Hannibal

Apparently Italian mosquitoes find me very tasty and at least one had a whale of a time last night. The ominous whining and the growing dread of back to Covid normality resulted in a restless lack of sleep, so fortunately there were no big mountains left to climb today. Here is a rather battered Bob ready to roll on his last day of the tour.. The ride started with 30 miles on a flat agricultural plateau, rather like riding in the Cambridgeshire fens but much more humid. The fields of corn were decidedly Italy meets Iowa accompanied by a strong smell of pigs. It may not sound particularly appealing but it enabled by mind to drift into a relaxed, pedalling zone without the need for the legs to have a moan. The coffee stop was at a petrol station where apparently the regular use of the coffee machine ensures the best cappuccino. Obviously there had to be a couple of final climbs but although it was very hot, they were a doddle compared to the previous days. The towns were also a picturesq...

Today was all about the HUGE climb, definitely the toughest I can remember doing on a bike. Col Agnel is the third highest paved mountain pass and the highest border crossing in Europe. We have been so lucky with the weather, it was another sunny morning with clear blue sky over the mountains. I needed the arm warmers and jacket for the initial descent, but they lasted less than a kilometre into the climb. It was stunningly beautiful and even provided cute marmot entertainment, I could hear them nattering away as I pedalled upwards. We passed the sign commemorating the alleged passage of Hannibal but no one is completely sure where he actually crossed the Alps. From then on, and especially for the final 6km, the climb was seriously tough. Neil did a great job steadily powering up and I did my usual spin/stop/photo approach with some virulent swearing, especially when the gradient kept hitting 11% on my Garmin. It was really cold at the top so a quick commemorative photo and then all th...

That was a BIG day on the bike, ‘only’ 59 miles but 9617 feet of climbing over two cols. The scenery was spectacular but my concerns about famous, tourist attraction, alpine cols were unfortunately proved to be correct. The morning climb up Col du Lautaret was dominated by some sort of old sports car rally, predominantly Porsches which prompted a very apt joke from Neil (sorry Big Bro!): Q: What is the difference between hedgehogs and Porsche drivers? A:  Hedgehogs have their pricks on the outside. It didn’t help that there were lots of tunnels which are unpleasant enough on a bike without being overtaken at speed by said pricks. The scenery however was rather lovely... The Col du Lautaret has been crossed over 40 times by the TdF so obviously one needs another podium photo. The descent was enjoyable as the Porsches had presumably arrived en mass somewhere, and we stopped for a picnic lunch on the way down to give it time to digest before the next bout of climbing. After Briancon w...