But it was a hard final day's cycling. I managed to get some help from the hotel and the tourist office re. route instructions, which compensated for the lack of a proper cycling map. A driving map had to suffice - which wasn't too bad since I cycled along a lot of quiet roads - avoiding big ones like the plague! I met Fabio in Bagnolo and asked him for some directions. He was so impressed by the trip, he showed me the route by driving ahead of me for a while. It felt like doing one of those time trials in the Tour de France!
The main problem was the heat since I set off so late. Apart from consuming about 5 litres of water and pouring it on my head and back to cool down, I had to stop three times at cafes because I was beginning to feel a little dizzy. At least I got to see the first half of Rangers v Chelsea in one bar...
As I traveled south, the land became more arid and the colours more earthy - apart from an encouraging amount of tomato plantations. In my mind, they were all for that prized plate of spaghetti bolognese awaiting me in town.
Eventually after over 100 km, I could see Bologna in the distance, with the hazy Apennines on the horizon. Good thing I don't need to climb them. As I got closer into town, there was a distinctly ashy smell in the air and soon enough, smoke from two fires was visible - which was surprising so close to a major city, but it was one of the hottest days of my trip. I saw one of those extinguishing helicopters head towards the scene.
It took me a long time to get to the centre and find my hotel, so I was more tired than euphoric when I arrived. That changed when I got some food inside me. I also met Nikos from Crete, who runs a Greek bar near my hotel. He gave me a couple of free beers to celebrate.
The reward: Pasta ain't never tasted so good
Actually, "tagliatelle ai ragu" is the more authentic version of what we call "spag bol". Thanks again to Ali for helping me find the perfect place to eat.
So that's that: I have fulfilled my dream of crossing the Alps by bike and can be a mild mannered janitor again until the next adventure calls. I have 24 hours to discover Bologna before catching the night train to Munich.
Today's run: 125 km
Tour recap: Wittenberg-Torgau-Meissen-Decin-Prague-Kamyk-Zvikov-Frymburk-Obermuehl-Passau-Braunau-Kraiburg-Rosenheim-Kufstein-Innsbruck-Landeck-Reschen-Meran-Rovereto-Verona-Mantova-Bologna
Total for the trip: 1842 km (which is much shorter than Goole Earth predicted, but we did take a few short cuts - I'm not complaining, it feels like the perfect time to stop).
Oh yes, today for the very first time, my bum actually did feel sore.
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3 comments:
Well done, Ben!!!!! You are a star, you are!!!! What a momentous achievement. Woher hast Du nur die Ausdauer?? (Nicht von mir!)
Thanks for all the blogs; they gave us both a great link to you and your adventures. Vorsprung durch Technik.
Have a super trip home. Hopefully you'll get some sleep in the train.
Speek to you when we are back from France. Love Rene/Mum and Peter
Congratulations! what an amazing trip. (couldn't keep up with the final installments, was in web free zone in spain on hols - you can just imagine how twitchy I get!)
And thank the lord the pasta was good!! Imagine!
Sounds like a fab trip and an amazing experience! Love the bank robbery bit - how cool is that!
Sounds like the weather - both windy and hot - and the hills provided some real challenges, and I'm sure an amazing sense of achievment. Well done.
Interesting to see that your chariot finally developed a fault after all those miles. Cool story to explain the Italian wheel. I'm still waiting for the next spoke to go on mine (5 in total so far), although the High Beech trip wouldn't have helped!
Managed to avoid the bikers, but dicovered how bad these bikes are 'off-road'! Don't do it! certainly not without a different set of tyres!!
Hope you're relaxing and enjoying a beer or two! Catch up some time soon.
neil
Cheers Nils!
I'm feeling great and was able to dig out some of my old clothes now my beer belly is a little smaller - nice. I'm sure it'll all be back to normal by Christmas. ;-)
I wonder whether you should just get a new back wheel... and maybe cycle a little more conservatively :-o
We shuld do some cycling together again some time... maybe for that all-night trip Marly was taking about last year.
We are probably going to visit Caro in Australia again this January and our Tasmanian guide suggested doing some tours with her, so that's my next big event (should it come off - not entirely sure yet).
Until then, it's day trips in sunny Brandenburg every Monday - so if you fancy popping over for a ride...
Take care!
P.S. We had plenty of off-road trails in the Czech Republic. I agree - we definitely have road bikes/tyres, but the heavy baggage actually helped keep us on track.
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