Page 13 - DLNnov2015-1000
P. 13

We were expecting this section to take us around 4 hours….8 hours later
we were over and down the other side. I was so tired, the sheer concentration
and nerve that this road surface demands is incredible. We were lucky with
no mechanicals, falls or punctures. We came across many people repairing
multiple punctures; I think 8 were the most endured by any single rider. We
ate pasta at the café at the bottom after which I was expecting an easy run
into the next town. Not at all. Another coll to get over and another gravel
track descent, the Colle delle Finestre – the Giro D’Italia rode up this gravel
track earlier this year. I was ready to call it a day there but Katie urged me
on and after ice cream and a coke in a nearby café we rode to Turin and found
a hotel.

Day 6: and we were heading along the flat roads of Italy, what a luxury that
would have been had it not been for the block headwind all day through the
valley. Katie was close to quitting I think but after the first 150km she had
resigned herself to pushing on with the thought of cocktails in Istanbul,
Coca-Cola, Ibuprofen and Red Bull spurring her on! There is little to tell about
this stretch as the roads were just long and flat and the wind never faltered.
The only “event” of the day was that I ran over a rat as we rode out of Turin
at 04:00! It was the most horrible sensation as it squished under my front
wheel, according to Katie it screamed and ran off – urgggh.

Day 7: more of the same across Italy. We were incredibly tired although the
food had improved even if what was put in front of us rarely resembled what
we thought we had ordered, the steak below should have been pasta as far
as we were concerned.Pasta? My only beer of the entire race!

We are on the hunt for caffeine tablets to help to keep our eyes open,
unfortunately in a nation famous for its coffee they don’t seem to exist and
neither of us drink coffee, averaging 15 hours a day is taking its toll.

Day 8: we left Italy and crossed into Slovenia and what a difference, we are
once again back in the hills surrounded by lush green vegetation, this is more
like it. The motorists also give us all the room we need on the roads, unlike
the Italians. This was scheduled to be a just a day trip across Slovenia with
us crossing into Croatia that evening but about 10km from the border

                                                     13
   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18