Cycling statistics- 42.11 km, 1072 meters of climbing and 2:38 cycling time

We had a fantastic start to the day with a buffet breakfast that included eggs, bread, yogurt, fruit, sweets and amazing croissants and of course great coffee! It must be the German influence as typical Italian breakfasts mostly just have sweets!

We managed to get off without too much delay! Of course we had to wait for Peter as he decided to lower his water bottle holder at the last minute!

With a slight drizzle in the air we set off! A quick 200 meter downhill and a sharp left and then the climb began! It was a 7.9 km with an average gradient of 7.2. Extremely hard especially as we haven’t done much hill work over the winter and we’re carrying our belongings! Am I making excuses! My worst fear came around the 3 km mark with a very high gradient that seemed to stretch on forever! I went to change to my lowest gear and to my horror realized this was my last gear! Then the self doubt starts – my legs are sore, breathing is heavy and looking at the road ahead that doesn’t seem to end! Where is that switch back when you need it! So I stopped to catch my breath and to refocus! Usually I would be mad at myself for stopping but I’m not! We have lots of cycling ahead of us and will be stronger as the tour goes on!

We then had a lovely descent and then another climb to a mountain village called Ranzo. It was worth the 6.2 km and 5.5% average gradient. Absolutely stunning views and the road was carved into the side of the mountain!

The climb to Ranzo was out and back so we were able to descend the same way we came up! I love to descend – nothing like going fast and navigating turns! Exhilarating!

And that was it for the climbing for the day! Thank God! We had a nice scenic ride to our hotel – Ideal Sarche! A nice active town with lots of climbers, hiker and bikers!

The end of the ride was celebrated with my favourite lemon soda and of course Italian ice cream!

And we await day 3 which will bring more hill climbing with steep gradients and I’m sure beautiful scenery! Whatever the climb I will get to the top!😀