September 30, 2012
Lugano: I thought we were done with climbing
Dressed up in many layers we set off in the fog early with our red lights blinking away. The descents now are very gentle when we compare them with yesterday’s so it makes for easy riding. A lot of this early riding was on forest tracks and we even came to a place where a fallen tree had blocked our way so there was nothing to do but unload the bikes and hump everything over it. My back brakes have been making a terrible noise. Ken had a good fiddle but to no avail, I think they have just completely worn away the pad and the sound is probably metal an metal.
We seemed to miss Bellinzona all together for some unknown reason and ended up having our morning coffee at a very scungy Mc Donalds in a suburb, being Switzerland it was still expensive! We have no maps of the route and had little idea what to expect. A missing sign threw us and we rode around in circles for a while till at last we were on track. I seemed to be getting slower and slower and just couldn’t keep up no matter how hard I tried, it all came clear when we found my back brakes were locked on. I had thought that we were done with climbs but as usual I was completely wrong and we had to climb over a pass to get from the valley we were in to the next valley where Lugano is. It was a tough climb which once again we walked nearly all the way. The only other cyclists we saw were extremely serious looking guys on their training rides. When we reached the top there was a good looking café with a car park full and people enjoying the refreshments. I had a Fanta and Ken an icecream and we were on the descent which was very much gentler than the ascent.
When eventually we got to Lugano we felt a bit out of place as it seemed to be designed for the rich and famous. After a fair bit of stuffing around we eventually found a hotel, had a much needed shower and went out to explore the lake. It was really quite warm as we are now at a so much lower altitude. The lakeside was heaving with activity as people strolled, ate icecreams ( we are now in the land of gelato yum) went out on cruises and generally enjoyed their lake side experience.
Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles)
Total: 3,438 km (2,135 miles)
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