Riding Day 10- Through the Alps and into Sunshine

Hello all! As the post title so clearly indicates, we made it through the Alps today.  As I mentioned in my last post due to the weather forecast we ended up on a train this morning.  The train ride overall was rather uneventful, we saw some stunning views, massive waterfalls, and towering mountains.  While it was never really raining or thunder storming while we were on train, the pass we were suppose to take could be glimpsed at one point and it did look like the weather on the past was very unpleasant.  When we finally emerged from the tunnel under the pass, the weather was perfect. Sunny partly blue skies and the temperature was sitting at a very comfortable level in the low 60s.  The weather actually was so nice we decided to get off our train a stop early and bike the rest of the way into town (only a handful of miles).  

The town we are in is Altdorf.  It is a small little town that we crossed on bikes repeatedly, while we waited for our couchsurfing host to get back to town from Milan.  The town is very old, both in building and in people, and very slow so we spent quite some time just sitting and watching the world go by in front of us.  For lunch we ate some dürum kababs in the town square in front of a big statue of a man leading a small child while holding a crossbow.  It took us a while to realize that the statue was of William Tell (the man who shot the apple off his son's head with a crossbow).  Apparently, Altdorf is the town in which all those events transpired, so that was neat.

Eventually, we met with our host and got situated in her apartment.  She was very nice and we talked for a little bit about or trip so far.  She had to leave though and go to Lucen for the night, meaning that we ended up with the apartment to ourselves.  The apartment is well situated and had some great views from the balcony, so life is pretty good.  For dinner tonight we cooked again and just made some simple tortellini and sausage (you can only eat six course feasts a handful of times).  

Tomorrow we have 75 miles to ride, so we are going to bed early so hopefully we wake up early and leave early.  The riding should be mostly downhill or flat and involves a fairy a one point, so that should be fun.  For now that is really all I have, so best wishes and until next time.

Riding Day 9- Into the clouds

Hello all! Day 9 and we had our first border crossing! We made it to Switzerland!  We left around 8:30 from our hosts apartment, and after a quick croissant and coffee, we began to climb out of Como.  During the climb up there were a handful of places that could have had great views of the lake, but the Italians around Como apparently have an excellent ability to put something right in the middle of the overlook so it obstructs your view.  That being said though it was a pretty climb and before we knew it we were at the border with Switzerland, and we just rolled on through it.

   

The riding through Switzerland was amazing! There were some steep long climbs, but the views were just stunning.  Coming down down on Lugano was just breath taking the view of the lake was superb.  Switzerland has quickly become one of my favorite places on earth.  The people we have met have also all been really nice and helpful, our host last night was especially kind and helpful.  It was a bit of an adjustment to figure just what language the people are even speaking and we did not realize that the Swiss still used the Franc, meaning all our Euros are useless for the next few days.  All in all though Switzerland is amazing.  I do not really have too much to write about riding, because it was largely uneventful aside from the gorgeous views (so I will let the photos do the talking for me).  One note about the riding today was that it was forecast that it would rain the entire day, but aside from a bit of rain in the morning and an occasional sprinkle, we had excellent cool overcast riding weather.

 

The shore of Lugano

 

Small Chapel nestled in a Valley

 

Overview of Bellinzona from a small pass we climbed

 

View from our window at the place we stayed the night

 

Where we stopped for the night was in a tiny little town called Claro, just north of Bellinzona, and it was wonderful.  The house we were staying in was high up on a hillside so it had great views, and as I mentioned our host was superb.  For dinner she recommended that we go to this little restaurant in the town that was doing a gastronomic menu event.  This was one of the best recommendations and one of the best meals of the trip so far.  The menu was 7 courses consisting of a little shrimp appetizer, followed by veal tartare and foie gras, followed by essentially ravioli with black morels, followed by a steak dish for me and a fish dish for Ben, followed by a pre desert of sorbet and pudding, followed by a desert of gelato, and finally ended with small little pastries.  I really very briefly overviewed the dishes, but they were all astounding.  The whole event was around 3 hours of eating, which was great.  

 

 

After dinner we has some drinks with our host and her boyfriend at the house and we stayed up talking until around 1:00 in morning.  One of the reasons this post is being written the day after again.  All in all it was a great evening and a great day yesterday.  Today we were suppose to bike over the Alps, but it was down pouring last night and this morning when we woke up and the forecast was 95% chance of rain and thunderstorms all day long so we decided to take the train under the alps instead for safety's sake.  Unfortunately, as I am writing this we are on the train making our way to the pass area still and the weather is a bit drizzly but other wise quite nice.  I still think we made the right decision though, because the pass road is cobblestone and wet cobblestone and biking in the rain, does sound like a good way to hurt ourselves or the bikes, especially if there is even a slight chance for lightning.  Anyway, that is all I have for now, so best wishes and until next time.

Riding Day 8- A "moistly" successful day

Hello all!  I am sorry I did not get this written last night, but I was just too tired.  I am sitting here now in Como, just a few hundred feet from the lake, in our hosts apartment.  Last night was our first couch surfing host experience, and I feel it went really well!.  The guy is very nice and friendly.  He took us around Como last night to show us the city and bits of the lake.  We also had a really nice good dinner with him at a restaurant in town, where we ate, drank, and talked for a little over two hours.  The restaurant we went to brought out three little bottle of different liqueurs after the main course.  The three liqueurs were interesting... one was a limoncello, so nothing too new there; one was a meloncello, so think a cantaloupe smoothie with alcohol; and the third was a pistachiocello, so think a pistachio smoothie with alcohol.  The meloncello and pistachiocello were both surprisingly really good.

But enough about dinner and liqueur.  The riding yesterday was suppose to be a nice, easy 30 mile cruise to Como... It did not quite go as planned.  For starters, we took the wrong turn a lot and ended up taking on a few extra miles from just zig zagging around to try and get back on the right path.  On top of that, I popped another tube, so we had to stop to fix that.  

The thing that really made the day a bummer though was it started to rain, and I mean like really rain at times.  Unfortunately neither of our rain gear outfits were 100% successful.  My boots and pants worked great so from the waist down I was completely dry, but my rain jacket did not work so from the waist up I was soaked to the bone.  For Ben his rain jacket work excellently, but not having rain pants meant his waist down got soaked and his rain booties could not really work right.  All that being said though we did make it to Como, where we found a cafe that had covered seating and proceeded to drink a lot of cappuccinos and tea to warm back up.  We were surprised coming into Como, because we kept expecting to turn a corner and then see this massive lake, but that never happened, somehow the Italians completely hid the lake from the road until you get about 40 feet from the lake side.  Once we did see it and the rain let up, it was gorgeous with the sprawling water and towering mountains all around it.  Seeing the lake at the end of the day really made the day a lot better, and while it was a bit of a bummer to bike in the rain. It made getting to Como all the more satisfying.

Lake Como by day

Lake Como by night

Today, for day 9 of riding we are leaving Italy and entering Switzerland... It is amazing to think that we have already gone as far as we have.  Today they are forecasting more rain, hopefully it is not to bad and we can be spared of any thunderstorms.  Tomorrow is the day we are suppose to bike over the alps, but we will see how that goes.  They are forecasting more rain and thunderstorms for tomorrow, and we have decided if it is raining bad, or even close to thunderstorm then we will not be biking up the cobble stone road over a mountain pass and down the other side (that just sound stupid to do in a thunderstorm, and like a great way to kill yourself).  Anyway that is all I have for now, so best wishes and until next time.

In front of the Duomo in Milan

Riding Day 7- Into the Kansas of Italy

Hello all!  For essentially the first time since the start of this trip, I think I might actually get the days blog written and posted before I go to sleep, so that is exciting.  Today was a good day, really it was a great day.  The riding was easy; the road was not too busy; and, the weather was not too warm.  Today started with a beautiful sunrise over Piacenza, which just set the day off to be quite pleasant.

 

 

The plan for the day was to ride to Milan, a ride that according to our route would take 75 miles, but according to Google should only be around 44 miles... So we went with Google and followed that route and thus ditched the route we were suppose to ride for today.  This turned out to be a great decision as the mileage was much less; the riding was flat so we kept a great pace; and there was nothing to see so it is not like we missed anything by diverting from the planned route.  A couple miles from Piacenza we stopped for breakfast, which because we had missed all the cafes and the only thing open around us was a Japanese sushi stand in a supermarket. We found some waffles and had chicken and waffles (or at least sotmething that would pass for chicken and waffles).  This was not the tastiest breakfast we have had, but it was arguably the most protein filled breakfast so that was a nice change.

 

 

This post is intitled "Into the Kansas of Italy" because it felt like we were biking through Kansas.  For most of the day all we saw were cornfields and straight, flat roads... If it were not for the signs in Italian and the lack of pick up trucks, you would not be able to tell really that you were not in Kansas.  As I mentioned we made great time and ended up rolling into Milan around 14:45, about an hour and a half ahead of schedule.  Since we had time to kill, we did what we do best. Found a cafe and had a cappuccino and just watched the world go by before us.  Milan is an interesting city so far, we have not really gotten into the downtown (the UEFA Final is going on down there so it is a mad house), but it feels like a completely different Italy so far.

 

Tonight we decided to just cook something in the apartment where we are staying.  So we just ran to the store and bought some basic pasta and chicken, just something quick and easy.  All in all it was petty good and plenty filling so we are ready for our ride tomorrow.  Tomorrow we are heading to Lake Como where we will hopefully be staying right along the lake, so I hope to have some pretty pictures of the lake for tomorrow's blog, weather permitting.  A quick note on the weather, we have had great weather so far, but tomorrow we apparently are in for some rain, and then we are in for more rain for the next many days ahead... So hopefully the weather forecasters here are really bad and we will luck out and not get too much rain (though I am not too optimistic on that front).  

 

One final note, I broke a GoPro mount today, apparently the cobble stone and ancient roman roads are tougher on a GoPro than those crazy mountain biking videos that you see.  Luckily I had an extra mount, that I grabbed for some random reason so we are still good for the times lapse video hopefully.  So it does seem like maybe my curse is continuing.... Hopefully it stops soon, or things are going to get more interesting.  Anyway, that is all I have for now so best wishes and until next time.

 

So maybe Kansas with a few more trees..

 

Riding Day 6- A successful but not very fun ride

Hello all.  We are now in Piacenza, which means we are in Italy for only two more days and are about a quarter of the way done with the to London portion of our trip... It is amzing how quickly time and mileage has been passing.  Any way enough reminiscing.  Today  we woke up in lovely Pontremoli, and had a very tasty and very filling breakfast.  Our host was so kind and generous, and despite being vegetarian herself, she even bought us some ham for the morning to eat.  We decided to take our hosts advise from the night before and take the train for the first part of the journey to Parma and actually enjoy Pontremoli.  In general we have kind of come to the realization that this is a bicycle tour not a bicycle race, so we should be taking our time and actually visiting and enjoying the different towns.  We walked around Pontremoli and eventually found a nice coffee shop in a main square to enjoy some cappuccinos.

 

 

We eventually made our way to the train station and caught a train to Parma.  Once in Parma we could notice a marked difference in Italy, the North of Italy is very industrial and felt much more "modern".  Once in Parma we found a nice park, had a tasty little lunch, and then got on the way to Piacenza.  I called this post "a successful but not very fun ride" because it was entirely successful.  Nothing bad happened to the bikes and we made it to Piacenza on time, but the road we had to ride was way to busy for out liking.  We had been riding SS roads a lot but this one was apparently a major thorough fare and having semis blow past you at 70-80 km/h which you are only a few feet away on the edge of the road is not very fun.  Needless to say we made great time because we just wanted to get off that road as soon as possible.  The road also did not really have anything pretty to look at, so overall the ride was just not very enjoyable.  All that being said though, we made it to Piacenza alive and well, so we can't be too upset. 

 

We are staying in a little attic room, that is actually very nice and comfortable.  Most importantly this room has had the fastest and most realizable internet we have had since Rome!  Since it has been a couple days since we last did laundry, we did our first round of sink laundry, which was time consuming.  Once we finished the laundry though we realized we did not have enough real estate to dry everything so we used the nylon cord we had to weave a drying rack all throughout the room.

 

 

For dinner, we went to a great little restaurant called Osteria D'Una Volta.  The food was delicious and the wine was pretty good.  Though it was really confusing that it was served in a bowl, like a cheap white IKEA bowl.  For dinner we each had a small pasta dish to start and as a main we shared some horse chilly and a fried egg.  The egg might have been the best thing I have eaten in a while, but then again I have also really been craving eggs.

 

 

Finally in closing, yesterday had another casualty... My headphone decided to fall into my spokes and decapitate themselves.  So I am now headphoneless.  I think I can go on, and I also feel confident I can buy some new ones relatively easily.  We also still have the Bluetooth speaker so it is not quite the end of the world.  I will say this though, if this trend of me loosing or breaking something once a day continues until the end of the trip... I am not sure what I will have left come England, so hopefully this trend stops.  Any way that is all I have for now so all the best and until next time.

Riding Day 5- Another mostly successful day

Hello all! Day 5 is now done and we are in Pontremoli.  The wifi here is spotty so I am not certain if or when this post will upload and be available.  Today was a largely successful day.  We got 60 miles of riding in today, before we decided to call it and take the train to our overnight spot (another 30 miles or so).  Our riding today went really well and we were making excellent time, and we believe we could have made the whole 90 miles but we had a couple stops for a couple issues with the bikes that amount to about a two hour delay overall, ad we did not feel very good about trying to bike up a mountain pass road in the twilight/evening hours.  

 

The two stops we had should not have taken as long as they did, but for the first one we stopped at a small bike shop, because yet again one of our rack screws had fallen out.  So this time we had the bike mechanic change all the mounting hardware on the racks and put Locktite on it so hopefully, this will no longer be an issue.  The second stop, was because I got a flat on my front tire and one of the tubes we bought (and the one we tried to use to fix it) did not have a long enough valve to attach the pump to, once on the tire.  This ment we essentially had to change the tube twice, so it took a while.  But other than those two stop we were going along swimmingly, so we decided that it was a mostly successful day.

The First Tube Change

We are also finally starting to feel more conditioned to the biking.  That is not to say we are not tired or sore, but our legs just seem to not care as much once we actually start biking.

The route we took today was gorgeous, we made our way North for a while and then turned and headed West through Lucca.  Lucca was a really cool medieval fortress town nestled in a wide open valley.  We stopped in Lucca for lunch and got a picture in front of  the cathedral (see below).  After Lucca, we pushed on ahead up over a small mountain pass and then dropped into the Italian Riveria.  The views from the top of the pass were gorgeous, but it was a little busy so we did not want to stop and take pictures, hopefully the GoPro got some good ones.  We biked along the coast for about 10-12 miles, whcih was nice, but we were both surprised that it was not prettier.  Much of the coast just felt very touristy, dirty, and like everything and everyone was just stacked on one another.

Pontremoli, however, where we stayed the night was very cool.  It is a small medieval town nestled were two rivers converges nestled amount huge mountains.  Our host was also incredibly kind, she made us dinner talked for a while with us, made us coffee, and was just over all very helpful and kind.  She also informe us that our planed route for the next day would involve a very steep and high mountain pass, and advised that instead we just take a tain in the morning, so that is what we are doing.  We will take the train to Parma and then ride 40 miles to our overnight stop in Piacenza.

Finally, in closing some sad news.  I lost a sock.  The lady were we stayed in San Minato did our laundry for us (which was very kind) but somewhere in the process, I lost a single sock.  It will be hard but despite losing this sock we will continue to push on, not everyone makes it on a great journey like this, and sadly it was that sock that would not see London.  Anyway, that's really all I have for now, so I say best wishes and until next time.

Riding Day 4- Are we getting the hang of this?

Day 4 we woke up in Florence.  Ben's bike was working well and seemed all good to go.  My bike decided to lose one of the bolts that holds on its rear rack (the apparently very common injury to these bikes), so out first goal was to find a bike shop to get it fixed.  We set out rather late from the house as we were both rather exhausted from the previous day's events.  We quickly found a bike shop and got the bike fixed, grabbed a cappuccino next door and a croissant and headed out of town.  The riding was relatively uneventful we just kept going, making pretty good time.  On the way out of town we came across a large sporting goods store so we finally stopped and bought most of the remaining stuff we had wanted to but back in Rome.  To get to San Miniato (where we're stopping that night) we had to climb into the hills in Tuscany... The climbing was not too bad... The views at the top breath taking.

After stopping a few times to take in the view on our way down the hills we came into Montelupo, a cool old town nestled in the hills and from there just kept biking along.  We had about 30 miles to do that day and in about 2 and a half hours, from when we actually got out of Florence, we were in San Miniato.  This meant for the first time this trip, we made a ride with really no problems and we got to a town with enough time to explore and walk around, which led to some great views from the main tower of the town around sunset.

We ended the day with dinner at L'upupa, as recommended by our B&B hosts, and it was amazing.  Easily amung the top meals of the trip.  The whole town of San Miniato is really uniquely located and it is neat to explore, mostly the views of the surrounding Tuscany countryside are just gorgeous.  That's all I have for now, on Day 5 we have 90 miles to do, so here is to hoping it all goes well. Best wishes and until next time. 

Riding Day 3- Relying on strangers

Let me being by saying, I am sorry I did not get this posted last night again.  The wifi at our stop in Florenze is rather slow and quite frankly I was really tired once we finally got here.  

When we set out for this trip we were looking for an adventure, and on day 2 and day 3 of this trip we certainly got one.  Day 2 as those of you who have read the posts from that day know was a long day ended with and marked by a major breakdown of Ben's bike (if you don't know what I am talking about, find and read that post to find out more).  So on the morning do day 3 we were in the following position: Ben, my bike, and I were in San Lorenzo Nuovo and Ben's bike was in Bolsena (a town down a big hill about 10 miles away).  We were told that the bike would be fixed by 12:00 and that the lady who owned the inn where we were staying would drive us down to Bolsena in the morning and then Mr. Jeep's friend would drive us back to San Lorenzo Nuovo.  So Ben and I woke up with time to kill.  We took a lazy morning figuring out what our next move would be, getting some cappuccinos and eating some pastries. 

So at 11:45 we loaded I to a tiny Fiat Panda, leaving my bike at the restaurant behind a gate, and were driven down to Bolsena.  Can you guess where this might be going... Well we got to Bolsena, found the mechanics shop, so goodbye to the nice lady who drove us and picked up Ben's bike.  Thinking our ride would be nearby we waited... and waited... and waited and they never showed up.  Realizing our predicament we set to trying to find a way back to San Lorenzo Nuovo (I am going to call it SLN from now on, it is a bit too long to write out each time).  First, we asked the mechanic (who spoke no English) who told us he could drive us up to SLN and he begrudgingly said he would after 4 for 50 euros.  We thought ok, well at least that is a back up, we would miss our train probably and that would be an expensive ride but it is a way to get somewhere.  We had about 3 hours to kill until 4 though so we thought maybe we could find another way.  

So it is 12:30 in the afternoon and we are walking through an old medieval town looking for a way to SLN (a hard feat when you have a bike you need to be taken there too, and everyone drives tiny little tin cans). Also adding to our difficulty was the time, from about 12:30-4:00 Italy just shuts down, especially in small towns.  It is their lunch break and they take it seriously.  This meant that a lot of the people we asked couldn't really be bothered to do anything because they were on their break and wanted to get home to eat.  So we wondered for a while chatted with some other travelers who were passing through Bolsena (including a nice German couple who after I explained what had happened, in my broken German, so adequately describe our situation as "Nah so... Das is ein Scheiße" italicized for the emphasis they put on the word).  We found one nice couple who offered to give us a lift in their Panda, but we would have to leave bike... So that was a no go. Finally, at around 1:30 I had enough walking and saw a little sandwich and salami shop and decided we needed to eat.  While I was in ordering the sandwiches I started talking to Mattia (the owner of the shop) about our situation, luckily he spoke a little English.  After he understood our predicament, he told us that he was about to have to leave for SLN and as he put it he had a big machine.  So we were saved finally.  Mattia drove a Kia minivan that easily fit Ben, his bike, and myself.  So finally, at around 2:00 we were back in SLN and had two functioning bikes

After a few minutes of recouping and inventorying we got on our bikes and started to bike to Orvieto where the closest train station was and where we were hoping to catch the train to Florenzece.  We had decided to go to Florence because there was no public transport that allowed for bikes to get to our originally planned stop so we modified.  The ride to Orvieto was fantastic! Nice level grade mostly until the end where it was all downhill and switch backs, with views that were absolutely stunning!

We made it to the train station very quickly, bought our tickets and had time to kill, so we posted up in a Cafe, had a coffee and found a place to stay in Florence.  Shortly, thereafter we boarded the train to Florence and finally relaxed.  In the end it all worked out and we are pretty much back on track.  On day 3 we really saw to good sides and the bad sides of relying on strangers but in the end we are very grateful to the people who helped us out, and sympathized with us.  Today we have a couple of shopping errands to run and then a quick 25-30 mile ride to overnight stop in San Miniato.  All the best and until next time.

Riding Day 2- The whole story

Hello all. Things have finally calmed down and we are sitting on the train right now to Florence.  I thought that since there is a break now and I have about an hour before we get off the train I would write a quick little blurb about all of yesterday's ride not just the breakdown at the end.  I will write a post later tonight or tomorrow morning about all of today's events (and there were some events).

So yesterday began with us waking up in a medieval fortress, this really was a very cool place to stay.  I wish I had some good pictures of it to really showcase it but unfortunately none of them really turned out from the evening before and in the morning I was not able to really get a picture that truly captured it, but below is the view from the bathroom window.  

We set out that day first to find a bike shop to get Ben's carrying rack truly fixed and then to push on to San Lorenzo Nuovo on the north side of Lake Bolsena.  The ride to the bike shop was largely uneventful and went by easily.  We were making good time and chugging along, and best of all we had finally found the actual Via Francingena!  We started to actually see other travelers which was really nice, and we got to talk with a few.  Overall a lot of the riding was on dirt paths around and trough fields.  Aside from one particular path that was more mountain biking trail than anything else (it even involved a small stream fording), most of paths were not too bad, while others were essentially old Roman roads... that while they were built really well and it is impressive they still exist, riding a fully loaded touring bike on large cobblestone like roads... painful, bumpy, and hard to say the least.

Overall, though the riding was smooth until we hit Montefiascone when we had an incredibly steep hill to climb, steep to the point it was really hard to even walk up.  At the top, while struggling to catch our breath and rest, we met a man from Spain who was biking from Marseille, France to Istanbul, Turkey on an old looking bike and just wearing tennis shoes, shorts, and t-shirt.  In other words he kind of put us to shame since we were struggling so much... That being said though he was biking substantially less mileage than us a day and he planned three months to do his trip.  Regardless, we talked for a bit and then kept pushing on where we finally came upon the view we were looking for... The overlook over Lake Bolsena.

After a short break to take pictures and soak in the beauty, we filled up on water and made the fun ride down to lake shore and the town of Bolsena.  It was at this overlook that we thought about trying to fix the chain issues Ben had been having all day, but we figured it could make it to the overnight stop which was only 15 miles away.  We made great time down to Bolsena and were soon quickly making the final climb to San Lorenzo Nuovo.  While climbing I pushed ahead (not having my chain rubbing and being able to use all my gears helped), after I got a few bends from the top I decided to stop and wait for Ben... And after 10-15 minutes turned around to go look for him. That's when I saw Ben pushing his broken bike up the hill.  I stopped to hear the story of how his chain had broken and tangled in the wheel and taken out the derailleur in the process.  Since we were quite a bit from the top, I went down a dirt road to a supposed B&B to ask for help.  About 100 yards down the road I came across a nice man in a Jeep Grand Cherokee (probably the only one in Italy) who was willing to load Ben and his bike up and take it to the top.  This man ended up being very kind and after I got to the top, drove Ben and his bike to the mechanic and bike shop in Bolsena 10 miles away, and drove Ben back as the bike needed to stay a night in Bolsena.  That night ended with a nice meal at the restaurant by our hotel.  The man in the Jeep had set it up for the owner of the restaurant (a nice older woman who spoke no English) to drive us to Bolsena and for a friend of his to pick us up at the mechanic and bring us back up to San Lorenzo Nuovo.  We thought this would all work out... It didn't quite work out, but that is for the next post, about today's great adventure.  So for now I say best wishes and until next time.

Riding Day 2- We Thought Yesterday Had Problems...

Hello all.  As you can tell from the post we had some difficulties in our second day of riding.  I am writing this the day after while we are waiting for the person who is suppose to drive us to the bike shop.  Long story short, Ben's chain broke and in the process took out his derailleur yesterday.  We are in San Lorenzo Nuovo.  My bike is here and Ben's is at a mechanics shop in Bolsena, about 10 miles away.  His bike is suppose to be fixed in about an hour and we are to pick it up, where supposidly someone has arranged for someone to pick us up in Bolsena and drive us and his bike back to my bike in San Lorenzo Nuovo.  We are hoping to make it to the train station about 20 miles away by about 4 or so and catch a train to Florence, where we should be able to find a place to stay tonight.  This means we are diverging from the planned route, but hopefully if everything works out today tomorrow we can get back on track.  On the train I will try to write a more detailed post, as there were some awesome scenes and the ride was beautiful.  I will also try to update yesterday's post, but we have been really busy coming up with our backup plan so I have not had really any time to write anything.  Anyway for now, best wishes and until next time. 

Riding Day 1- An Education in Touring

(UPDATED)
Hello all.  I am writing this blog from a small town in Italy called Capranica, and when I say town I more so mean old fort or castle.  We are strategically located in a valley about 150 ft above the floor of the valley (a lot of stairs to get up here... With loaded touring bikes climbing stair is a rather hard chores).  The apartment is really nice, but like every thing around here it is many many hundreds of years old (with some modern updates), but as such the wifi is not very good so I can not upload any pictures to the blog for this post.  If I have better wifi tonight, I will try to update this post with the pictures we have.

Photo in front of Vatican, marking the beginning.

Goodbye photo with the owners of Collalti Bici. Thanks again for everything!

Yesterday (ya I am writing this post again the morning after... This may become a trend) was a long day.  What was supposed to be around 48 miles of riding turned into about 60 miles, so a rather long first day.  We accidentally took the wrong side of a fork in the road, that took us off our path and up into the hills around Rome, so we had a lot of hill climbing, and we got well off and away from, the correct path before we realized what we did.  On top of that, for most about 15 to 20  miles Ben was riding with a pannier constantly rubbing against his rear tire, unbeknownst to us.  Early that day his bike hit the ground (he didn't really fall, more so just dropped the bike) and the rear rack lost a screw, this in turn led to it being pulled askew from the other side and the pannier grinding on the tire.  This made pedaling rather hard for Ben and really slowed our pace.  We figure out the issue with the bike when we stopped along a lake to take a break.  When we did we decided to try and find a bike shop, this led to another realization. On Sunday in Italy, everything is closed... Really almost everything.  This little fact also led to us not having eaten hardly anything in the morning as the cafe we wanted to go to was closed, and when we wanted lunch everything was closed, so we got snacks from a supermarket.  Overall, really our energy intake was not near large enough for the energy we exhausted to get to Capranica.  After searching for a shop or anything helpful for the broken rack for a while and brainstorming ideas on how to fix it we eventually found a way to jerry rig the rack with some hardware from the flashlight mount, so that it would work.  With all these issues we lost a lot of time and what we though would take around 4.5 hours to ride ended up taking about 8-9 hours.  It was a long day, but did make it all safe and sound.  When we got here we, at about 9:00 pm or 9:30 pm, we raided what little food was in the pantry and ate a random assortment of pasta with olive oil... We overcooked some pasta, undercooked other pieces, and way over salted the water but due to our exhaustion it tasted amazing. For a first day it was very eventful, and hopefully today we don't have any issues, luckily we made today a short day as well.

Our first day of touring yesterday, really taught us a lot, and we are excited to get to rolling out of Capranica and on to the next town, and hopefully today is not nearly as eventful as yesterday.  Again I hope to maybe throw in some pictures once I get good wifi, but for now this is all I have for you.  So, all the best and until next time.

Picture by the lake where we discovered the issue with Ben's bike

Break before the final push to the end.

The Last Night before the First Day

Hello all!  I am sorry I did not get this posted last night, but we were up late wandering Rome and then tinkering with the bikes and time sort of slipped away.   So I am sitting in the kitchen blogging again, while Ben gets a bit more sleep, and the coffe percolates.  Yesterday was a long and beautiful day, filled with a lot of sights and culture.  We did a lot of walking around Rome, probably about 10 miles, seeing the many sights (picture above from the top of the dome of the Vatican).  I should probably spend most of this post talking about the wonderful sites that we saw like the Vatican, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Colleseum, the Forum, and Castel Sant'Angelo... But the problem is we went to dinner last night to a restaurant in recommended by out friends at Collalti Bici (the bike shop) and it was absolutely amazing, so I think I would rather talk about that.  I will give you all one more picture of us around the sights before talking more about the meal.

We went to dinner tonight to Cantina Lucifero.  It was just a few doors down from Collalti, and the owner of Collalti was even nice enough to run down to the restaurant and make a reservation for us on his behalf... The people at Collalti really are the best, if you ever find yourself in Rome stop by the store.  Dinner began with a small aperitif, followed by wine and charcuterie, followed by carbonara for me and gnocchi for Ben and more wine, followed by espresso and creme brûlée for Ben and tiramisu for me, then concluded with Oban Scotch for Ben (meaning that this bike trip will essentially begin and end with Oban Scotch) and Lemonchello for me (I had it the last time I was in Rome and wanted to try it again... Lets just say, I must have had sweeter taste back then, because it was a lot sweeter than I remember and I have no desire to try it again).  This meal was one of the best of my life, definitely in the top five of meals I have eaten... just absolutely delicious and amazing.  Dinner yesterday continued the trend of our friends from Collalti recommending amazing places to eat and they being absolutely amazing, if only they had recommendations along the entire route.

Well that is all I have for right now, I need to go load up the panniers and get ready for our first ride.  Today really is the beginning... Here is to hoping it goes well and we didn't bite off more than we could chew.  All the best and until next time.

No Turning Back

Hello all.  Today was a big day. Today as the post title indicates, we crossed the point of easily tuning back... We bought a couple bikes.  Well I feel like that doesn't really do the bikes justice, because these bikes are gorgeous.  They also ride great, have an incredibly comfy seat (like super comfy... Like sitting on a cloud comfy), and again I think they look great. You can judge for yourself. 

I think you will agree the bikes are rather pretty, as you can also tell we pretty much outfitted them completely for the trip, just a couple more things we want to look at maybe buying tomorrow.  As it stands right now, at least speaking for myself, I hope I can ship this bike back to have in the States.  The whole process of buying the bikes was very easy and fun, the people at the shop were just lovely, and they outfitted us with almost everything we need at what I thought were very reasonable prices.  They also recommended we try a nearby restaurant called Osteria de Fortuna, which led to me having one of the best pasta dishes of my life.

After Lunch we made out way back to the apartment via the Vatican and spent some time looking around the out side.  I will say this, in terms of biking and being a pedestrian... Rome is a mad house.  Cars and scooters here do not seem to follow the laws they just treat them as suggestions.  As such we are both kind of ready to get the bike out of Rome on Sunday.

That was really the highlights of the day. We had dinner at another nice joint and had some pizza but nothing particularly amazing.  Anyway I am really tired at this point and need some sleep we have a long day tomorrow.  All the best and until next time. Oh and cheers!

It Begins- The beginning ends

Well today I woke up to find myself in Rome, the last two days or so of traveling just feel like a blur or sitting, waiting, and flying.  We  arrived in Rome last night around 9 pm CET, and then with getting to the apartment we are staying at time quickly got away from me.  I tried to write a post late last night, but I decided going to bed sounded far better.  So I decided I would just write a quick post while my espresso brewed (percolated might be more correct... I googled how to use a percolator so hopefully it turns out good) in the morning.  Our last flight went well and all the traveling and such is now done with, we now have two days until we start biking (that is only slightly terrifying...).  Today we will be picking up the bikes from the shop, and walking around Rome a bit, as well as buying some essentials we didn't bring with us (oh and we need to get money... Ran into some issues with the ATM at the airport, so hopefully we can find some working ones in town).  I will try to write a post tonight after we get back from our wandering.  For now I will leave you with a picture of our first meal in Rome... 

 

 

It was late, everything was closed and that is all we could find in the apartment.  We hope to do better tonight.  That's all I have for now.  All the best and until next time.

 

n.b. The espresso turned out drinkable... But I think the term sludge would be more descriptive, and potent very very potent.

 

It Begins- Quick trip to London

Hello everyone! Ben and I decided to hop in to London during our lay over today, since we had to leave security anyway.  We grabbed a train and ended up at Victoria Station which was right by Buckingham Palace.  We decided to do our first touristy thing and walk to the palace and see it, and since we somehow have a special ability to visit locations during large events, we happen to get there just in time to watch the elaborate changing of the guard, along with about 1500 other friends.  It was pretty neat to see, but nothing too special.  Although as we were walking away from the throng of people I realized how glad I was that we were not doing all the touristy things, it was just so crowded. 

After the palace, we decided to hit up a pub, called The Phoenix Pub and Eating House, and grabbed a couple beers and lunch before catching our back to the airport.  The food in this little pub was great and the beers really refreshing.  It was interesting to observe, though that the beers here seem to be a lot lower ABV than the beers that we are used to in the States, around 3.5%-3.7%.  Well that is all I have for now, we are now just waiting for our flight to Rome to depart in about an hour and a half.  If I feel up for it I might write a quick post when we land and get to the apartment to let you all know we made it.  After today, I image the posting will become more so on a once daily basis.  All the best and until next time!

It Begins- We made it to London!

I think the title pretty much says it all, we made it to London safe and sound.  We landed about an hour ago, and we are currently waiting for the train into London to see a bit of the town and grab some lunch before our flight for Rome leaves.  The flight over the pond was largely uneventful and quite pleasant.  Below is a picture of our lovely plane, a small little puddle jumper.  Norwegian Air was actually quite nice, food was pretty good, the plane was nice, and the overall experience very pleasant.  That's all I have to say for now, I'll try to check in when we get back from London.

It Begins- Sitting in Boston

Hello all, so quick update we are sitting and waiting in the Boston airport (which is awful by the way... Crummy wifi and hardly any places to charge devices).  We are all checked in though and good to go.  We will be boarding in about an hour and a half.  So just a few more minutes to go and then we board Norwegian Air to fly London.  We have mostly been passing the time getting the last few things set up for the trip, and such.  You may notice on the blog a new page with interactive maps, which means I think I figured out how to incorporate them.  There are two maps of the routes we will be taking one for the Mainland Europe section and one for the Scotland section.  These maps should show you the route and elevation profile all while letting you zoom in and see the route more accurately and precisely, in case you are curious through what all towns we will be biking.  That's all I have for now, until next time.

It Begins- On the way to Europe

Today marks the day the trip officially begins.  I am sitting on the plane right now to Boston (no joke, you get free wifi on JetBlue with an Amazon Prime subscription), where Ben and I will meet up for our flight to Rome (well London then Rome).  Last night I had a nice little send off party with the family, enjoyed some delicious steak and great company.  I appreciate all the kind words and bests wishes.  I look forward to seeing them all again in about 7 weeks when I get back from this trip.

In terms of the trip, we are pretty much all set, or at least as ready as we will be at this point.  We still have some work to do for Iceland, but we have plenty of time in Boston and in London to figure out the rest of this stuff.  I will probably be writing a couple more posts today, they will just be brief little updates on how the traveling is going.  I also imagine I will be doing some work on the blog editing some pages, and seeing if somehow I can upload more of like an interactive map of the route (no promises but I will give it a shot).  Well that's all I really have to say for now, till next time.

4 Days 5 Hours Until it Begins

Well the title of the post pretty much says it all... There are only about 4 days and 5 hours (that is only 101 hours) left before I leave from Dallas to begin the traveling to Rome.  Kind of a daunting fact really, but I am ready and I am really excited.  I have been packing and repacking my panniers running through checklists to try and find out what I am forgetting (which I am sure there is something, there always is...).  I have not been riding on my bike at all since the last time I posted.  I have been really busy with moving people, selling stuff, and just generally getting ready to move back to Dallas, right before I leave for this Euro Trip.

Since my last post, Ben and I have done a fair bit of more planning, and at this point have most of our lodging locked down for the trip, which is a really nice thing to have finished.  The trip itinerary page on the blog has been updated and practically reflects what we will be riding.  That being said though, Ben and I have been talking about maybe breaking up our 115 mile day by spreading some of the mileage on the day before, that way we are not doing more than 100 miles for two consecutive days. Ben and I have also been working on trying to figure out what to do in Iceland and trying to figure that stuff all out.  We have not been too productive in this regard, as I have and will be really busy the next few days with moving and such.  But we have many hours sitting in airports and on planes in our near future so, it should not be too hard to figure out the rest during that time.  Well I think that is all I have for now, I just wanted to post a quick update.  My next post will probably be on Wednesday when we are leaving.  

Oh yeah and one more note, I graduated yesterday so that is awesome!!!