Tramonti to Gemona del Friuli: 1031m ascent

Monday July 23, 2018, 38 miles (61 km) - Total so far: 5,061 miles

(8,145 km)

Today was a ride of two halves!

The first half involved a wonderful ride up into the mountains, along a tiny, quiet road (albeit in horrible condition). It wasn’t too steep at any point, but was long enough to make us feel at home again. Wonderful views all the way. The descent was a bit hairy as Komoot sent us down a 20 0ncline - and it was that steep for quite a long time. Don’t go up that way!!

Once on the flat, we were on a mission to find the nature reserve with toilets that I’d found on maps.me (what is it with Italy and the complete absence of toilets???). That was all good, but then the road was closed so we had to reroute. The extra 10Ks was only a tiny inconvenience compared to the horrible roads. They may have looked small on the map, but I think every truck in Europe was going that way. Not sure why. They were mostly courteous, but one passed by so close and so fast - a truck coming the other way beeped at it as there just wasn’t room. Terrifying! We tried to find a different road, but it was just as bad! DO NOT FOLLOW OUR ROUTE FROM CORNINO ONWARDS!! We finally found Lidl and bought ourselves a bottle of medicinal wine. Interestingly, only one screwtop, less than 3 euros and it was actually OK!!

We’re camping at Ai Pioppi which is a nice spot, with approximately a million small tents!! There must be a group. That said it was very quiet. 17.50 euros, no complaints from us. Tomorrow, Slovenia!