After a good nights sleep i woke up with just one request, a boring day. Ive recently had a few ups and downs and the last few days have chucked a few things my way like closed roads, racks breaking, terrible weather, disappointments, freezing conditions, rack elation, smooth riding, tough riding, lovely sunsets broken spokes and amazing generosity. These things when read in the comfort of your home whilst you live a busy routine life don't sound that big a deal. Even for myself, reading back the last blogged week doesn't seem as emotionally unstable and draining as I felt experiencing it all. I can assure you though, when all you have is your bike and the things on it and all you need to do is ride and find a place to stay it sounds very simple, but this leaves the rest of your time spent on trying to control your emotions. Things that you don't have to think about you just do like going for lunch become a strategic and long drawn out process for me. That's why today, I just wanted a boring day with no hiccups and nothing to declare. It started well, Guido and Gabriella had unfortunately left early so I didn't get a chance to say goodbye but they left me a nice note on the door. As I stood and read it, Gabriella's sister Rita and her daughter Donatella and her daughter Tania were standing at their door and invited me in for breakfast which I obviously accepted. I discovered the Italian version of a twinky which is a cream sponge cake basically but this was chocolate and it was amazing so had a few of them and some extra for the road. I've been also accepting more offers for coffee as well. I don't know why, I actually hate coffee but when you have nothing I guess you are more inclined to accept things. I'm actually quite liking the novelty cups, this one I tried with milk and sugar and it wasn't bad. It may have been the Italian twinky bars either side of it that helped but either way I had my energy fix to the start the day well. I stayed and chatted a little, Tania's English was good and I had my route set to leave their town of Anghebeni and head for Vicenza through a town called Schiio. Tania told me that we were currently at 600m but I would first have to cycle to Paso Pian delle Fugazze at 1200m before it was downhill again. I've been higher than that but remember what I said about the Italians not caring about gradients. This meant more spoke squeaking and more wincing and praying for me! I said my goodbyes and pushed Nigel out of their sight up the hill, i couldn't bear the embarrassment of me pushing away and a spoke going straight away. I had considered finding the loose one but in the end i trusted Stefano. After all he is the expert and he made the wheel straight again and maybe one day ill be able to do the same but for now, just leave it be.
The road was crazy steep, the view was unbelievable as it over looked a dam but there was no way you could stop to take it in unless you had a death wish. Spokes squeaking with every rotation, I had a few "bravos" as I dragged myself and Nigel through tiny little villages stuck into the cliff side. Why would you ever want to live here it thought? Yes the view is amazing but you are miles from anywhere! You need climbing ropes for a walk to your local shop, you'll need a new gearbox on your car every couple of weeks and forget about getting your ball back if you kick it over! I rode past a sign saying 1000m altitude, not long now Nigel come on. I decided I'd rather put myself through physical agony then have to hear Nigel screaming at me so I stood up on the bike and pedalled leaning forward. This was an attempt to take the majority of the weight off the back of the bike, it worked but boy were my thighs hurting. The feeling was like somebody had a blow torch at your legs but I didn't want to sit back down incase I lost momentum so just had to keep pushing on. I eventually got to the top of the pass and was greeted with the gaze of many shocked road cyclists as they stopped chatting when they saw the amount of weight I was carrying on Nigel. I had a wee swagger to my exhausted pedalling and knew that after this descent, the Alps were officially finished.
The road was clear, the signs said 12% down for the next 20km. The next half hour or so was going to be somewhere between, boy this is fast and OH MY DAYS, MY BRAKES AREN'T WORKING!!! I have never been so concentrated on a road in all my life then I was this morning. Poised at my handlebars like a tiger ready to pounce, eyes narrowed to focus on any crack, pothole or stone that could throw me off course and with fingers firmly on the brakes ready for a tight turn or a nutcase motorist I began to roll down the hill. Villages and towns flew past in seconds, I flashed past struggling road cyclists coming up the other way, "ciao, ciao, ciao, ciao" it was intense, it was a pure adrenaline rush and if I'm honest I would struggle through those steep climbs again and again if it meant i got that descent on my way to work everyday. I don't know if it was the sheer fear or speed that shook my spokes into silence but off the back of that start to the day I cycled for a further 60 miles non stop towards the coast without so much as "ting" come from the spokes.
I decided not to go into Vicenza, it was a bit out of my way and I was sure my rubbish map of Europe was showing me I could cut across to my intended checkpoint of Treviso through Thieme and Bassano. I was right and saved a fair bit of time but today's task along with being a boring day was to really find the Internet. I was pinning all my hopes on Treviso being a half decent city. I arrived in Treviso and was shocked to see so many people, especially kids. They were absolutely everywhere, of course they were, it was a Saturday and they loved hanging out in McDonald's. I thought it was friday, even with doing these daily blogs, times and days mean nothing to me. I'm still undecided on Italians. Clearly the ones I've come in contact with have been amazing, the best, but the kids and the people in the city I did not like at all. It's very annoying to walk a massive lump of a bike around a busy city, finding a place to put it, pavements aren't big enough and the Italian kids just walk straight towards you and stand around in mobs of 20. I asked three girls where the library was and they very kindly chose to walk me to it instead of trying to explain where it was. This was fair enough but didn't they have anything to do? Am I sounding like a grumpy old man here? Or should there be things to do? It's the pigeon thing all over again, is there nothing to do in Italy for teenagers and birdlife? Anyway, the bibliotheca was closed and McDonald's had no wifi, so that's a Mcflurry and a strawberry milkshake that McDonald's Italia now owe as I bought them both with the intentions of surfing the net. I managed to get free wifi instead via a registration and text in a courtyard area in the street. Jackpot, a days job sorted and now to cycle just out of the city to find a place to sleep. I headed east with the sun on my back and soon picked up the right road towards Trieste. I didn't want to ride far so spotted a man with his son on a tractor driving home and followed them back to their farm. Standard procedure, told them my story and had a good chat as the boy, Alessio, spoke pretty good English. I have to take back my previous philosophies on trusting kids because in Italy they've been vital. The dad, Stefano, had to wait for his neighbour and brother to return to make sure I was ok to camp. When he arrived we continued to talk more and they were more than happy to show me around and pick me fresh vegetables from their patch. Before I knew it I had a bag full of tomatoes, peppers, a cucumber and a bunch of grapes from the vineyard. Again, hospitality at its finest and had more of a conversation when the mother came home who knew a bit more English. After a couple of hours, they locked up for the night and I picked my spot on their huge field. Tonight has been the first night I've been attacked by biters unfortunately. I have also just had a lovely beetle crawl across me whilst I lay and write this blog. Not only did it absolutely freak me out but I hit it at least 5 times and it still carried on walking. They are resilient little things in Italy and I may have to keep my tent closed for the most part as in Italy it's beetles but in Africa, it will be slightly more interesting!
A boring day compared to yesterday yes. but a happy day and one I'm very thankful for.
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