Picos Original Riders

Picos Original Riders
Highlights of 2010

Last of the Picos Riders - to Rome Alone!

Our first two charity rides were a huge success - raising over £20,000 for the South East Cancer Help Centre.

The Centre does a fantastic job of supporting patients and carers at the most difficult times of their lives. They make a real difference and you could help them in their work by contributing to our fundraising. Donations can be made via JustGiving.comhttps://www.justgiving.com/Tom-Vaz/ or directly into the Centre. For more details of the Centre and their work see their website at http://www.sechc.org.uk/

After 3 years of rest it seemed time to dust off the old muscles, bones and sinews and do one more spectacular ride in aid of this fabulous charity.

This time I will travel alone for 25 days, mainly following the ancient pilgrimage route to Rome, the Via Francigene, covering a distance of around 1,400 miles.

The route travels through Newhaven - Dieppe - Paris before I eventually reach the Via Francigene in Eastern France. From then on it is pretty simple apart from having to cross the Alps without an elephant!

Thursday 6 August 2015

Day 25 Bracciano to Rome

A short, fast ride of 29 miles and I reached Rome in triumph with the blast of trumpets and the roars of the crowd in my ears. Sadly I may have imagined all that - it was probably the sound of car horns and the revving of motorbikes.

One moment I couldn't see Rome and the next I was in the noise and bustle of the traffic near Nero's Tomb.  Dual carriageways and heavy traffic are all part of the scenery to me now so it was only when a motorcycle came close enough to touch my elbow that I worried.

Italians complaining about someone else's bad driving! 😁
See, I'm a good boy sitting at a red light 😆
 Following the River Tiber on a dual carriageway. 
That's NOT St Peter's
Now THAT'S St Peter's Basilica - Rome at last after 25 days and 1284 miles.

This is my final blog entry and I really hope you have enjoyed the show. If anyone wants to take over the mantle of the Picos Riders then please get in touch. I'll recommend a good psychiatrist and something to rub on your bottom during the lonely saddle sore evenings.

Day 24 San Lorenzo Nuovo to Bracciano

Helped by a great salad and a bottle of beer plus the kind help of two very decent Norwegian hosts, I almost recovered from yesterday's excitement overnight.

I had a very hearty breakfast before spending 40 minutes on the phone to someone in a call Centre sorting out a hotel booking in Rome. I need to make sure that there's safe storage for my bike!

Today proves to be even hotter and my hosts warn me to carry plenty of water as there is quite a climb to the first stage of my journey - the papal fortress at Montefiascone.

Not huge nor steep but up and up 300m. The road surface is really appalling and the cars are uncomfortably close as I weave around the worst pot holes.

This church marks the 100km from Rome. There is a fancy placque but my phone decides not to store that picture.

When the road reaches the top of the pass I realise that the papal fortress and basilica are even higher up but on a different road.

The view from the Peregrino's Tower at the very peak is spectacular. I can back to where I began today and I can also see the SS2 shimmering on its way towards Rome. The shimmer is not gold it's a heat haze. The sight plus the altitude and something else make me feel a bit nauseous. The something else is a tummy bug which has plagued me for a couple of weeks now.

After an attempt at this thingy for lunch I have up and headed off hitting 35 mph going down the hill to the shimmering SR2 and there you could feel the heat rising in waves off the tarmac. Not great but at least I was flying now.

Eventually the SR2 merged with the SR675 which skirts Vitero courtesy of a fast, smooth dual carriageway. Even I manage to do 20 mph going along it.

Eventually I start my second climb of the day and the old tummy trouble gives me gyp and I'm running into a cafe. At least I can get a coke and some fresh, cold water.

At the top of the second climb I have the same grief but this time there is no cafe just hazelnut trees and bushes which allow me to save my blushes yet again.

Part of the way through I fly down another spectacular castle with houses literally hanging onto a cliff but I'm going too fast to stop. The next town at the bottom of the valley, Sutri, though is worth stopping for because it has an amphitheatre as well as tombs cut into the tufa alongside the road!

The final climb takes me away from the SR2 and towards Lake Bracciano. At the top of the climb I get excited because I can finally see Rome in the far distance.

When I finally reach my overnight stop I can see that I've picked a real winner. Right on the lake's shore, with a balcony and window overlooking the lake it is idyllic. What's more it has a very decent restaurant so no salad tonight!

Another 60 miles today but that means that tomorrow I will finally reach Rome.

Monday 3 August 2015

Day 22 San Gimignano to Siena

Ah fabulous Siena, beautiful, bustling and full of bloody tourists shouting in the streets and getting in the way of the photographs that I'm taking in order to bore the pants off of the few friends I have left (and you of course if you haven't already found a better story on Facebook).

I left my comfy bed in San Gimignano with great reluctance this morning and after a decent breakfast I got on the bike and wandered into town to see what all the fuss is about.

San Gimignano is lost in the medieval past and the narrow streets and tall buildings make you want to duck everytime a window opens in anticipation of a chamberpot emptying on your head.

Fortunately the plumbing is modern and so are the prices so of course, being a cheap skate, I hopped it.

A short trip to Siena a mere 29 miles across scenic country, grapes, olives, churches, castles you get the picture. Unfortunately the road went up to the gates of the castles instead of giving them a wide berth. It meant that a normally lazy person had no choice but to go up every hill in the way to Siena.

Nice going down of course but then another castle loomed and the pedalling became more frantic as I muttered, "I've seen enough bloody castles today!".

Of course Siena is on top of a hill, in fact I mean several hills. But what an amazing city!  Walls, towers, arches, narrow alleyways, basilicas, ancient university, stunning dome and cathedral in fact everything you could imagine for a fascinating historical city, plus of course billions of tourists!

The city is big enough for the tourists to be part of the scenery and boy is there something to admire and photograph around every corner.

I wished that I had brought the Nikon with me today - then remembering all the hills maybe not!

Sunday 2 August 2015

Day 21 Santa Maria del Giuduce to San Gimignano

What an amazing end to a ride. San Gimignano is full of tourists but what a beautiful location. I have pedalled 1100 miles in the last 3 weeks and as I sit here smugly enjoying the amazing view of Tuscany and a cold Coke I think the last 5 miles was well worth it!

The short ride to Lucca was over pretty quickly and I was up and cycling around on the top of the Roman city wall in no time. Such a good place to pedal around with great views into the old city but very busy. It might be my eyes but all Italian towers appear to be leaning now!

Likewise the narrow lanes in town were heaving with tourists so I headed out of town and made my way along the SP3 towards Chianti country. This was also busy but at least no lorries as they seem to stay away on Sundays. Eventually at Fuchecchio I was on the quieter SR429 and could accelerate up to cruising speed of 15 mph and enjoy the countryside going by.

This was as near as I could get to tea and scone at Castelfiorentino. Cappuccino and some sort of pastry stuffed with creme. Very nice and kept me going until lunch in a very basic Pizza Restaurant where pizza was off the menu but I could get rabbit, pig, cow, sheep etc roasted in the wood oven. Luckily spaghetti pomodoro was available for the non-meat eater or else I could have been in for a couple of hours of starvation.

I'm not sure how this lady cycled with a cello on her back but I cannot imagine that it would be good for the cello!

At Certaldo I had a choice between a gentle climbing route or one with a 5 mile zigzag to San Gimignano. I of course took the zigzag - what cyclist wouldn't? This initially took me past a stunning view of Certaldo which has a fairy tale looking palace overlooking it. I wasted 20 minutes trying to find a good place to take a photo with my phone camera but no chance really.

Anyway the curly route was well and truly worthwhile because I was presented with view after view of classical Tuscany - olive trees, vineyards and blue skies. The blue skies came with a price as temperatures hit 35C.

Eventually the fortress town of San Gimignano came into view and the dreamy spires and crenellated towers completed the picture for me. With this view from my balcony a good day became a great one!
61 miles today.