Old Gits & 3 Girls: 4

Mountain to Sea with the SBCC

Today we picked up two honorary members of SBCC, Dave and Helen, for a ride into the mountains then down towards the seaside. The weather has turned from scorching hot sun to overcast and low cloud - just as well as it turned out. The first climb of the day was really three climbs, up and down and up and down from Labra to the alto del torno at 550 m.

Lou had the first puncture of the tour on day 1 . . . and she now has the 2nd and 3rd. On the final descent her rear tyre blew off the wheel again - a brown trouser moment in anyones language - only for it to happen once more as soon as fixed and inflated. Greg has now swapped wheels in true gentlemanly fashion so if it blows off again he will be the one to hurtle over the edge of the precipice into the valley below - I'm sure he knows this. On the bottom part of the mountain workmen were tarting up the verges in preparation for La Vuelta, which will traverse the same route, but managed to dislodge lots of sharp rocks in the process. As a result, Dave suffrered a tyre cut which required patches and superglue to repair - the tour tool kit is coming in handy this trip.

Eventually we arrive at our destination, a beachfront cafe, for lunch . . . only to find that the kitchen is fermo. The girl did make us some nice smoked salmon and cheese sandwiches, but only one each! As regular readers will know I have fallen into the habit of 3-course déjeuner with wine while on tour, so a single bap will simply not suffice . . . I had to supplement with a bag of crisps and a piece of cake from the back pocket.

The sun came out by the time we reached the sea but I had forgotten my bucket and spade . . . so we cleared the kids out of the boat for a group photo . . .

The return was an equally long climb back up to the campsite where I have already tucked in to bread and jam, and a crisp sandwich before dinner - the training programme is in full swing.

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