59.4 miles ridden. 223m climbed. Temperature 30C.

Today was a fabulous day. The sun shone brightly all day as we rode almost all the way along the coast with the glistening Mediterranean Sea to our right. There were a few interesting loops inland which were generally to go around military areas but that made for a nice interlude.

No headwind today – mainly onshore (so from the right) but more behind so combined with the largely fabulous road surface we enjoyed a stonking pace. Look at that road – cyclists will understand!

We stopped for a coffee at around 20 miles and then took a detour into Anzio – site of the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland in January 1944. Nowadays its a bustling tourist resort with little evidence of the carnage unleashed but there was a very nice museum and in the next town of Nettuno the American cemetery is impressive.

Nettuno was the site of a riders reshuffle and James and I rode the rest of the day with Claire and her daughter Daisy starting with a 10 mile stint to Foce Verde (Latina) where we enjoyed a fabulous lunch.

From here we had another 18 miles to cover most of which was on quiet roads through sand dunes and salt marshes with a wonderful tailwind which in turn meant we created our own cooling effect as it was very hot in the sun – nicely cooler when we were lucky enough to get some tree cover.

We are staying in a very nice hotel tonight in a town called Sabaudia an in a burst of bike ride domesticity I managed to wash my kit and go for a swim in the pool and reflect on a great day’s proper bicycle touring.