9 1/2 weeks, 10 countries: cycling to Italy – (and back) – slideshow

This is just a slideshow of stills. I hope to produce some videos (with maps) from the many gigabytes of clips I took – but that is a long job and I will leave that for when the weather is unsuitable for cycling. This slideshow has already taken many (enjoyable) hours to compile.

I know it’s hard to read some of the captions because of the speed of the slide changes. But if I slow it down the presentation becomes too slow for people who don’t want to read everything. So… please pause the YouTube player if you want to read something, or you can slow the video down (“…” menu on the mobile YouTube app) but it does make the music sound even worse!

I still find it hard to believe that I have completed a long trip like this. I went to so many places, talked to so many people and got incredibly tired! And so many people were kind to me! It is really hard for me to process it all!

Getting across the Alps turned into a big deal due to late, heavy snow on the way down and a pass closure on my return. All the accounts I could find of climbing the Splügen Pass from Italy were off-putting and mentioned unpleasant traffic and very steep gradients. In the end, my crossing was traffic free by incredibly lucky timing, and the gradients were perfectly manageable at a steady climb in 2nd or 3rd gear.

Corsica! Best place ever! GT20 is a cycle route on good roads, many of which are also used by motorbikes and sports cars. Huge mountains, but not steep: I climbed most hills in 5th gear, or 4th when I got tired (yes, I have quite low gears).

Sardinia – I went down the west coast. It couldn’t match Corsica’s GT20 route, in fact cycling seems rather under-promoted on Sardinia. If I went again I would try to spend time in the central and eastern mountains. My first Sardinian campsite was a big let-down – a field not really suitable for a tent with cows wandering and doing what cows do and no clean, smooth level ground – and I was initially overcharged. The other sites were fine. At Cagliari port I was told I must wait till after the cars had passed the barrier – but there were multiple ships and cars kept on coming. It was only by being forceful that I was let through the barrier shortly before my ship set sail and by then nobody was interested in helping me stow my bike or access my cabin – it was very unprofessional and involved raised voices on both sides (they shouted first)!

Everywhere else I only experienced courtesy, friendliness, kindness. I loved meeting people on campsites or on cycle paths. I was touched by the kindness of locals who were (mostly) hospitable and generous, and by the friendliness of the many young travelers I met who made me feel like one of them!