We Came, We Saw, We Cycled…
Storm Darragh brought a shuddering halt to weekend rides and thoughts turned to warm memories of epic bike tours completed in years gone by – fuelling a thirst for future adventures in the summer to come. Plotting and planning. Part of the fun of bike touring is the planning of routes; the picking of interesting locations to visit, the researching the history of the routes and possible deviations to take in other attractions. Another is looking back at previous adventures to fuel the passion to go again!
On the 4th September 2010 Ronan and myself set out from Canterbury Cathedral in England, along one of the great European pilgrimage routes, the Via Francigena, from Canterbury to Rome.The route we were following was the route recorded by Archbishop Sigeric in the year 990 on his return journey from the Eternal City; there is renewed interest in the old pilgrim routes, attracting a growing number of pilgrims, though nothing like the level of interest in the Camino Santiago.
Entering the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral! (I’ve used AI to create a series of nice images to give a flavour of the journey).
We cycled the Camino Francés when Ronan completed ranga sé in Gaelscoil Eoghain Uí Thuairisc and he was always up for another big adventure. This was on a different scale; starting in the UK, crossing France, into Switzerland, over the 8,114 feet high, St Bernard Pass in the Alps and down into the Aosta Valley and on to Rome!
We had our paper maps and each day we would pour over them; It was disheartening to see how little ground we had covered on the large scale road map! France is huge!
One of the things we hadn’t factored in when planning the trip was that the route passed through parts of France where much of the fighting in WW1 took place and we frequently came upon immaculately maintained cemeteries containing hundreds of white crosses, with so many of them teenage soldiers. The futility of war.
It isn’t all plain sailing while bike touring and the road presents so many challenges, one of them being the weather. The wind always feels like it’s a head wind and parts of eastern France were very exposed so progress was slow enough. Add in a drop of rain and days can be challenging but rewarding when the kilometres clock up!
Map reading in the rain!
Fight with the chain…
But the great memories far outweigh the few hiccups that inevitably happen on a long bike tour. Passing from France into Switzerland was another major milestone and then climbing out of Switzerland up the St. Bernard Pass, to say the night in the monastery there at over 8,000 feet. Incredible feeling to cycle over the Alps!
The famous St Bernard dogs are housed here at the monastery and are used for search and rescue of lost hikers in the surrounding Alps!
Ronan at the border between Switzerland and France in the St Bernard Pass
Italy is one of my favourite countries to cycle in. The scenery, the off road routes, the food, the climate, the history and the people are just amazing. Every village has something special worth seeing or visiting.
Typical Tuscany scene!
Another great milestone was reaching the Mediterranean on our bikes from Canterbury! An incredible feeling to come down out from the rain along the Via D’egli Abati and into the sunshine of the coast. Dipping our front wheels in the sea… unforgettable memories.
So many towns, Bobbio, Lucca, Siena… worthy of a lengthy stop over…
An AI generated of the Guningi Tower in Lucca… not quite right but it conveys the beauty!
Cycling into Piazza del Campo, Siena, where the famous Palio takes place each July..
The Towers of San Gimignano…
The journey ended when we cycled into St Peters Square in the Vatican. It’s hard to believe it was fourteen years ago now! The memories are as strong as ever and it’s definitely a journey I would like to do again, with more time to do it. My intention then was to continue cycling at some stage in the future and continue to Bari in the south of Italy and cross over into Albania, heading for Jerusalem. That won’t happen now!
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