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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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Garry McGivern’s Italian bicycle tour, Wednesday 2nd-June-2010 Gaeta to the outskirts of Rome. 100 miles. Well, that was an expensive stop last night. Two hundred euros for a room and breakfast! And to top it all, an hour down the road this morning, I came across a campsite! But that was an hour this morning on fresh legs. It was already eight o’clock by the time I’d stopped last night. Although, if I’d spent less time trying to find a room in other hotels, I might have found the campsite. But then again, I didn’t know it was there until this morning. And to be honest, I’d just had enough last night.

“All roads lead to Rome”, or so they say. Well, they did today! I had a lovely ride into Rome along the tree-lined SS7 Appian Way. An ancient Roman road which used to connect Rome to Brindisi in the southeast. Rome was as beautiful as ever. Apart from the cobbled streets! But at least they were nowhere near as bad as the ones coming out of Naples yesterday.

In Rome

While in Rome, I did the tourist bit and got my photo taken in front of the Colosseum, which a kind German family took. After getting my photograph taken, I decided to leave central Rome and find somewhere to stop. And what a nightmare that was. Pulling away from some traffic lights, I managed to snap a toe-clip off one of my pedals! In a rush to beat the cars, I pulled away from a set of traffic lights. And went to put my foot into my toe clip, but I hit a large cobble at the same time. And instead of putting my foot in the clip. My foot landed on top of it and snapped it off! Luckily it landed at the side of the road in the gutter, so I was able to retrieve it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to fix it.

Things didn’t improve either after breaking my toe clip. Every road I went down turned into a motorway. But after much perseverance, I eventually managed to find a way out of Rome. And I even managed to find a campsite. Although it was a bit pricey at twenty-five euros. But compared to last night’s hotel, it’s a bargain! Things seem to be a lot more expensive along this coast. But then I suppose there are a lot more tourists around here than there are in the south and east of the country.

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