7 days later…..

By the time we started leaving for the airport it was clear that 9 of the 12 riders in our group had been ill on that final day so the celebration dinner was a somewhat subdued affair with the traditional toasts made with glasses or either still or sparkling water. There was one wine and one beer drinker and they had to make up for everyone else!

Despite the heat, the adverse weather, and illness I cycled 733 miles and climbed 9944 metres over a 2 week period which is pretty good going especially taking into account the heat. My use of electrolytes, energy gels, recovery powders and vitamin boosters worked well to keep me from the worst effects of the heat and my P20 apply once factor 30 stopped me from burning at all. Many experts seem to claim that once daily application sun creams don’t work but this one definitely does – for me at least.

What would I do differently? Not much really. The day I missed due to the bad weather warning was a good choice for me and the right thing according to a number of riders who did ride that day and wished they hadn’t. There’s not much I could do about being ill – it took 4 days for me to fully recover.

Italy is a beautiful country and the folks we met along the way were extremely friendly and welcoming. It is truly a shame that so many folk dump rubbish anywhere and everywhere. Having cycled the distance we did and through the variety of terrains in both rural and urban environments the consistency of littering is such that it is clearly endemic to Italy and those living there and it is probably irreversible without a mandatory national campaign.

The highlight was probably the Amalfi Coast – with the exception of Amalfi itself – but the long straight roads will also stick in my mind. Sunsets were nice too: