The B&B was just outside castle walls overlooking Gabicce coast line and mountains. Visited here 2007 when drove to see the Moto GP in Messano/Rimini. That was the year my favourite rider, Casey Stoner, blasted all other riders into insignificance on his Ducati. I miss Casey. The Moto GP isn’t the same without him I think.

When we stayed here before we stayed in Gabicce Mare right on the sea front and after seeing posters, one night drove to the castle to have a look. What was fate (as far as I’m concerned) is that the restaurant inside the castle walls for which we had a breakfast voucher, was the very restaurant the cyclist and I had had dinner that evening in 2007. Of all the places it was that one. I could even see the table that we sat at that night outside. How lovely. I call that fate. The cyclist said it was irony, but I disagree.

As it was a shorter ride being a time trial, the cyclist did some minor repar work to his cycle before we actually left the accomodation. I needed emergency food supplies so I programmed Lidl as I had no idea what the other offerings, the Garmin gave me, were like. I whizzed around there as quick as i could getting basics so I could feed the cyclist and a bottle of Pinot Griggio. Well it is local wine and it would be criminal not to try local fayre while I am here wouldn’t it? Interestingly they had a porta loo as one of their offers. Not that I wanted to buy one of course, but my Sarah had emailed me a photo of one from the Stourport Lidl flyer a few days ago when I had text her about the dilemmas of no facilities on our routes. From this I can assume that when Lidl have offers on they have them in every country in the same week. pity it wasn’t the week before we came away when Lidl had electric cool boxes!

I hate putting my shopping on the conveyor belts at the checkout only to put it all back in again. I knew they wouldn’t except credit cards but debit cards have always been ok. But not in Italy. Well not English debit cards anyway, only local ones. What’s the matter with them, I never have a problem in France? oh dear. I didn’t have enough cash and felt that awful dread feeling. I had cash but not enough. This was because 3 of our stays in the past days unexpectedly demanded cash only. Lists not get back on the tax/finances in Italy discussion again. I put my full bags on the floor and waited while the cyclist drove to a cashpoint. Luckily within half an hour we were on our way.

While I was stood waiting I was watching the people come and go. One chap made me smile because what I was looking at just looked odd. Now I know continental men use bags. Man bags. sometimes they can look nice. But picture this. this guy was big built. he was a Builder looking chap, wearing hobnail boots, thick socks rolled down (like construction blokes do), baggy shorts, a dirty T shirt, shaved head and his head, arms and legs were all tanned, looking like he had come from a building site. Have you got the picture? I am sure you have seen the type of chap I describe. Those strong looking alpha male guys that are all muscles. Okay. Now add this to your picture. He was wearing a Gucci cross body bag. I don’t know, the guys I have seen with man bags are usually smartly dressed office types, but this looked all wrong. Just my thoughts of course. Each to their own. It’s funny isn’t it how each country does things that another thinks is odd. Like German girls and body hair for example. Anyone remember Nena and her 99 Red Balloons? I wonder what we do in the UK that other nations think is odd? Fish and chips maybe? Deep fried mars bars? What do you think?

The cyclist drove us to the first town on our route today. We stopped for Lucy in this cliff top hamlet which had a fantastic view over Gabicce Mare all the way to Rimini and beyond. The purpose was for the cyclist to eat something other than Pasta and also to eat a lot to fuel for the following days tough ride. I will include evidence of what he ate. This was so nice after rushing from place to place, living out a cool box since we left last Wednesday 11th. Time to take in the view. The temperature was about 23 degrees and even though it was a but blowy, it was absolutely lovely. The stress of cat and mouse was to come shortly after, but now was the time to take a deep breath and enjoy. Back at the car the cyclist said he was setting off back downhill to the start and I was to begin to make my way further along the route. This way I could take a couple of photos and as long as I kept to the right road he should catch up. Well I did and extremely quickly he was back up the hill to where I had decided to wait for him. It was obviously Sunday afternoon motorbike madness along the Panoramica Adriatica. They were tearing along trying to get their knees to the road. I however was definitely a Sunday afternoon driver, hopping in and out of the car taking action shots of the cyclist. When one particular track came on my playlist, I whipped out my camera, put it to video mode and re-started the track. I followed the cyclist, filming his efforts to a soundtrack as he peddled away. As the track came towards its close the cyclist was up out the saddle to get up a hill, peddling in time to the beat. Amazing how he does that when he can’t hear any music.

After we left the coast road to head in land to the finish, The cyclist stopped at a cycle shop for puncture repair kits. This is in case we lose each other again so he fix his puncture and can get going again. A nice man called Stephano was manning the shop. He spoke good English and said he was taking over the shop from his dad. His father was 80years old and he had decided to hang his cycle shop shoes up and retire. As the cyclist and I were obviously impressed that his father was still working, Stephano went on to tell us about his father. That we was a boy during the war and when the bombs were dropped but didn’t explode his father and other boys used to sit on the bombs hitting the tops with hammers to get the explosives out so the bombs were diffused. At the end of the days they went to the local farmers to get payment for this work. They were payed in scraps of food because there was no food to be had. It gives you something to think about doesn’t it?

after I had given Stephano one of the Cyclists tour business cards (much to the cyclists embarrassment), Stephano was impressed and gave the cyclist back €4 of the cost telling him to get an Italian coffee.

basically the ride went well and I took the obligatory finish photos for the cyclist’s web site and my blog of course. The cycle was loaded onto the rack, protein shake made and off we went as we had a 3 hour drive to our B&B that night. The day was long for that but the first half was most pleasant.

Thank heaven for Co-Pilot sat nav on my phone. It found the B&B which was on a country road and was up a long dirt track. The owner was electing us to be late as I phoned ahead to tell them. I still havent used my italian CDs so my Italian lingo is still ashamedly poor. Her English was only a fraction better than my Italian so she said “Parlez vous Francais?”. Now that’s more like it. Strange that. Two languages having to communicate in a third language to be understood. The room was basic but was in a chalet away from the main house which was good. When I was checking in I was trying to find the passports for the Lady I tried to explain in my French that my bag was like Mary Poppins bag, as I ferreted about in the bottom trying to locate said passports. She had no idea what I meant by Mary Poppins and despite me saying it didn’t matter, she called her son who spoke excellent English. (He was called Gabrielle and was as handsome as an Italian could be so that was a bonus). He translated that Mary Poppins had a bag that she could pull a lamp from and it was bottomless. Now he got it, but had absolutely no idea what the Mary Poppins movie was. Didn’t Disney movies get to Italy. I was sure that everyone would know Mary Poppins, but I am obviously mistaken. Maybe I should’ve said Hermione’s bag from ‘The Deathly Hallows’? (Hands up All Potter fans).

Kyle went to find a wifi link while I sorted and cooked his pasta as it was late. Setting up Mrs Chimney’s gas strive on a chair in the hallway I cooked it up and sorted the coolbox fridge. Then when kyle returned he ate 3 bowls of hot fresh cooked pasta (normally he has to eat it cold), chocolate for extra energy, then two episodes of Death in Paradise. I fell asleep during the second one as the cyclist wanted to leave the B&B at 7.30am to get a start because not in,y was tomorrow a tough one, but we have a 450km drive at the end of it.

Zzzz. Until tomorrow. Smack. That’s me trying to get the mozzies that are nibbling me.