Stage 16 - Mamma Mia!

Today's route: 70 Miles (15 bonus miles)

Vira(Lake Maggiore)->Lenno,(LakeComo)

Ascend: 720m, Descend 800m

After a superb nights sleep, Dominique and I awoke to quite view of Lake Maggiore from our room 

After following the usual breakfast ritual of one protein shake, one boiled egg, one hydration tablet, one berocca, one carb loading drink, two croissants with cheese and ham, one bowl of granola with greek yoghurt, two bananas and a double espresso, I was ready to set off. 

As you can see, the weather was perfect, 26 degrees, blue skies and no wind. Stunning cycling conditions for a route to take me from Lake Maggiore, around Lake Lugano and then onto Lake Como. 

In all the excitement of completing yesterdays mountain stage, I had somehow forgotten that I had to immediately climb 400m in only 5 miles to get over from Lake Maggiore to Lake Lugano. Ouch.  Soon after I found myself on a barely passable cycle route through a wood for 3 miles which bypassed Lugano centre:-

With Graham gone, I was cycling alone again, lost in thought, but I had plenty of  breathtaking scenery to keep me occupied. 

After 35 miles, I found a Lugano lakeside lunch venue for a rendezvous with Dominque where we both enjoyed some delicious pasta. 

Then I set off again, taking a bike route that took me through vineyards north of Como. 

It wasn't long before I was finally bearing down on Italy....

And I randomly bumped into a bloke called Tariq (from Crawley of all places)  at the Swiss/Italian border who took this shot:- 

I'd made it to Italy, Mamma Mia! 

Mum and Dad are staying at Lenno, which is around the lake from Como, this ended up being 15 miles more than I had accounted for. When I finally arrived, they were both outside the hotel to greet me with open arms and a couple of bottles of prosecco. It's always great to see Mum and Dad, but this was special. 

We swapped stories of our respective two weeks, and then All four of us had dinner (more red meat and pasta) under the stars. What a perfect day touring, and a perfect way to end the day. 

I have a rest day here at Lake Como  tomorrow (Bliss) Dominique will be heading back home to look after our children, whilst my Mum and Dad will be taking over support car duties all the way to Rome over the next 12 days. 

Until tomorrow for more stats updates! Brett x