A new addition….
There is a scientific formula for the maximum number of bikes a cyclist needs : N + 1. And here is the newbie: This is a TREK checkpoint ALR 5 Gen 3 gravel bike. Now I did already have a gravel bike but when I bought it at the height of COVID it was literally the only...
Epilogue
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...
Day 15 – 21 September 2025 – Messina to Catania.
22 miles ridden - 190m climbed - Temperature 31C. A new perspective to yesterday’s collective struggle came clear this morning when 4 riders messaged that they had been up ill all night and wouldn’t ride today. Others were not feeling tip top but left as planned. The...
Day 14 – 20 September 2025 – Porto Salvo to Messina.
61 miles ridden - 1333m climbed - Temperature 32C. Today was brutal. It was hot, very little cooling breeze and lots of climbing. Within half a mile of the hotel we started a 9 mile category red (Garmin) climb. It was relentless at 5-8% and although we missed the...
Day 13 – 19 September 2025 – Guardia Piemontese to Porto Salvo
70.6 miles ridden - 772m climbed - Temperature 30C. We went for an early start today so that we could break the back of our 22 miles of climbing in the cooler morning hours and because the sun is behind the mountains there is much more shade. The climb started about...
Day 12 – 18 September 2025 – Sapri to Guardia Piemontese.
59.6 miles ridden - 942m climbed - Temperature 31C. Today felt like a long day but that may be because we stopped for a somewhat lengthy coffee break and also a lunch stop. Sapri looked quite charming this morning and I even took in some sculpture on the seafront. But...
Day 11 – 17 September 2025 – Marina di Ascea to Sapri.
46 miles ridden - 1126m climbed - Temperature 28C (most of the time!) Today was a ride of two halves - the first climb and the second climb. The first climb started about 1 mile from the hotel high is always hard as it takes me about 20 minutes to get warmed up but...
Day 10 – 16 September 2025 – Megazzeno to Marina di Ascea.
53 miles ridden - 794m climbed - Temperature 29C Today was a good day. The first 20 miles or so was flat which was a nice start although the road was quite busy for the first 12 miles or so after which it quietened down nicely. Sadly we weren’t right next to the sea...
Day 9 – 15 September 2025 – Pompeii to Megazzeno
48 miles ridden - 1004m climbed - Temperature 30C. The first four miles were an assault course of potholes, closed roads, buses, school drop-offs and impatient drivers as we made our way out of Pompeii towards todays big climb. There weren’t any especially steep...
Day 8 – 14 September 2025 – Rest day in Pompeii.
No riding today. For the majority it was a lazy day although one of the guides did go cycling over to Sorrento. Others took a train to Naples for a look around, others a train to Sorrento. It seems half of us stayed in Pompeii and looked around the ruins.I was in...