Italy

An excellent post on an Italian trips ‘n tips thread on CycleChat said to regard the occasional train ride as ‘a treat, like an ice cream, rather than an admission of defeat’. All the encouragement we needed to drill through the spine of the country rather than endure what would otherwise have been two or […]

Out of Big Sky Country and down to the coast. Which I for one have been looking forward to, but which has not quite lived up to anticipations. Not sure quite what I expected, but arriving in a down at heel, out of season seaside resort has turned out to be a lowering experience. Probably

Everyone says so. Seriously.  I checked the tripadvisor reviews after we got back, and getting on for half said exactly that. They’re not wrong, Brian. Jens found the place online. Reputed to be an experience as well as a great munch. Hundreds of reviews, overall score 4.9. Never seen the like. Fully deserved. A one

“Tomorrow will be a doddle.” After crossing the spine of Italy, we were quite looking forward to a day of long, gentle descent to Ancona. No real climbing, no serious lumps on the wiggleometer, not even any great distance. Probably there not long after lunch; plenty of time to explore what Jens’s friend Paulo said

A few more, from the last week or so.

Day two of our descent from the Tuscan hills to the sea, and the first discovery is that the hills of Perugia are just as beautiful. Actually I tell a lie: our first discovery is that the bread shop doesn’t open on a Sunday morning. Dare we stretch to a seven euro breakfast at the

Another soggy day. Not sure if it’s this Storm Babet that seems to be laying waste to most of Europe, but whatever it is it’s awful wet where we’ve been, but thankfully not cold. Still takes the edge off things but. Apparently we’ve been passing through some of the loveliest scenery in Italy, but it’s

Sometimes it’s the room that’s calling the shots. Today’s choice was between 56k and about one of elevation, or a tad over 80, with about two and a half. The former was too feeble, the latter decidedly challenging: we’ve done the distance before, and the elevation, but never in combination. But after recent exploits, and

Part one didn’t start well. I opened the shutters and yelped. Rain! We had been warned, and yet I yelped.  Then it got worse. 20 downhill minutes and Jens pulled over for a voicemail. It was quite hard to make out apparently, standing in the rain on the roadside, but eventually it appeared that despite