So far we’ve had a reasonably wet ride across Europe but today we got a taste of what we could have for the rest of the summer, and we’re not sure which we prefer! The part of Italy we’re in at the moment is sweltering; hot and muggy. A sign in one town we passed […] Read More »
Archive | Journal Entries
70km Baudenasca to Sant’ Antonio
The sun finally came out and followed us throughout the day as we rolled through Italian farmland and the vineyards that produce some of the country’s great wines like Barolo. Now out of the rainy Alps, it really felt like we’d arrived in Italy: the houses covered in red clay tiles and frescoes, the turretted […] Read More »
76km Cesana Torinese to Baudenasca
We made the most of our luxury night in the hotel, sleeping in late, eating a huge breakfast (coffee, juice, croissants, bread, jam, nutella, museli, bananas and cherries) and taking two showers each. Then we practiced the art of dawdling as we packed up, waiting for the skies to clear. No such luck. The rain […] Read More »
66km La Grave to Cesana Torinese
Two mountain peaks, two countries…. was it too much for one day? We started out fresh after a great night’s sleep; it was so peaceful camping in a field full of Alpine wildflowers and beside a rushing river. By mid-morning we’d covered 10km of switchbacks and found ourselves cruising over the Col du Lautaret at […] Read More »
39km Le Rivier d’Ornon to La Grave
There’s nothing like successive days of mountain passes to test your fitness. We thought we were in pretty good shape after so many months of cycling around Europe and Morocco but today our thighs were throbbing as we headed out on the road towards the Col du Lautaret, our second-to-last major pass before we cross […] Read More »