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Garry McGivern’s Italian bicycle tour, Thursday 10th-June-2010 Menton, France to Savigiano, Italy. 81 Miles. Another tough ride today. It took me nearly eight hours to cycle seventeen miles this morning! After looking at the map last night. I decided that my best route to Samoens was via Turin, Aosta and Chamonix. But to do this, I had to cycle back on myself and go back to Italy. Something I hate, I hate going back on myself. It seems such a waste of time

After returning to Italy, I headed up the SS20, which ran beside the river Roya. The road had a gentle gradient, with the river Roya on one side and a railway line on the other. As I cycled along, I looked at my map and spotted a 1200-metre pass ahead! I hadn’t seen that last night, or maybe I chose not to see it! There was nothing I could do about now. I certainly wasn’t going to turn around! And to be honest, if the road stayed at this gradual gradient, it’d be fine. It didn’t!

It was pretty fantastic riding up through the gorges with their sheer rock faces. With just my road and the river between them! I saw hydro stations and villages perched high up on the mountainsides as I rode up. After a few hours of cycling, I came across a little shop and thought I’d stop to get something to eat. There wasn’t a lot in there, just some soap, razor blades and various other random items that were of no use to me at all! But on the counter, they had some cold pizza and a couple of small cans of coke. I bought them all! The pizza was divine and hit the right spot!

Still Climbing

Another couple of hours passed, and I was still cycling uphill. I was now starting to feel tired. But then I turned a corner and saw the snow-capped peak of Col de Tende. I thought there couldn’t be much further to go and speeded up. Only to be thwarted a short distance up the road, with a sign saying fifteen kilometres to go! I’d been cycling or on the road for five hours, and I’d only come ten kilometres! And the last five kilometres were a killer when the road turned into a 14% gradient!

Eventually, I reached the top, only to be greeted with a tunnel with a sign saying no bicycles! What? Balls to that, I’d spent eight hours getting up here. There was no way I was going back. So with a final burst of energy, I started the three-kilometre ride through the tunnel! Every 200 hundred metres or so, markers were pointing the way to the emergency exit. And every time I passed one, I’d think, a quarter of the way through, then halfway through. Then I was three-quarters of a way through. Surely if I get stopped now, they’d let me continue! Finally, I made it out of the tunnel, and I hadn’t gotten caught. Once through the tunnel, I hurridly put a couple of extra layers on, ready for the ride downhill. I didn’t want to hang around just in case somebody challenged me about how I got there!

After the tunnel, I made good speed, as you would expect and cycled the remaining 64-miles of my day in four hours. Unable to find a campsite tonight, I’m staying in a hotel.

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Garry McGivern’s Italian bicycle tour, Wednesday 9th-June-2010 Albenga, Italy to Menton, France. 75 Miles. I didn’t get a very good night’s sleep last night. I was kept awake by some squawking seagulls, which seemed to go on all night. And although I don’t tend to need a lot of sleep. What sleep I do have is generally deep, and I didn’t get much of either last night!

I should have started to head inland today. But instead, I crossed the border into France and went to Monaco! I decided the other day that my leg was feeling okay, and I would go to Samoens. I’ve also been off the painkillers for a few days and feel fine. And that’s despite having some pretty hard cycling!

As I rode along the coast, the yachts in the marinas got bigger and more expensive the closer I got to Monaco! And every town I passed through had a marina and the ones that didn’t were busy building one! It seemed a bit stupid not to go to Monaco, seeing as I was so close.

Monaco Baby

I got to Monaco and looked a bit out of place amongst all the glitz and glamour! Or what some people’s perception of glamour is! I was too late for the Grand Prix race, although there were still some remnants. Some of the scaffolding from one of the stands was still there. And on the road, there was still plenty of rubber laid down by the cars! Being a bit of an F1 fan, I decided to ride the circuit. And managed to cycle it in thirteen minutes twenty-two seconds! Not quite as fast as a Formula 1 car, but then they don’t have the traffic to contend with! And an F1 car probably weighs a lot less than my load!

After pratting around in Monaco for a couple of hours, I headed back on myself to spend the night in Menton. Monaco was a bit out of my price range!

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Garry McGivern’s Italian bicycle tour. Friday 4th-June-2010 in Albinia. Seeing as I found a good campsite last night. That has everything I want and need. I decided to stay and take the day off.

They have a well-stocked supermarket, clean hot showers, and a launderette. And it’s also cheap, compared with what I have been paying. It’s only eleven euros for a night. I decided to use the launderette and give my clothes a proper wash, seeing as they have one. Washing them in the shower is fine, but it doesn’t beat a washing machine. I also decided to wash my sleeping bag, which I’m not sure was a good idea. I spent much of the day worrying if it would dry in time for bedtime. Thankfully it did. It’s so warm and sunny here. And most importantly, the campsite has an excellent little bar!

After doing the washing first thing, I had to sit around in my swimming shorts, waiting for something to dry as I washed everything. In the end, I gave up and put my clothes on wet and cycled into town. They soon dried in the warm sun. Once in town, I decided to go for a haircut and shave, and if any bodies in Albinia, I can recommend a good barber, Paulo Conti! There’s not a lot in Albinia, just a few shops and a couple of cafés. After having lunch at one of the cafés, I headed back to camp via the local beach, thinking I’d go for a swim. Not likely. The sea was freezing. There wasn’t a lot going on there either.

How’s That Leg

The other reason and main reason for staying another night here is that I’ve got a couple of weeks’ work in Samoens, France. And after spending the last few weeks just sitting on my bike, I really need to know how good my leg is. And how I am, at standing for any time! But if my leg is still bad and I can’t stand on it for too long, I won’t bother. After walking around the campsite a few times, checking my leg out, which seemed okay, I headed for the bar! I’ll decide whether I’m off to Samoens tomorrow, as I need to let the people know.

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Garry McGivern’s Italian bicycle tour, Thursday 3rd-June-2010, the outskirts of Rome to Albinia. 96 miles. Before leaving the campsite this morning, I managed to bodge my toe clip back onto the peddle. It’s amazing what you can do with a few cable ties. And as I’ve always said, you can fix anything with some gaffer tape and a few cable ties!

I forgot to mention yesterday, but I had a bit of a scare when I managed to end up on another motorway! I miss read the signs, once again! As I’ve mentioned before, being on the motorway isn’t that bad as I’m in my own lane, on the hard shoulder. But this time, it ran out when I had to go through a tunnel! I was kicking myself. How did I manage to end up here! But there was nothing I could do about it now. I just needed to get through this 3km tunnel! To say I was scared was a bit of an understatement. I was crapping myself! Lorries were speeding past within inches of me! Even though I was riding as close to the curb as I could! And cycling that close to the curb, I was in danger of catching a peddle on the curb. And being thrown off into the traffic. The drains were also a nightmare. They were a good two inches below the road surface. Every time I hit one, I kept thinking that my front wheel would collapse. It was a long three kilometres, and I was glad to get out alive.

Storm Chasing Or Rather Chased

It’s been a none eventful ride today, apart from being chased by a thunderstorm at the end of the day, which managed to catch me before I reached my finishing point. Thankfully the sun came back out soon after and dried everything off.

One thing I have noticed is how the landscape has changed. I’ve gone from fields of grapevines to fields of wheat and barley. And if it wasn’t for the odd cactus here and there, I could be back home in England.

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