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Douglas Brown's Travels
Day 25 Today we have 274 kilometres to ride and we set off at 8am. I volunteered to be tail end charlie today. That way I could see how everyone rode and do my own thing at the back of the pack. The first 70km of todays ride was on main roads and motorways until we reached Bellagio on the shore of Lake Como. This was our coffee stop for the morning and Our embarkation point for the ferry across the lake to Menaggio. It had turned in to a very hot and humid day with the temperature in the upper 30s. I consumed two 600ml waters while waiting for the ferry. The ferry ride only took 10 minutes and we were soon on our way north having opened all the air vents in my jacket and lowered the screen on the bike. The standing around waiting and sitting in the Que. for the ferry had made me uncomfortably hot and it was a pleasure to get moving again. Shortly after leaving Menaggio the road entered a tunnel which was deliciously cool. I slowed the bike to make the most of the cool air pouring in through the vents in my jacket. Our route then followed the north western shore of lake Como to its northern end. The road was crowded with Cars and people out to enjoy a summer Sunday at the lake. The group soon got separated by the traffic and I found myself leisurely riding and wishing I had time for a dip in the lake. From Lake Como we continued north to Chiavenna then onto our first Mountain pass at Splugenpass on the Swiss border. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spl 2;gen_Pass Pass riding is something we do not experience at home and it takes me a while to get into my rhythm and settle into a strange bike. This was another reason I chose to perform " tail end Charlie" duties for the day. Everyone except one settled into the pPass riding and was soon enjoying the experience. One American had never ridden tight 180 degree turns before and did not have the skill set to adapt to this style of riding. I there fore found myself following him around these switchbacks a 5km per hour while he paddled his way around. My previous Trials riding skills came in very handy balancing the bike at these low speeds. It took us what seemed like forever to climb to the summit and the rest of our tour group waiting at the 2115 meter summit. After a brief rest it was off down the other side of the Pass and towards Thusis. The decent was also a torturous task for me and my very unskilled buddy. If I had thought he was slow negotiating switchbacks going up, he was even slower going down. Time was ticking on and the group was now well behind schedule and the 4pm estimated arrival time seemed impossible. From Thusis we headed east to our second Pass of the day at Albulapass. At the summit of 2315 meters. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albulap ass I could not enjoy Pass riding as my buddy and I were soon left behind by the group and all of my concentration was on the very slow rider in front. He was getting very tired from riding in the heat and the concentration he was putting into staying on the road. If possible his ability at holding a decent line in corner deteriorated and he started putting his feet down as he approached each turn. I knew this was a recipe for disaster as he therefore did not have a foot covering the rear brake. Sure enough, he became too slow to balance the bike, stalled it and fell off. Neither he nor the bike were damaged, but it shattered what little confidence he had. I joined the main group and we continued on using our GPS to guide us, while the leader returned to collect our fallen rider. We headed south from the pass finally arriving at Pontresina at :7:30pm. We were all shattered after nearly 12 hours on the bike. After our evening meal it was an early night for us all.
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