Euro Tour Day 10

Breakfast was served at 07:30 and we got going at 08:01. To find the right road can be tricly as I always struggle finding my way north of the equator. After doing a couple of circles around where we stayed, I discovered a obscure little road right next to the building where we had to go up.

It was very steep, so we were in pushing mode from the get go! The route then took us onto a walking path, which was as steep! This turned back on itself and Danie was about 50 meters behind me. When I looked again, there was no Danie. He missed the turn! I dropped my bike and found him around the corner. The walking path joined another obscure road which joined a bigger road. This was next level!!

After a while we were taken onto a disused road through the woods, which then joined a reasonable road through some sparsely placed houses. Eventually we joined up with a main road going to Piani di Praglia. This meandered up the hill at a steady gradient. After 12.28 km and 767 meters of climbing, we reached the top. That took us 2:25, an average speed of 5.1 kph! There were a number of sections where the gradient went to 23%!

A short whild later we were guided onto a jeep track along the ridgeline. The vegetation here were totally different to what we have encountered to date. It reminded me of the Drakensberg in the Champagne Castle area. Grass lands with sparsely populated smallish trees. We were once again riding on the ridgeline. The views were awesome! Every now andcthen the gradient and/or condition were such that we followed the conservative aproach and pushed our bikes. 

This led us onto one of the worst parts of the trail. We were guided away from the track onto a single track, which started fine, but then detarioated into a rocky, washed away path down a very steep hill. It reminded me of a section of the Freedom Challenge, just before Pearston, called Struishoek. This section made Struishoek look like "a walk in the park"! Just before the end we came accross a stone shelter. It must be a centuries old building. It will be interesting to find the history of it. There was a name there, but no desciption, not that we would have understood it! 

Here was a small section we could ride, but that lasted less than a few yards and we were back pushing. After more than an hour of this, we finally got onto a ridable single track, which took us to a tar road. 

Here our route continued accross the tar road, but we decided to look for a coffee shop. I found one on Garmin search, but it was 2 km down the hill. We decided that it was worth the effort and raced downhill for a crousant and cuppocino. Here we looked at our options. Once we joined the route, we had about 2 km through the woods and then a tar road to Vara Supreiore, our nect stop.

So after the stop it was back up the hill to join our route again. The ride through the bush was mostly a gentile uphill, which joined a good tar road. 

Right from the moment we joined the track, my Garmin indicated a 11 km climb. Once we cane out of the woods, we continued to climb on a very good tar road. After awhile, I realised that we were on Passo del Faiallo. This meandered up the hill and we could see the summit 6 km away! There was only one option: grid it out! At one point the temperature reached 40.5 degrees centigrade! We had a number of rest stops as we "battled" up. This seems to be popular pass for motorbikes and a number passed us going up and coming down! 

Once again the views were out of the world. We could see Genoa and I noticed that the airport is built in the sea, right next to the habour. It took us quite awhile to reach the top. There was a respite halfway up where the road went down for about 300 meters, but most of it was uphill. The gradient was a managable 4-10 degrees. 

Once over the too, we teached the turn off to La Nuvola sol Mare, which was to our left and on our route! It looked expensive, but we decided to try it. Inside the lady was helpful, but would not commit to accepting us for the night. The problem was that they did not have a cook! The owners will also only be back at 18:00! She started phoning around to find some alternatives, but nothing was available and it was more than 10 km away and downhill, which we would have had to cycle back up tomorrow morning. 

Google Maps showed a cottage 850 meters away. The lady did not know about this place! I decided to investigate whlle she phones around. The track to this place was rough and when I finally got there it turned out to be two old buildings, which was locked no sign accommodation.

While going there, Danie phoned to inform me that they decided that we can stay the might and they will provide supper! What a miracle! Finding accommodation right on the teail. What more can one ask for! 

Quite a day where we travelled 44 km in 8:22 with 1,764 meters of acent. That is an average of 40 meters per kilometer traveled. I have never done that kind of climbing in one in all my travels!