Prior to going to bed for the first time in my pitched tent, I made sure I had a cup of green tea. This tea was boiled using my meth stove. The sink on the campsite made a great wind break. The tea was lovely and felt well deserved after a day bike-packing!
 |
| Campsite sink proved to be a great tea making spot |
My buddy Chris summed up day one as follows: 'Torino Nice Rally (TNR) day 1, spectacular day up the Colle del Colombardo, the bulk of which is military strada which means gravel and rocks on an unmaintained road only suitable for 4x4's'.
Day Two: This was probably my most favourite day and my least favourite night. The day started around 6 a.m. when I got out of my tent and made myself a lovely porridge breakfast and cup of tea. The others were up not long after. It was nice to phone my wife today - the first time I had spoken to her during this adventure. Packing up the tent and my stuff took a while (got slightly better over duration of event) and as the days went by I learned to pack more in the lower bag on my bars and less in the top bag. Initially, the top bag was so packed there was little room for my hands on the bars and my thumbs would go numb. Oh, the things you learn....
 |
| Colle Delle Finestre and Colle Dell'Assieta (70k) |
Once packed up, the Turino Three (Will had left already) headed into town for a second breakfast. This breakfast stop was real important, as it was also a toilet stop (no loo's on campsite remember). The town we cycled through was real pretty and quite bizarre and quirky.
We had a lovely croissant for breakfast and I washed this down with a cuppa tea. What wasn't so lovely was the fact that Chris had another spoke menace disaster. Chris had been a wise lad though and had gotten some spare spokes from the bike shop. Chris being the mighty fine bike fixer he is, was able to fix his wheel by himself.
 |
| Menace spokes! |
After breakfast we headed out on the most fantastic climb. Indeed we were climbing the Colle Delle Finestre - a winding road that stretched over many k's initially on tarmac but became gravel about half way up. On much of these tarmac climbs I would cycle ahead of Chris and James and be lost in my own thoughts. I think they very much enjoyed cycling together and chatting as they went. I like company, but I do love my 'silent hills'. As I climbed, I would only really stop to take photo's. I figured my plan would be to stop at the gravel and wait for Chris and James there.
So starving was I when I reached the gravel which was about half way up the climb. Fortunately, two bike packers (?John and Justin) were already there munching away on lunch. These 'Good Samaritans' fed me too and so grateful I was. Salami and brioche never tasted so good! A cool water fountain was nearby too and the taste was magical.
 |
| The Good Samaritans |
Chris and James rocked up a short while later. It was great discussing with them that I had eaten lunch a good 100m higher than Ben Nevis! I wonder if they were slightly envious of my feed?!
After my lunch, we set off climbing the gravel part of the track. I think Chris cycled most of this section with me (James was having trouble with his knee I think). My hand written notes had faded with the dripping sweat that soaked onto the paper. I do remember that this climb was super fantastic though. Probably, my favourite climb ever.
 |
| So great to see the roads I had climbed |
 |
| Ooh look, a pixie! |
 |
| Many a switch-back |
 |
| How cool, my road, err gravel bike had climbed 2,176m to reach the summit |
 |
| Chris's bike did too (and got there first) |
 |
| Lovely water spot at the top |
 |
| Nice to fill up and drink as we waited for James |
 |
| Colle delle Finestre |
What followed was not a fast descent but more climbing. If it was flat, it didn't feel it. In fact we climbed another mountain - the Colle Dell'Assietta. Views here were absolutely mind blowing.
Wow, 2 mountains in one day. Super great stuff. After lots and lots of ascent, the descent finally came. Not long after descending, we reached a top cafe for lunch purposes. We had the most amazing cheese and salami board. It was good to call SJ and Lunar at this point and tell them of my adventures thus far.
 |
| Colle dell'Asseietta |
After this feed, we descended like crazy. It was real scary for me with my brake issues and poor handling skills. At times my bike took air and both wheels were high off the ground. Add to this cows on the track, then sheep and then a nasty sheep dog that tried to bite my butt. Maybe it was a blessing I was going so fast but it was too fast for my liking.
After all the fun we had had, things turned a little sour. Chris's spokes had become loose, it had become dark (Chris and I didn't have lights) and I punctured. It was quite chilly now too. James had gone ahead and Chris and I decided to walk (I was too tired to fix puncture and didn't want to cycle this Sahara like descent in the dark). We walked about 4k in a slow manner (but I really enjoyed chatting and reflecting on past events) until we reached street lamps. Chris checked his phone and James had found a hotel only a few minutes away. How awesome, victims to victor once more!
Once in the hotel, I pleaded hunger and the hotel chap made me and Chris a real tasty ham and egg toasty. James only managed to secure coco-pops (and a beer). After a feed and a faff, it was nice to took myself into a proper bed and so ended a near perfect day.
 |
| Not the cleanest of feet, eh?! |
Chris's take on this day was as follows: 'Torino Nice Rally Day 2, the beautiful climb up the Colle delle Finestre which featured on stage 20 of the 2015 Giro D'Italia, they had tarmac though, we had rocks the size of coconuts. We then followed the Strada dell'Assietta, equally stunning, more info on this can be found on dangerousroads.org !!!!'
Day Three: This was an interesting day that saw us cross the border from Italy into France. I started the day feeling quite slowed down but improved as the day moved along. Climbing the Col D'izoard was clearly the highlight.
 |
| Col D'izoard (81k) |
Awoke at 6 a.m. and was quick to get out of bed and replace the punctured tube on my bike. Oiled and cleaned the bike chain too using the granny pants that I had brought along. Hand-washed my base layer, which was looking pretty minging with all the dried sweat and salt on it and then went for breakfast.
Breakfast was nice at this hotel and there was lots to choose from. When we sat down and ate we could see a whole bunch of bike packers had crashed the night here too. Some miserable hotel guy seemed to watch me like a hawk as I filled my plate with breakfast items - he even came over to my table and took back the half pack of bread I had helped myself too.
After breakfast and a bit of faffing we were away and cycling at last. The roads were very pretty and climbed up and descended down. I was feeling quite lethargic at the start of this day. We passed through some tunnels which was nice and before too long had left Italy and entered France.
 |
| Definitely in France now! |
At some point we bumped into a French cyclist called Cyril and he tagged along with the Torino Three for some time. He was a nice guy and a fireman by trade. He had even dealt with the recent tragedies at Nice.
 |
| Cyril |
Was so nice cycling through France and seeing what looked liked settlements on top of the hills. The French appeared more friendly than the Italians and were more likely to offer greetings as we cycled past. The French air seemed cleaner too and the buildings more pretty.
At some point we stopped for a bite to eat. This was great, I had the biggest burger you could imagine served from a buss style cafe. Bikes from the Tour de France seemed to be left out and scattered here and there.
After feeding, Chris and James went in search of a bike shop to get Chris's wheel trued as his spokes were being menace. Cyril and I chilled out in the local river cooling our feet. The river was a beautiful colour of blue. After so long, we all re-grouped and set off climbing the mountain.
The mountains or Cols as they are known would often have countdown markers indicating how many k's to the summit and the gradient to be climbed. I would have a swig of water at every marker and enjoyed seeing how the gradients changed.
Somewhere along the climb, we stopped for a coke. Not sure what was in this coke but it picked me up good and proper and I felt 'on form' once more. Cyril was on form too, he cycled away into the distance.
A lot of the road had famous cyclist names painted across it. Many references to Team Sky could be seen. Wow, I was cycling the same roads as those on the Tour de France and other major bike races.
Was truly awesome to reach the summit. Not as pretty as the Finestre summit, but pretty all the same. Was even better when Chris and co. had all reached the top too.
Because I reached the top with plenty of time to spare, I decided to go for a little gravel skiing...
After the summit came a lovely descent. Well lovely enough - I continued to curse my brakes. As fast as we sped down the mountain, we never caught the random girl who cycled past us on an electric bike. Boy, we came down a lot faster than we cycled up!
Was great to pass more buildings on the hills - they looked so neat and pretty. Quite bizarre. Today was quite bizarre again because for the first time, we had reached our campsite in day light!
Nice to pitch in daylight. The ground was so hard, so I used rocks to pitch my tent down and didn't bother with pegs. James didn't have a tent so he had no peg vs rock issues. When it turned dark we went looking for supper but no cafe or similar was open. Not to worry - I cooked myself a double helping of porridge and washed this down with green tea.
Following a hard enough day and my lovely porridge it was time for a good nights sleep. Real cosy in my little tent. Zzzzzz.
 |
| Goodnight from me |
Day 4: Another beautiful day. Who knew bike packing could be so much fun? Climbing the Col de Vars was the highlight of today.
 |
| Col de Vars (68km) |
For the first time on this trip, I woke up cold to the sound of Chris's alarm on his phone. It was dark and I was (as usual hungry). I quickly settled into my routine of making myself some porridge and green tea. Delicious.
Once we had left camp and started to cycle my head-space was filled with a wish list. Oh, how I wished for double sided pedals, bigger disc rotors, brakes that worked and fatter tyres. My thinking soon changed when I considered the things I did have. Was real pleased I brought along silk socks, my feet were a little chilly first thing. Then I started wishing again - my headset (I think) was making noises and I was wishing it didn't. These squeaky noises continued for some time - we all decided it was actually a stow away mouse (called Gerald). My other sadness which soon turned to delight was finding the bum crème I thought I had lost!
The cycling was great today. We started cycling along roads that had severe drops to the side. The route was mostly descending and passed through many tunnels. We cycled along in this manner up until around snack time - 'elevenses'.
We stopped at a super little shop and I had the most wonderful turkey sandwich ever. A cup of tea went down well too, along with some brioche. Delicious. Think I put weight on during this trip. We found another shop close by (superstore) where I stopped for supplies (cake, noodles, soup and rum). The rum was only like £3 for the bottle and was a nice rum (alc 43%). Felt good to fill my hip flask at last. Following our feed and supply stop, we headed out. Col de Vars was our destination.
The navigators (Chris and James) had found a lovely gravel track for us to follow. This track was beautiful but quite difficult to cycle - it was hilly and of course covered in gravel. Some sections were bike-a-hike. The biggest problem with this track was that it lead to a dead end!
The dead end was nice in itself. It was a river basically. So nice to place my feet in these freezing cold waters and relax a little.
After a little chilling, relaxing and looking at options there was only one thing for it.. ..To retrace our tracks and go down the menace track we had just climbed. This was fun but scary and super bouncy. Some contents from my tri bag bounced off never to be seen again. I didn't lose any major items, just my sun crème, electrolytes and some food.
It was kinda nice being back on tarmac roads, which improved my cycling efficiency big time. Like other days, we cycled along beautiful roads with views of mountains all around. I was really enjoying climbing these ascents in beautiful weather.
We reached Vars, but this was not the summit. The summit was still some distance away. Reaching Vars was nice and indicated it was time to stop for a feed.
 |
| Nice bench, but no food available here |
We found a café and had some sarnies made up for us. Cycling and eating was definitely the way to go. Fuel for the climb ahead!
From the café, we continued to climb. Great to have those countdown markers once again. Not far to go now!
Woo hoo! I reached the top. As beautiful as ever. In the winter months lots of skiing takes place here. Right now though, lots of cycling. A French gentleman came over and patted me on the back, congratulating me for completing this wonderful climb. Nice.
I cycled in silent hill mode, whilst Chris and James cycled together (I think). With these few spare minutes I had at the top, what better way to celebrate by having a sneaky rum?! Well deserved I reckoned.
The café was selling post cards at the top. I took pictures of these marmotte creatures because I saw loads of them the previous day or 2 ago. However, whenever I took my camera out to take a snap, the blighters would disappear.
After photo's and drinks at the top, we took a fantastic descent into a place beginning Jav (my hand-written notes faded again due to much sweat etc). We soon found a place to pitch our tents and tarp. Once pitched we went off to find pizza!
 |
| Only just fit into my tent, but it's a good fit... |
The café we found was only a few metres away and was fantastic. They served up great pizza. And the rum was something else!
There were signs subliminally indicating that rum was the drink of choice. Rum posters were on the wall. The staff even gave me a bottle of rum (free) to finish off. Rum and fun, oh, bike-packing should so be done!
After a great night (and day) we retired to bed. I probably had the best night's sleep this night and awoke feeling warm and energised.
Chris commented 'Today we decided to go off piste, gradually getting further and further behind the curve, this seamed like crunch time so we headed for the roads and ascended the Col de Vars not before a little off road excursion which ended abruptly at weir of some kind and no further track to follow (damn you Beta google maps cycling) Col de Vars has featured on the tour 33 times so its pretty well known, its peak being a ski resort, lovely decent to the best campsite of the trip and probably the best pizza as well. at last we get ahead of the curve and it starts to feel like a holiday again'.
Day 5: Yet another far out fantastic day. Another Col. Another day of adventure.
 |
| Col de la Bonette (69k) |
Like most, if not all days, I was first to wake up and get up. I pinched Chris's towel and had a shower. I think Chris initially thought it had rained when he located his wet towel. Haha.
The day began by heading into town and eating pastries for breakfast. Then the day's cycling began - we were heading for the Col de la Bonette, apparently the highest pass in Europe.
Again, I mostly cycled this climb 'silent hill' style. Flies were a real menace today. A whole bunch of these bug's were swarming around my head and following me up the climb. Why so many bugs, I didn't know - I had showered after all. Luckily a cyclist caught me up on the climb, overtook me, and the bugs left me and followed him! Ha!
We all re-grouped about half way up the climb and stopped for a wonderful feast. Todays delight was cheese and salami with much bread. I don't think I'd ever eaten as much salami, cheese and breads on any previous adventure. Delicious! Suitably fuelled, we left the food stop and climbed, climbed, climbed.
Really loved the zig-zag type roads with their many switchbacks. As I climbed it was interesting to pass what I think were old army buildings. Another interesting thing passed me too - an almost naked man on a bike!
As I climbed the road, I was reminded of home. Some army bunkers were seen and one had 'Doo' scribbled across the top of it. My house is called 'Doo Little', so am sure you can see the link there.
Just before the summit there was a fork in the road. Well, there was a choice of going left or straight on. The Torino Three had much discussion about this and the thinking processes involved. Anyways, I took the left (steeper) side to climb the mountain and reach the summit. Chris and James went right (straight on).
I was super pleased to reach the summit but was a trifle disappointed it was not as objectively pretty as other summits. I seemed to be at the top for ages (probably only minutes) waiting for Chris and James and wasn't sure which side they would enter from (so I constantly went back and forth). Ah, and then I spotted Chris. I ran down to Chris and then ran alongside him as he pushed to the top. James was seconds behind. Woo hoo - we had all climbed the highest pass in Europe. Fantastique!
I cycled down to the crossing one way and Chris and James the other. Where we met, we stopped and ate the delicious cake I purchased a while back on much lower ground. Ah man, this cake was the best!
Whilst eating cake, the heavens had opened. We all layered up some and then started the terrifying (for me) descent. Chris was trying to chill me out and informed me that at least my brakes wouldn't overheat and my tyres would grip ok. Chris and James flew down. Chris skidded and did well to manage his back end. I flew down too, but had my brakes on pretty much constantly and was using my feet to slow me down when things got real hairy. Was pleased the super fast descent ended with the spotting of a place to eat. We had more salami and salad on this break which was great.
More descent (but less hairy and terrifying) followed. Some cycling was down these special bike only roads. Our descent led to a place called Isola, where we found our next camp site to pitch.
Once we had set up camp (I used rocks instead of pegs again) we cycled into town and found a nice restaurant. Pizza and rum featured on the menu again. The bike packers life is a great one. Once back at the tent it felt quite strange to think this was potentially my last night of camping.
Day 6: No Col's today. Bike packing continued but it was all down hill from here. Literally!
 |
| Descent into Nice (83k) |
Breakfast today was different to my usual - was fed up with porridge by now, so I treated myself to 2 sachets of tomato soup and some cake. My being up first remained the usual. When we had all showered and packed up, we set off for a long descent.
We hadn't cycled too long or far before we spotted a place for our now customary second breakfast. Brioche and cakes. Oh, and a cup of tea.
We left the cafe and continued to descend km after km. We had a headwind so a little effort was required. We appeared to be following a river course which again was painted a beautiful blue colour. Not only was our route long and descending, it was pretty straight too.
We found a nice place to pull over and clambered down to the river. Was only right that I took a wee paddle in these lovely waters. The spot we found was really quite awesome and we ate some of the wild figs growing there too. This would have been a great place to camp, but we didn't - we set off once more down this long descent.
Our plan was to reach the Café Du Cycliste before it closed. It was a Sunday so the café shop was likely to close earlier - around 2.30 p.m. if I remember correctly. This café was like the 'official' end point. With thoughts of champagne we set off with the hope we would reach our destination before closing time. All was going well until Chris punctured! At least it wasn't his spokes this time...
Chris fixed his wheel quick time and off we set, still hopeful to make the café. In almost no time, the mountains were left behind and the road ahead was flattening. And then, just like that, wow, I saw the sea! Wow, we had reached Nice. Nice was no nice! Ha!
I loved the smell of the sea air. Was so pleased we had all cycled Torino - Nice and were all well. Was pleased and chuffed that our end was only metres away. A tinge of sadness hit me as I remembered the recent tragedy that happened here not so long back and thought about all those innocent lives that were lost. Memorials were clearly present as we cycled along. Folk back home must have known I was within spitting distance of the official finish because my phone rang just prior to reaching the café. It was nice to speak to SJ, Lunar and my Ma, even if they did hold up my arrivee! Ha!
 |
| Outside the Café Du Cycliste |
 |
| Inside the Café Du Cycliste |
 |
| Back outside the Café Du Cycliste |
Was super cool to have completed a truly awesome adventure. We celebrated over a few soft drinks - this was a café, no champagne available! Other bike packers were here too and over the course of the next couple of days we made repeat trips here to chill out and share stories. Woo hoo we made it!
Much chilling out, story swapping, beer drinking and pizza eating followed. We also took a celebratory dip in the sea. The night ended with the Torino Three plus another cyclist called V crashing out in 'Bruno's' apartment.
Day 7: This day was spent chilling out in Nice. We cycled little (about 14k) but it was nice cycling so close to the sea. We caught up with other bike packers and did more story sharing.
 |
| Chilling in Nice (14k) |
I found it quite interesting to see the big fat tyred bikes of other cyclists. My skinny bike may have not been ideal but it accomplished the mission. Yes indeed, it cycled along gravel tracks and took me from Torino to Nice. Smug I was and smug I am!
 |
| Can you guess which tyre is mine? |
 |
| Pretty Nice. |
This day actually finished in the early hours of the following day. A whole bunch of bike packers had met up and we celebrated some more by drinking beer (rum) and eating pizza. Some folk had not finished their adventure yet and still had a distance to cycle. The Torino Three retired back to Bruno's following the celebrations.
Day 8: Our final day. Well, final day for Chris and I. James had further adventure planned in Corsica.
 |
| Bruno's to Airport (2.5k) |
Chris and I spent our final morning of this trip packing up our bikes for the last time. Is always kinda sad when an adventure comes to it's close but we were still buzzing really. After much faffing, we said our goodbyes to James (and he got a big man hug from me) and then we cycled to the airport.
We were asked if we would like to fly to Heathrow as opposed to Gatwick. This suited us so no problem. We packed our bikes away in their clear plastic bags and after so long boarded our plane and headed home.
 |
| Goodbye Nice. |
Chris and I shared stories on the plane. We re-lived our adventure. We both know we'd like to do this again. Before concrete plans were made for 2017, our flight came to an end. Usual story of collecting bikes, unwrapping, blowing up tyres and making sure no bust spokes. We then rode more gravel tracks to Chris's abode (via McDonald's) and I guess that's when my adventure really ended.
 |
Heathrow to Hodges (16k)
|
Post-script: Chris and James mostly made my adventure what it was, so a big shout out to those guys. It'd be nice to meet up with James sometime in the future, especially if I require a translator. If you, like me, are interested in his adventuring then please check out his blog here!
 |
| James! |
As for Chris, well, we all know he's as mad as a box of frogs. Am sure adventure awaits us both somewhere in the near future. Pair of idiots that we are ...
 |
| Goodbye from Chris and Au Revoir from me! |
