Guess You Could Call It The Anti-Rapha Tour

[David Lombari]

hey y'all,

i'm doing (actually, make that 'starting') the nove colli on sunday 23rd may and have been thinking about how to get there.

my current plan is to take two weeks off work and to get the european bike express down to grenoble (c.£220 return http://www.bike-express.co.uk/ ) and ride from there, though where the terrain is flat and boring (ie, Po valley) or due to time constraints, i'll probably take short train journeys to maximise quality riding time.

there's a bus leaving the uk on sat may 15th and picking up from grenoble on sun 30th. it's a 24 hr bus journey, or thereabouts. had thought to fly but don't want to have to take the bike apart and have nowhere to leave the bikebag anyway.

the idea is to cover some famous tour climbs in the alps (alpe d'huez, galibier,etc), head down to cuneo, hit the coast of liguria for the sun and make it somewhere close to cesenatico, or a train-ride away, by friday 21st may to watch the giro and spend the weekend in 'chezza'. leave on the monday to ride back where hopefully i'll take in mont ventoux.

i want to do it cheap-ish, so yha's and alberghi, and light, so i'm on a diet and will pack the minimum of stuff into as small and comfortable a backpack i can find. no camping equipment unfortunately. banana baguettes for breakfast, eat on the go during the day and a proper meal in the evening (starting to sound like a Special K advert). dusted!

as i say, this is an embryonic idea but if you fancy tagging along for any part of it, post on here.

cheers, dave.

[Andrew G]

Sounds fantastic, wish I could join you. Has all the makings of an classic adventure.

[higg]

Sounds like a great trip.

Have a think about the bag on back part, there is the option of pannier rack connected to a (non-carbon) seatpost. It changes the handling of the bike a bit but relieves the strain on neck and shoulders if you have some long days planned.


Aodan.