off

 Cooling off with a lunchtime paddle in the lake at Viverone.

Vercelli

We managed a cracking pace from lunch to Vercelli and covered the 30km only 20 minutes slower than the girls in the car. After a cold bath and sitting in aircon for a couple of hours I almost feel human again, it hit 35 degrees on the way here and we are currently working out how early we can set off tomorrow. Current plan is 6am, today we left at 7 and covered the 135km here in 5 hours, tomorrow we have 145km across the pancake flat planes of the Po valley. 

Forte di Bard

Forte di Bard in the Aosta Valley, this structure was built in 1830, but earlier castles have controlled the route between France and Italy for centuries.

Day 12, into the valley of heat

After a quick photo with our hosts we headed down hill into the Po valley. It was a spectacularly beautiful ride zigzagging down the mountain side followed by a bit of a schlep along the Roman roads that will be our home for the next three days. We're now having lunch by Lake Veverone before our final run into Vercelli this afternoon. It is very hot in the Po valley, but at least we are now in the land of gelati. 

What a way to start the day!

Bella Italia

After the up came the down, we dropped 1200m over 30km to our lovely B&B in Allein, 10km from Aosta. In fact we had to go into Aosta to get emergency spares for my bike after a very worrying downhill. 

We were hanging out on the terrace taking in the spectacular views and then our host took us into his cantina

and offered us his herbal concoction. It turned our to be lovely, especially accompanied by his cured venison, all in all a great end to the day and start to the evening. 

When you hit the top you have to stop

Ted is King of the mountain, he earned the spotted jersey this morning on our 2000m climb up to the St Bernard pass. It was quite a busy road and it just kept on going up, but we got there in the end and we are enjoying our picnic lunch by the lake. I'm glad we did it, but even more pleased its over. 

Day 11, quite a bit of uphill today...

The Alps are ahead, 30km of road and 2000m of climb to the Col St Bernard.

Down time

We've had a lovely day off the bikes. Jon had to do some work, so Dan took us into Nyon for lunch. We're bike fettling now so that we're as prepared as possible for tomorrow's ordeal: a 30km ride climbing to 2500m over the Grand Saint Bernard pass. 

A relaxing evening in Geneva with Anne

We only did a shortish ride today so Anne and myself have snuck off to Geneva for the evening to see the Geneva Festival fireworks, eat in a traditional Swiss, cheesy (literally), restaurant and do some touristy Sunday stuff.

and relax

I've just finished fixing my bike, but it wasn't easy; I had to mod a new spoke and bend the mech hanger, I just hope it all holds for the rest of the ride. We now have a day off with our friends Dan and Steph and are discussing activities for tomorrow. I think a swim in the lake and a lazy lunch sound just the ticket. Jon has plotted the ride so far and to go: 

We've made good progress and only have 748km to go! 

Spoke-a-doke, the end of the ride

We finished the ride 2km earlier than planned in Martigny when Matt's front wheel sprung a spoke. Spares are back at Dan & Steph's so no worries.

At least we managed to finish by a cafe in time for a cheeky beer. 

Coffee by the lake

Boys setting a cracking pace, they've caught up with us at our coffee spot.

First crash, Jon and the R8

Classic low speed collision as the lady in the R8 opened her door on Jon. Man, bike and car all OK except for a few scuffs and grazes.  

Day 10, Clear air by Lake Geneva

A short, fairly flat day ahead.

60km morning ride along the lake in the sunshine, life ain't too bad. 

Day 9, done. A jolly good day

We finished the day after 130km by the lake on the way to Montreux. We have a short 60km ride tomorrow which we should be able to polish off by lunchtime so we can enjoy the day with Anne who flys out to join us tonight. 

The French/Swiss border

The boys climbed to 1260m to come over the mountains to Switzerland. 

Inevitably we had to have a photo with Ted in France, Jon in Switzerland and Matt on the border. Journey was lovely with beautiful scenery, smashing weather and cows with bells on.