Day 26 I was up at 6am to get ready for our 8am start. We had 278km to travel today to Corvara Italy, crossing 6 mountain passes. Today was described as D Day in our guides. Our inexperienced rider had been persuaded by the tour leader not to ride with the group today. He would follow a less mountainous route using his GPS. I therefore volunteered for "tail end Charlie" again. Hopefully to ride at my own pace and enjoy myself. We headed South East from Pontresina...

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 wi...

Day 24 Today we pick up our bikes, have our pre tour briefing and the introductory dinner. I wandered down to breakfast at 9am and found Bill and Joan in the dinning room. The selection of breakfast items was even less than the day before. It would seem that, unlike other hotels, they do not top up the items on offer when they run low. Following breakfast Joan left Bill and I chatting while sh headed to reception to organise a room change. Their room had no air-c...

Day 23 I slept well and did not get out if bed until 8:15am and wandered down to breakfast at 9am. The choice for breakfast was very poor and nit up to the standard I had received for the last 3 weeks. At 10:30am Bill, Joan and I caught the hotel shuttle bus to the airport and then the train into the city. It cost us 18 euro return. It was a hot and very humid day and amongst the buildings of the city there was not a trace of breeze. We had no set plan for our vi...

Day 22 I was up with the alarm and quickly downstairs for breakfast. My GoOpti pick up was scheduled for 7:40am and I did not want to rush. I waited outside the hotel from 7:25am till 8am before my transfer arrived. The driver apologised for being late. He explained that he had one pick up before me and when he arrived she was still in bed. He had come to pick me up and we would return to pick her up. This suited me as I got the choice of seats in the 8 seater bu...