I woke up quite early today (6.30 am). As usual everyone was still asleep…except Ocsi. As we both have young children it is obvious you can’t sleep through the morning. We made coffee and chatted about the sights we want to see and the roads we want to ride while here. An hour later Zsolt and Csabi woke up and the four of us headed into Lugano to purchase some food and other stuff. We refuelled the bikes first and quickly found a Coop supermarket where we found all we needed. We decided we’ll take a longer road back to explore the other side of the mountain. It was a bad idea. We were almost home only to have the road blocked by the police who told us to turn around… That made a nice detour (38 km) but we weren’t so worried as the weather was nice and the roads excellent.
By the time we arrived back at the house the others were awake so we made breakfast and prepared for a ride in the afternoon. We left the house at noon in and headed south. The plan was to go around the lakes (Lago di Lugano and Lago di Como) and come back via the Passo San Bernardino in Italy.
We took the small roads once again and were strolling at a pace of 40-45 km/h in the traffic and the extreme heat. We were all sweating. By the time we arrived in Como we decided it is too hot so we’ll stop for a bath but it was not before getting to Lecco that we found a beach. At a traffic light I asked a local biker for directions to the nearest beach and he was kind enough to drive us there. It was just outside the city but good enough for us. We parked the bikes and went straight to the beach. Entry fee was 5 EUR / person but we didn’t mind. We changed into our swimsuits and spent the next two hours relaxing and bathing in the fresh water. We also had the opportunity to refill the body fluids we lost through sweat by drinking an tremendous amount of water and lemonades.
It was time to get back on the bikes if we wanted to get through the journey we have planned for the day. We took off in the direction of Splügen first taking the national road and then turning north near Sant’Agata. It was really hot but we enjoyed the ride especially after coming off the bigger roads and leaving the traffic and the cars behind. We rode through the Passo Spluga and we stopped at the top for a Minestrone soup and some drinks.
On the way down Attila was a bit stressed as his fuel level was rather low while John started to be really worried that we might have to ride again in the dark (see previous year tale on the Route des Grandes Alpes – The longest day). It was only 6.00 pm but he couldn’t stop moaning. We had all 3 cameras on and made stunning videos while enjoying every minute of riding. the road was just magnificent and the scenery is breathtaking. At the other end of the pass we stopped to refuel at the Esso station which made Attila more relaxed. We wanted to make another round on the Passo Spluga but decided not to as john was really stressed…
Instead we started our ride home through the Passo San Bernardino which is another example of fast and excellent mountain pass sunning just beside the national road. Everyone enjoyed it. After that we took the motorway until Lugano and then the excellent twisty road back to Mugena. before getting to the house we all stopped at the pizzeria to have some beers after a beautiful day on the bikes (well, actually only half a day…).
We spent there some time and then took the bikes home and started the usual routine of shower and cleaning. We all took our part in the preparing the dinner that evening and stayed up to chat about the days event in the company of a bottle of fine whiskey.