Two weeks of mega moto miles and battery burning later
and I’m back at basecamp Blighty. Armed with more than my own weight
in excess baggage I made my way through Europe on a mission to take great
pics and seek out some awesome riding, and well – mission more or less
accomplished.
A
brief but hot visit to the Velo Classic summer tour lead myself and Chris
Boardman through the stunning Vercors region and over the high passes of the
Alps, and on to a huge bar bill, before I went solo and made my way through
the French, Swiss and Italian Alps on the way to encircling the mighty Mont
Blanc.
Determined
to get the most out of my dodgy hire car I made my way west through Switzerland,
and away from the roaring thirties (degrees) of France to the chills of a
sub zero white out and three meters of snow on the high passes of Furka and
Gottardo, and an equally frosty Swiss reception in the valleys bellow. It’s
kinda tough navigating your way through Europe with a 12-year old map, that
only has half the pages left in it, but it does keep life interesting. Breathless
and still in the same crinkly unwashed clothes the skitty Corsa chundered
it’s way through Milan and on to a night in my favourite Riviera haunt
of Sanremo, just in time for some traditional Italian Chinese food, yummy,
especially when washed down with a couple of bottles of the finest budget
Dolcetto.
Twisting my tongue around the daily multitude of changing languages I set
out for a treat of a ride around the mighty Poggio and Cipressa, only to snap
my seat post half way through – making for a saddle free ride all the
way back home, oh what a treat – and great preparation for my impending
duel with the Ardehcoise.
Roaring through the tolls of Nice and Monte Carlo I made my way through the
Grand Canyon du Verdon and through the near blooming lavender fields of Provence
before reaching the Ardech, and my date with Europe’s biggest randonee
–along with 15000 other riders that was.
With so may people in the area it was a case of no room at the inn, but there
was one free bed in the local convent, and guess who got it? Yes, just me
with a few Frenchies and a whole bundle of aging nuns, what a great place!
Following
on from a bizarre night with a pair of “Right Said Fred” look-alikes
in a local bar the 4 am chink of cleats on the convent floor woke me in to
the dawn horror of a wet morning, just in time for a last gap helicopter ride
for some pre-race pics, leaving me just 15 seconds to make it to the start
line, easy. All I can say is thank the powers that be that I can still go
down hill pretty fast, coz on that particular day I certainly couldn’t
cut it on the up hills, not even against guys twice my age and weight, ohhhhhhh
boy did I ever suffer, never again will I be in such a state – well,
at least not until the next time.
So, by the following day I was back home and
scanning pics. As for what’s next, umm, there are a few tings in the
pipeline, but as yet I’ve not pinned them down to dates, but stay tuned
for more news
Caio, aurevoir, adios and aufwiedersein pet from me
