Wow. What an amazing few weeks with the Bike Dreams team. We rode as a group of 28 riders from the ferry in Belagio  into Como two days ago; ironically I punctured in the last five meters. There was a rather large sigh of relief knowing that I didn’t have to change my tyre and could go drink some champagne, or sparkling wine, instead. Como marked the end of the La Bella Italia tour and I am extremely excited to be rejoining th Bike Dreams team and ride from Nice to Barcelona in two weeks time. 

 

The adventures since the Dolomites are numerous – Stelvio has been climbed and conquered, a three peaks with over 3200m of climbing and gradients of greater than 18% have heard a few colourful words come out of my mouth, and new foodie experiences have been enjoyed. 

 

The day of the three peaks is definitely one that I will never forget. I will be internally grateful to the Bike Dreams mechanic, Ricahrd, who put a 32 cog on the back of my bike. For all those not quite in the world of Lycra, having a 32 on the back meant that instead of going backwards down the steep mountains I was able to crawl up them at 6-7km per hour. 

The day also included my first puncture of the trip, it just happened to be in a dark, damp, cold, wet and miserable 750m-long cobblestone tunnel. The perfect place to puncture right?! Still being the sight cycling novice that I am, I had packed my Co2 gas cylinder but didn’t realize one has to have a converter to get the gas from the cylinder into your bike tube. My adopted Dutch parents, Theo and Marjan, luckily saved the day and not only got out their converter but also helped the DID change her tyre. Life saver award of the day number one. 

 

After riding up and down some more mountains, we were on our last descent for the day with 8km till the campsite. Somehow I managed to break my chain during this descent. The Aussie attitude of ‘bugger that’ came into play. As such the next 7.5km down hill saw me ride without a chain. We hit some issues though as with 665m till camp we came to a hill. Alright if one can peddle but not too great in my then current situation. The boys were keen to push me to the campsite  but it was a bit dicey with all the Italian traffic. Low and behold Ray, the mountain biker from Townsville, joined up with us and had a 9 speed quick link that would hold my broken chain together. Life saver award of the day number two. 

 

Naturally i have been experienceing amazing food, quite surprised i havent actually put on about 10kgs yet… I tried venison for the first time yesterday but, more excitingly, my spinach at dinner (trying to emulate Pop Eye and get big and strong) had butter in it;  it is interesting the cravings one gets when away. I have also had fleeting cravings for charcoal chicken and a kebab with lots of garlic sauce- these generally occur at the top of mountains when there is nothing but you, the wilderness, and half of a melted energy bar in your back jersey pocket covered in the banana you squished earlier that day… 

 

The next part of my journey does not include two wheels, not sure how I will go, but involves lots of sightseeing from Venice down to the Amalfi coast. New people, new locations, and new stories to come!

 

Till next time,

Ride safe, ride happy, ride in the moment

 

Han