Dome 2 Rome 2013: September 2013

Sorry it's been almost 2 weeks and much of our blog audience will have got up dusted themselves down and wondered off to pastures and blogs new by now. Apologies for the delay, normal service has been resumed.

Well I know you know we made it, so that's not really news but what happened that last day?

Well let me tell you to the best of my knowledge. I have to say that for two reasons. 1. it's been a while since it all happened and 2. The day started with a hangover.

First I want to thank Jeff, Chris and John for stepping in and writing Day 14. That's a day I'd like to forget but will sadly remember for the rest of my life. My beautiful companion and best friend Beanz died after a very sudden illness. I shall not dwell on it here but blog writing was not on the agenda that day.

We spent the evening on the shore of lake Bolsena, a beautiful and peaceful place. I sat and quietly toasted my friend remembering our life together whilst the sun set on her life.

Then my friends came to share the views and we drank some more, and some more, and then the Limoncello came out. I mean there was no point carrying it to Rome was there? Whilst most sensible people went to bed John, Jeff, Chris, Jill and I continued. After a few bottles of cheap and frankly nasty red wine we decided to follow it up with cheap and nasty Limoncello! Not a recipe you'll find in any sports nutritionists handbook before a 70 odd mile ride.

In the morning of our 15th day on the road we all went through the ritual for one last time. Water bottles filled, back pockets stuffed with food, tyres pumped up and bags packed. Between the peloton every part of the anatomy ached, for some it was our head, for others bottoms, knees or legs. We all pulled out our D2R shirts to wear for the day ready for the afternoon photo call and as an unspoken allegiance to the team we had become.

There was some excitement at the thought of what we were about to achieve and a certain relief that the relentlessness of the same routine every day would soon be over. There was also some reluctance to end what had been a fantastically beautiful ride and the shared camaraderie that only comes from shared suffering and experiences.

Soon though the keys to our little camping chalets were handed back, Garmins were started and we were in formation back on the road and all thoughts turned to the wheel in front and no further. We rode along parallel with the lake edge and climbing up to a point where the view of the lake was more splendid and worth the incline (as views tend to be). You have to earn the view I think. Put the work in going up and you will be rewarded for your effort when you stop to rest at the top. A good philosophy for life.

We had left early before breakfast so didn't take much persuading to stop for coffee and pastries at a little road side cafe. The patron probably thought human locusts had arrived as his pastry cabinet looked rather sorry for itself by the time we left. Such was the speed of the plague in demolishing food and coffee poor Massimo had the unenviable task of interrogating each of us to recall just how much of the damage we had each inflicted. With a list that sort of resembled the truth we climbed back on our bikes and rode on though small towns and villages towards a lunch stop. There were a couple of minor hills but the usual inspection of the route profile the night before hadn't conjured up any nightmares or horrified expressions as the days in the Alps had.

We were all fairly relaxed with a relatively short days ride ahead and with an early start this was going to be easy right? We rode along chatting, two or three abreast on quiet rural roads. Had we been more focused we would have noticed that they became quieter and quieter until suddenly there was no road.

Route mapping for rides like this has got much easier in recent years with websites such as ridewithgps.com and mapmyride.com it's easy to click your way across a continent in a couple of hours. Then you can check out your two dimensional route to assess the road quality using street view. Random samples or viewing of junctions to ensure they are negotiable by bike leaves you with more confidence than blindly picking a road from a map. On the whole it works but not every mile can be checked easily so occasionally things don't go to plan. This was one of those times. The road literally ran out and there in front of us was a house with high Steel gates padlocked across the 'road' we could see the gate at the far end and the road we wanted to be on just beyond it but we couldn't get there. So with some hiking and scrambling around in fields we agreed there was no route through even if we were prepared to carry our bikes over fields to get there.

Matt had loaded open source maps onto his Garmin where Jeff and I had City Navigator maps from Garmin. Today open source was a clear winner. Matt could see a level of 'track' that our 'on road' maps couldn't see. We were about to take a detour off road on our lovely road bikes, no one was keen on a 20-30km detour at this stage. We all wanted to go to Rome and only Rome. After polling a couple of passing motorists with our plan we were confident of success so headed off road in search of our course. This was Strada Bianche territory! Pausing to let everyone whose mountain bike skills were rusty or non existent Matt waited at a junction. "You can't go that way" exclaimed Denise, it's private and forbidden it says on that sign. "What sign?" We can't read Italian we are ignorant British tourists we yelled as we passed the sign. Besides a local just told us we can get through, that's as good an authorisation as we need. The whole Italian contingent held back slightly and followed us mad English on along our proposed route. I am not sure if they just thought we were mad but followed as they had no map themselves or were happy to ride along behind. I am sure had they been closer to us we would have heard the winces of pain as their beautiful Colnagos bounced over boulders and gravel. To be honest I didn't ever ask them for fear of what they might have said. Mi Scusi Giorgio y Susy. :-(

Then just as our pioneering British spirit was beginning to wane Tarmac appeared. Matt had re found our course. We were headed for Rome again. Hoorah......! Matt, nice work.

We rode on through the last few pretty towns and never quite came to the unglamourous suburbs that rides into London or Paris seem to entail.

Jeff's route into Rome (aside from the little incident earlier, which I don't hold him responsible for) was a marvel. We rode for a while downhill along straight perfect Tarmac between maze fields and for a time enjoyed our bikes and the wind in our wheels. "Let's ride our bikes really fast" Chris shouted as he rode past me. "Come on, hop on". I didn't need asking twice and before we knew it there was a small peloton working together to achieve maximum speed. No care in the world except how much faster can we go? Then the road changed and the need to regroup and wait for the back to catch up signalled the end to the fun but as we merged together the need to ride as a team to avoid traffic hazards and losing people was paramount. The crazed Italian drivers never materialised in the way I had envisaged from the stories I heard pre ride. If you have ridden a bike in central London then Rome is no worse. Just assume everyone is out to kill you and ride accordingly.

Saturday afternoon arrival did seem to be a good relatively quiet time. Avoid Sunday, the Pope emerges and so does most of the tourist and catholic population of Rome. Saturday afternoon was a relative ghost town.

We rode to join a cycle path which follows the Tiber into central Rome, its good quality Tarmac and remarkably free of glass and dog poo as so many British cycle paths can be. It meandered and hugged the Tiber for about 6-7 miles (possibly more) until we emerged near the Castle D'Angelo. Two punctures in the final mile tested our patience but we finally rode on along the cobbled road that leads directly to the front of St Peters Basilica.

There before the Basilica were Liz and Angela our fabulous support for the week as well as Paul Mewis who had arrived the day before and hired a moped to come and join us at the lake. He instantly became a hit with the peloton, a moped outrider to point out the location of the Landy and our lunch spot was brilliant. A few more days with us and we could of had him motor pacing us uphill! I half expected Angela to appear riding pillion carrying a chalk board to show the time gaps to the main peloton while we had our little jolly off the front of the pack.

The usual support was by now joined at the finish by my great friend and Italian Tifosi Nicola Baughan. Nicola loves all things Italian and speaks Italian fluently. She wasn't going to pass up an excuse to spend a couple of days in Italy even if she was fresh from the beaches of Sicily. She had arrived the day before with my beautiful Stepdaughter Kirsty who was making her first trip to Rome as a treat for all her hard work during her AS levels. You see hard work = just reward. It was fantastic to see them and quite emotional after the previous days. I was so pleased they were there. Thanks both of you, I shall never forget it.

So we all made it safely to Rome, mostly stronger physically and also probably mentally too. Some aches and for some of us some pains but intact and pleased to have completed a fabulous journey in every sense of the word. I am sure over coming weeks we will all digest the achievement and reflect on the lessons learnt and the experiences had.

Nick and Alex have raised over £1000 at the last count for the Kalabash Trust. Well done boys two spectacular achievements. I am sure they will have also learnt much about themselves and hopefully how to fix a puncture on the side of the road!

Friendships previously forged are stronger than ever and stories and memories of our days on the roads will be shared for many years to come.

Thank you to my fellow riders for putting up with me and my Bianchi, which just wants to ride fast. it's an Italian Stallion after all.

We all stayed that night within reach of St Peters Square at the Hotel Columbus which was ideal with secure parking on site and somewhere to store the bikes.

We enjoyed a last supper together before the peloton disbanded and most of us stayed on to explore Rome. It has a lot more to offer than Gibraltar it has to be said (sorry Gibraltar). I will add a selection of photos from our days in Rome but it was very nice to pack and wave off the Landy not having to do the drive back this time. That pleasure was left to Paul and John. Chapeau boys.

The Bianchi and all the other bikes and riders are now safely back in the UK or home and I am sat here on the train to Durham, about to run the Great North Run with my best friend Kathryn Chester. Another exciting chapter ahead. It will be Kath's first but we shall run together and finish together.

Kath's husband Martin has invited me on another epic ride next year. 6 countries in 6 days. Of course I thought about the offer for all of 2 minutes, absolutely I want to come! Life is for living and I want to spend as long as I can in this life living it happily, sharing experiences with great friends and keeping active as long as possible.

There is a lot of time to think when you ride your bike and over the last two weeks I have thought a lot about all sorts of things. However I thought most about how important friends are in life? It may seem like a silly or obvious point but there's more to it than that. I have thought about it a lot and spent a large number of hours silently just appreciating my friends.

So I would like to reiterate a toast I made on that night in Bolsena. "To best friends and loyal companions" I urge you to raise a glass and join me.

This blog is dedicated to one of the best, to Beanz....