HAIL CAESAR LONDON TO ROME

Today was the final "flat" day and was meant to be a "recovery" ride of only 55 miles before the climbing begins again tomorrow. Our "recovery" ride was anything but......................the wind picked up producing gusts up to 50 mph and of course, much of the time the wind was in our face (but thankfully no rain). About half way through the ride it was necessary to take a "ferry" ride to cross a small river.  The ride lasted about 30 seconds and cost 1 euro. We arrived in Revenna around 1:00 pm, did some laundry, took a nap and prepared ourselves for the final 5 days of riding. Best, M&M

Today was a 77.4 mile day with only 1,385' of elevation gain.  We have 2 more days of "flatline" elevation and then we start climbing again when we get into the Apennines. We started the day with a 7 mile ride to the southern tip of Lido (Venice) where we took two ferry rides to get us to the mainland of Chioggia.  We had a beautiful day until we reached lunch at the 54 mile mark.  Clouds rolled in and the sky turned grey while we were enjoying our ham, tomato and mozzarella sandwiches.  The wind picked up and it started to rain heavily.  After 15 minutes the rain subsided and a group of riders started out to complete the final 20 miles to the hotel.  Ten minutes after they left the sky opened up with torrential rain, thunder and lightening.  Glad we waited. Another 15 minutes and the skies cleared and we road the final mileage to the hotel without a single drop of rain (the others got soaked!) We entered Ferrara and noticed a number of roads clos...

TODAY WE REST!

The elevation profile today was flat as a pancake.  We gained a mere 692 feet as compared to the 8,000 - 9,000 feet we've been used to over the past week.  We traveled 46 miles from Treviso to the ferry that would take us to LIDO. Our room at Hotel Villa Laguna is wonderful with views from our patio of Venice and a just a short 5 minute walk to  the Adriatic Sea. Today is our final rest day before the final push to Rome.  We did laundry, cleaned our bikes and all the general maintenance things we don't have time to do during the riding week.  Later today we're going to take a walk to the beach so I can add "swimming in the Adriatic" to my "accomplishments". The elevation over the next few days is flat but then we get into the Apennines and start climbing again. The tour has been outstanding but it certainly has tested our riding and fitness abilities.  I am definitely planning to shed the 4 extra bags of sugar I've been carrying on the ride. ...

We woke up to torrential rain and thunder / lightening so our 67 mile ride with 4,252 feet elevation gain took just over an hour by bus instead of 6 - 7 hours cycling time.  So the  Dolomite mountains are now behind us and we now enter the area known as the Pianura Padana (the breadbasket of Italy). Tomorrow we ride to Venice and enjoy a well deserved day off on Tuesday. Best, M&M

We covered 65 miles today, just slightly more than yesterday and climbed 7,642 feet, just slightly less than yesterday.  We've had 3 long, very hard days of riding and everyone can't wait for our day off in Venice this coming Tuesday. The Dolomites are breathtaking.  We're riding at elevations of just under 5,000 feet and the mountains soar above us in all directions. Tonight we're staying in a restored Bishop's residence that dates back to 1675.  The residence is beautiful with wonderful gardens and stone walls. We have one more day in the Dolomites and then on to Venice. Best, M + M

Today's ride brought us into the Dolomite mountains in Northern Italy.  It feels more like Switzerland with all the Chalets, ringing cow bells and apple strudel.  Today replaced the climb up Stelvio as the most difficult on the tour to date.  The mileage was reasonable at 51 miles but the elevation gain was staggering at 9,200'.  It felt like we were climbing all day and in fact we were.  9,200' is like climbing straight up almost 2 miles!! The views are breathtaking, with the jagged cliffs surrounding us on all sides.  I continue to be impressed and proud of Michelle's cycling abilities.  The view from the back is pretty wonderful!!  Both of us are being taxed to our limits each day.  This is by far the most difficult journey in our cycling / sports career, 100 times more difficult than running a marathon. Tomorrow is another big day of more than 7,000' of climbing before we leave the Dolomites and head for Venice and a rest day this Sun...

Today was a huge day.  We rode the iconic Passo Della Stelvio, the second highest paved road in the Alps.  We turned left our of our hotel and immediately started to climb.  Some 2.5 hours and 12.5 miles later we reached the summit.  The road surface was excellent and the traffic was light. The summit is a mega for cyclists so there are boutiques selling all sorts of STELVIO tee shirts and cycling shirts.  We did our best to keep the Italian economy solvent with our purchases that cummerated our feat of reaching the summit. What goes up usually also must go down.  The ride down the back side of the climb was specacular with 30+ hairpin corners and motorcycles / fast cars and other cyclists descending a record speeeds.  Our descent took less than 20 minutes with speeds reaching over 40 miles per hour (the pros reach speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. After the descent, we still had some 40 miles before reaching our lunch stop which was at a lo...

32 miles, 3,701' elevation gain. Today's ride was meant to be an easy ride to bring us to Bormio, the "base camp" of tomorrows epic climb up Passo Della Stelvio. Today was a great day for me.  I got to meet one of my cycling heros, Jens Voigt.  Jens is a cycling legend.  He is tied for the most Tour de France appearances at 17 and he until recently held the hour veledrome record.

Today was our first day off of the tour and a day we will never forget.  Our dear friend Brick Susko didn't answer our call to join us for breakfast.  We were concerned about him since he always responds to text messages within 30 seconds.  We had his room opened and found him unconscious in bed.  Michelle and one of the leaders performed CPR but Brick had passed away during the night.  Brick died doing what he loved.  His cycling took him across the USA (the year before our ride), acros the UK (the year before our ride) and the length of Ireland (the year we rode from Seattle to San Diego).  We will miss our riding partner and our meal partner.  We will bring him along with us to Rome. My blogs have been postponed but a full day to day recap (with photos) will resume on our next day off in Lake Como this Sunday. Best to all, M and Big

We left our hotel around 8:30 am.  The forecast called for rain, cool temperatures and high winds.  We had all three!  The rain was never very heavy but the winds made up for the limited rainfall.  Winds reached 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph............there were cross winds, headwinds blowing directly in our faces reducing our speed by half and even in a few spots tailwinds helped push us along. Northern France is beautiful.  We've been riding from one quaint town to the next, each town exuding history.  Beautiful churches and wonderful town squares filled with coffee shops and bakeries. The highlight of today (for some of us) was to ride the COBBLES that are ridden each year in the HELL OF THE NORTH race called the Paris-Roubaix.  Riding on the cobble stones  is simple teeth shattering, jarring your whole body.  In the Paris -Roubaix there are 47 sections of cobble stones, some that are very short and some that are over a mile in lengt...

We started out early today, at 7:00 am.  We needed to cover the 18.8 miles from the hotel to the ferry taking us to Dunkirk by 9:00 am.  In fact, we arrived in Dover (aka White Cliffs of Dover) at 8:30 in plenty of time to board the 10:00 am ferry.  The crossing took 1.5 hours.  The ferry was huge, with 3-4 restaurants.......a small village.  After landing we had another 43 miles to our hotel in Ypres. The weather was nearly perfect and we covered the remaining distance in under 3 hours.  We needed to arrive in time for the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate memorial.  This ceremony celebrates the men and women who were lost in WW1.  Emery evening the ceremony has been held, unintroupted sine 1928.  Michelle was honored to be one of 3 in our group to lay a wreath. Following the ceremony which was very moving, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  Back to the Albion Hotel to get ready for tomorrow's 73 mile ride as we move back into Franc...