Monte Grappa at sunrise.

Monte Grappa at sunrise.

Monte Grappa.

Monte Grappa (still, it goes on for a while).

The view from nearer the top of Monte Grappa.

Summit.

…and back down the other side of Monte Grappa.

Switchback…

…after switchback.

Ice creams and water to stop us from melting after heads down on the big road up the valley.

Getting close to Carnia, where it all went a bit crap for an hour or so looking for how to get to the cyclepath and not using a race banned road which we ended up using a bit of anyway due to a washed away bridge. And we didn’t have any dinner.

Breakfast the next morning was much better. Ham and cheese piadina and pastries, coffee and more coffee. Bumped into Jonah (#tcrno5cap81) who we last saw on the final stretch into CP2.

Sunrise in Pontebba.

Under the A23. Not the one that goes to Brighton.

Towards Austria.

One last glimpse of Italy as we cross the border back into Austria.

Villach.

Coffee and fanta and a bit of shade.

Climbing again.

A substantial climb that deserves more than a little sign hidden away in a carpark.

Cooling down.

The picturesque bit after the really fast fun bit.

…and the gravelly bit.

The morning after Dilman’s, nondescript breakfast from a nondescript petrol station in a nondescript town on a nondescript bit of road through Austria.

Another petrol station, another coffee, another snooze.

Another long straight road, another snooze.

As it turns out the nearest we got to Greece.

More ice cream, more fanta, more shade.

Goodbye Austria.

Hello Slovakia.

Bratislava.

Supplies for riding through the night to try and make CP3 before it closed.

The bit after the really scary fast bit of road and the bit before the really dull bit of road through nothing but darkness.

Pedaled through the night.

Good morning Slovakia, so that’s what you look like.

Another country, another petrol station, another coffee.

Trying to get across Slovakia to CP3 in under 24 hours and no proper sleep for three days meant a lot of short bus stop naps.

Another bus stop.

And another.

Not a bus stop. A petrol station. Crap coffee and half a hog dog each.

And another bus stop.

About 50km short of CP3 and we decide food and a sleep are required.

Bike clean. Standards must be maintained (despite the fact we are filthy and stink).

Somewhere on the side of a mountain on the climb to the climb to CP3 in the rain my body goes into shut down and I need to find somewhere warm quickly. Hot chocolates in a fancy hotel up a mountain. The painful decision to scratch has been made.