August 19, 2019
Nice
A very hard day
We knew today was going to be a hard ride and we certainly weren’t wrong - it was the hardest day we have had yet.
We were down to the coast and had a couple of glorious km to our turn off at Cap Martin. What beautiful houses, mandavillia was spilling everywhere and I though of my poor little specimen at home struggling away to beat the onslaught of the rabbits. The only thing was that the road became so steep that even with maximum power and my lowest gear I couldnt ride it - the views were great though!
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We got up and it was about now we made the really fatal mistake. In our ignorance we thought it would be more prudent if we didn’t go down into Monaco but kept above it and hopefully avoid some of the worst climbing WRONG WRONG WRONG. We should of plunged down and enjoyed the glitz of the place - taking the train from there to Nice wouldn’t actually have been a bad idea. Instead we were on the D6007. It seemed to be heading for the clouds and now there were no cyclists of any sort. The traffic too was terrible. We have got used to riding in traffic but it has been OK and slow. This was something different continuous, fast and consistently up hill right on Ken’s limit. The only consultation was that if I was run over it would be by a fancy sports car We were riding over Cap d’Ail. Valiantly I rode on there seemed no escape. There was a small road going to a place called Ez Bord de Mer. I went on but in a while stopped to wait for Ken who was toiling up in his lowest gear. I looked back and he appeared and seemed to be doing some sort of wild dance at the corner. I suppose it meant I needed to go back so I eased myself along the side of the road and back to the corner. He wasn’t pleased. Why had I gone on and not stopped at the corner? I must be stupid!
It was with some difficulty we got across the road and now we were on a tiny quiet road heading vertically downwards. Yes we met the road we should have taken - now well passed Monaco and all became normal. A tunnel took us under Cap Estel and before too long we came to a well deserved coffee stop The young man serving got very excited when he saw our cycling shirts. We must have visited NZ as he had and had the same shirt. He was even more excited when he found we were the genuine article
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We were now free to enjoy our ride to Nice. Yes there were hills but they weren’t nearly as prolonged. As we arrived in Nice Port we met the first cycletourist we have seen since Venice. She had ridden from the Netherlands and was finishing in NIce. We had a good chat and now all that was left was to find our hotel. Always the GPS has helped us but today it went on strike for quite a long time. The pavements were packed and there seemed to be trams in all directions but of course after some time we found it
A quick shower and we were off to reward ourselves with lunch. Sitting next to us was a charming Frenchman He was our age with excellent English. He is Jewish so was telling us how during WW2 he and his family had to go into hiding, they were hiding in the countryside near Toulouse and his memories of the time as a small boy was of a joyous time in the country.
The Ride From Genoa to Nice
I am so glad we did it we loved almost every part of it. Most of it is on the SS1 which is a perfectly rideable road. There are two long stretches of glorious cycleway well away from any roads each of these is around 30km in length. At this time of the year it is very crowded but after the end of August I imagine it would be much quieter. Apart from today’s stupidity it never felt unsafe even riding out of Genoa. At this time of the year accommodation is very expensive and quite hard to find - we were paying around 150E a night but the accommodation was excellent and always had air cond. Other expenses like food seemed normal. The whole area has a joyous vibe and you cant help but feel happy.
Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 1,181 km (733 miles)
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